Advances in technology have resulted in the emergence of sophisticated tools to help blind individuals navigate more efficiently and safely through complex outdoor environments. Within the last five years, these technologies have evolved into useful and affordable tools. Environmental literacy is fast becoming a key phrase to explain the importance of these new inventions. Just as blind individuals have a right to access media knowledge in a democratic society, so too do these individuals have a right to access knowledge about the environment. The right to environmental accessibility is as fundamental as the right to media access.

Developments in vision substitution are also evolving rapidly, holding the promise of more sophisticated tools to assist blind navigation. Braille is a perceptual alternative to visual perception, and was a totally new way to perceive the world when it first evolved. New vision substitution avenues use sound or tactual patterns as a perceptual alternative and are a totally new way to perceive the world. These new systems require a restructured service delivery infrastructure to provide for new funding avenues, training opportunities, and for professional development.

Advances in robotics, computer vision, and in obstacle detection, signal a coming revolution in navigational technologies. Medical advances in stem cell and genetic surgeries, combined with advances in retinal and brain level computer implant technologies, present consumers and professionals with novel systems for perceiving the world. These new cyborg technologies will create an exciting and challenging new world for the blind traveler, and will result in new tools for blind navigation.

NEC Foundation of America has a history of funding innovative and visionary projects that benefit the blindness community. NEC Foundation of America was established in 1991 and endowed at $10 million by NEC and its United States subsidiaries. Income generated by the endowment is donated to nonprofit organizations in the United States. Funded programs have national impact in the areas of science and technology education and/or in programs to assist people with disabilities. Through its grants, NEC Foundation of America underscores its philosophy of advancing society through technology and enabling individuals to enrich their lives and realize their full potential.

The Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation (IIBN) was established in 1997 as a center for the study, promotion, and development of advanced navigational technologies that benefit blind individuals. The Institute is a future-oriented agency and is a champion for emerging tools that improve blind navigation. IIBN manages two listserves that reach over 1,000 professionals, researchers, and inventors. The Institute also hires blind youth to informally test emerging technologies. The IIBN website contains an electronic book with a chapter that tracks emerging navigational technologies. The e-book is about teaching blind children to navigate in the environment.

June, 2001

This press release will be submitted as written (or as edited by NEC Foundation of America) to the following:

American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) publications: Access World, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, AFB Web Site

Association for Educators and Rehabilitation Professionals (AER), AER Web Site, AER Listserve, AER National Newsletter, Michigan AER (MAER)

IIBN listserves: Inventors List; Orientation and Mobility List

IIBN Web Site

National Federation of the Blind Magazine: Braille Monitor

American Council of the Blind Magazine: Braille Forum

Saginaw News