Emergency Egress Locator

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will develop and qualify a new assistive technology to aid persons who are blind. The Emergency Egress Locator (EEL) will provide guidance to exits under emergency conditions. The illumination from ordinary exit signs will be modulated to carry the guidance information while still being totally visable and functional as an exit sign. Persons who are blind will carry or wear a receiver which processes the optical signal from the exit sign and provides audio guidance to the person who is blind. EEL will be inexpensive and easy to implement because it will use existing exit signs. EEL will be demonstrated and evaluated with blind travelers. Its assistive capability and comparison with other assistive technologies will be quantitatively measured. Products developed will include a ballast to provide EEL capability to exit signs and a receiver to provide emergency information to users who are blind.