Microsoft Soundscape

Microsoft Soundscape: Audio Navigation for Urban Environments

Free app providing audio cues to help navigate cities, including points of interest, street names, and landmarks for improved spatial awareness.

What is Microsoft Soundscape?

Microsoft Soundscape is a free mobile application developed by Microsoft to help people with visual impairments navigate urban areas. It uses 3D audio technology to provide audio cues about the user's surroundings in real-time.

The app offers several key features to enhance accessibility and mobility:

• Spatial audio cues identify points of interest like shops, restaurants, intersections, landmarks, etc. as the user moves through an area.
• Street names and numbers are read aloud to help with orientation and finding specific addresses.
• Customizable settings allow users to filter information and adjust audio levels for their preferences.
• Works completely offline so no internet connection is required while navigating.
• Leverages OpenStreetMap data to provide detailed spatial information about cityscapes globally.

By using 3D stereo sound to deliver audio information about navigation landmarks and environmental details, Microsoft Soundscape aims to give people with vision loss more confidence and independence when traveling unfamiliar routes or locations.

Initial releases focused on Seattle and London but the app has expanded to support navigation cues for many major cities around the world. With its offline access and wealth of spatial audio data, this accessibility tool shows strong promise for improving mobility for the blind and visually impaired.

Microsoft Soundscape Features

Official Links