Seeing-Eye program with GPS

By: By Lauren Glassberg

Some high-tech can help the blind. More people are using technology to get around.

Eyewitness News reporter Lauren Glassberg explains how it works.

"When you walk around town, you read the signs in front of the stores, you see the street signs, you know that is where the post office is, that is where the ATM machine is and so on," Jim Kutsch, Pres. The Seeing Eye. INC, said.

But imagine if you can't see those signs. If you are blind, navigating the neighborhood is a challenge. A cane or a seeing-eye-dog is vital, and now, there is a GPS system.

It gives the blind traveler information about the environment. It tells them where they are, what they are passing and how to get from point 'a' to point 'b.'

Jim Kutsch runs the seeing-eye program which matches trained guide dogs with the blind. He uses the GPS system and encourages his graduates do as well.

So whether the destination is a bank or just a walk around town, a blind or visually impaired person can wear the system and listen to the computerized voice reading off addresses and other helpful information that a guide dog can't offer.

Without the GPS, I would have had to know with the streets that I crossed, how many blocks to walk and where the bank was which street corner and so on," Kutsch said. "I would have had to ask somebody."

The dog is still necessary for safety and steering but the GPS allows for even more independence.