Changes to be made

What follows is a very brief summary of the aspects of the system our testing showed need to be changed, or that should be added:

The ability to warn the user using voice prompts in the headset about upcoming hazards eg. the turnstile at the entrance to Pronto. These can be included on the local area overlays as 'hazard areas' along with the text which will be spoken by the Jaws software on the brain of the device when the user enters one of these areas.

Guidance to specific shelves using RFID tags embedded into each shelf containing a description of what items are on this shelf. The device brain could read the RFID tags to tell the user which shelf (numbered sequentially from the floor or from the top, for example) the desired item is on.

Currently the user has to pick up the item and turn it around when looking for a barcode to scan it and obtain information on what the item is. This is somewhat cumbersome for a blind user, and wasn't tested in this session (the product details were read straight to him when Mike pointed at it). One way around this would be to use larger barcodes such as those on Aldi branded packaging. However manufacturers are unlikely to adopt this industry-wide as it can be seen to detract from the aesthetics of the packaging. Another possible remedy is for the item barcodes to also be stuck to the shelf in front of where the item is stocked, so that it can easily be read by the barcode reader.