Google Maps inspired QBS boss to create technology to help city’s visually impaired find their way around, earning him a Spirit of Hong Kong Award nomination
- Gary Wong’s firm has developed EqualAccess navigation system that can be linked to a smartphone
- It uses wireless and Bluetooth technologies and enables organisations to share location information
Braille maps and tactile guide paths can make places in Hong Kong more accessible to blind and visually impaired people. Wireless technology can also help them navigate in this complex world.
Gary Wong Chi-fung, chief executive of technology firm QBS, believes technology can empower people.
Wong, who graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2001 with a computer engineering degree, said much like Google Maps helped people navigate their way through the city, EqualAccess, a technology solution developed by his team, could benefit the visually impaired in the same way.
The system serves as a communal navigation assistant for the visually impaired with smartphones. It uses a mix of wireless technologies, such as Wi-fi and the Bluetooth-based iBeacon, and enables relevant organisations to manage, publish and share their navigation information for access to different locations.
Wong said his firm’s ultimate goal was to launch an information platform which helps visually impaired users acquire real-time and accurate information on locations and routes when travelling around the city.
“[EqualAccess] mainly gives simple oral instructions, such as ‘walk ahead’, ‘turn left’ or ‘turn right’,” he said, noting that his team had made these alerts easily recognisable for users.