City of Decatur teams up with Foresight Augmented Reality to help visually impaired

Foresight Augmented Reality is teaming up with the city of Decatur in an effort to make public spaces in the city more accessible to the visually impaired.

The city will become the company’s first FAR-accessible city.

The company’s beacons provide additional information to people who can’t see well or who are blind. The beacons will be deployed in seven of the city’s public spaces. There will be 65 beacons in all. They will be placed at Decatur City Hall, the Decatur Police Department, the Ebster Recreation Center, the Decatur Recreation Center, the Decatur Visitors Center, the Decatur Square Community Bandstand and the Decatur Transit Station plaza.

“Transforming a business into a FAR-accessible one includes the installation of a Bluetooth beacon, that when paired with the FAR Vision mobile app, provides users with descriptive information such as entrances and exits, restrooms, hazard warnings and more,” the announcement says.

To see videos of FAR in action, click here.

“This project opens a lot of doors for the visually impaired community in Decatur and the surrounding area,” Foresight co-founder and CEO Tara Williams said in the announcement. “With the FAR Vision mobile app, more people can access many of the great features the city of Decatur has to offer. We hope this movement continues to build momentum until the entire Atlanta area is accessible for the blind and visually impaired.”

Mayor Patti Garrett said the project fits with Decatur’s goals of being a more inclusive city.

“One of the goals in our 2016 Better Together Community Action Plan for Equity, Inclusion and Engagement is to support community participation and engagement among all members of the city’s population,” she said in the announcement. “Making city buildings more readily accessible to the blind and visually impaired allows us to reach and include a broader spectrum of community members in city life.”

Credit: Decaturish