TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Technology

Innovations that Drive Accessibility

by

photo of a hot air balloon flying over a rural area. The picture is divided in 2 to show the colors what a person who is color blind sees

Correcting color blindness with Enchroma Glasses

By Jennifer Allen

Each year, the InnovateABLE Showcase features leaders in a world where innovation is paving the way for progress. The event brought together a carefully curated selection of innovations, technologies, and services, each presenting a unique solution to breaking down barriers and creating a more inclusive world. Check out the highlights chosen for this year’s showcase.

Enchroma – Revealing the World’s True Colors

Kent Streeb presented Enchroma, a revolutionary solution for individuals with color blindness. Enchroma glasses unlock a world of vibrant colors, enabling those with color vision deficiencies to experience the full spectrum of hues. The glasses are tailored to specific needs of the most common types of color blindness, enabling the user to see colors never experienced before. For the first time, vibrant landscapes and artworks are accessible to all.

TranslateLive – Opening Pathways of Communication

TranslateLive, founded by Peter Hayes, is the first language communication solution that allows people to easily and instantly have a real-time, natural back-and-forth conversation, no matter the language, disability, device or location. Using the All-In-One ILA Pro Device, users can speak, spell out loud, or type, and the entire conversation is immediately communicated to the other party in their chosen language. TranslateLive ensures that everyone can participate actively in conversations and access information seamlessly. By harnessing the power of technology, TranslateLive unveiled a new realm of communication where diversity of languages was no longer an obstacle.

Picture Live – Experiences for All Senses 

Alain Cloet, the visionary behind Picture Live, showcased an innovation that transforms sightseeing for individuals with visual or hearing impairments. Through tactile plates, audio descriptions, and sign language, Picture Live crafts immersive experiences. The historic center of Ghent serves as an example of the incredible difference the technology can make for the disability community. This innovation makes the world accessible in a new way, proving that accessibility could be a gateway to richer, more meaningful connections with the world.

Senior Travel Companion Service – Empowering Seniors to Explore

Carol Giuliani’s Senior Travel Companion Service took the stage, offering tailored trip planning and travel escort services to seniors and couples. With a wealth of caregiving and fiduciary experience, this service empowers seniors to embark on journeys that are both enriching and accessible through the planning and company of a personal escort. Carol not only meets the needs of her clients with a range of needs, including dementia, but she trains others to do the same – extending her reach and helping a more diverse population around the country. By recognizing the unique needs of older travelers, this innovation redefines the concept of age and wanderlust, encouraging seniors to explore the world with confidence.

Grit Freedom Chair – Defying Boundaries of Mobility

Derek Sanchez introduced the Grit Freedom Chair, an engineering marvel that merges the functionality of a manual wheelchair with the versatility of a mountain bike. This innovation provides individuals with diverse abilities the freedom to explore terrains that were once considered inaccessible. The chair is rugged enough for mountain trails, and can be folded up to fit in a DMO closet or personal car trunk – bringing accessibility anywhere. From mountain trails to sandy beaches, the Grit Freedom Chair celebrates the spirit of adventure, proving that mobility challenges can be overcome with creativity and determination.

My Stream – Harnessing Connectivity for All

Richard Zelson’s MyStream, improves wireless connections and unlocks new accessibility services on existing smart devices, both online and offline. MyStream can enable live HD audio to be streamed right to attendees’ own devices and hearing-aids in theaters and cinemas; seamlessly deliver video and other accessibility content in museums and visitor-centers even if visitors’ devices are offline, and more.  The innovation’s adaptability showcased the evolving landscape of accessibility, where technology seamlessly catered to diverse needs, making experiences richer and more inclusive.

The InnovateABLE Showcase illuminated a path toward a more inclusive future, celebrating innovations that transcend barriers and redefine possibilities. From bridging language gaps to enabling immersive experiences and empowering seniors, each innovation highlighted the transformative power of human ingenuity. The event reinforced the idea that accessibility, is more than a nice concept – it can be made tangible through the dedication of individuals who believe in a world where every person can participate and thrive. As these innovations continue to make waves, they remind us that progress is possible when innovation is guided by the vision of a barrier-free world for all.

The Problem: Connecting the disabled with the world around them

The Solution: Innovative tech that connects the user with their environment.

Enchroma – Revealing the World’s True Colors

Glasses designed to help individuals with color blindness experience the full spectrum of colors. 

Price: $250-$450. Contact support@enchroma.com.

TranslateLive – Opening Pathways of Communication

TranslateLive offers real-time language communication using the ILA Pro Device, enabling natural conversations regardless of language, disability, device, or location.

Price: Varies by device and subscription – starting around $1,000. Contact info@translatelive.com.

Picture Live – Experiences for All Senses 

Transforms sightseeing for individuals with visual or hearing impairments through tactile plates, audio descriptions, and sign language, providing immersive experiences.

Price: Specific to the project. Enquire at info@picturelive.org.

Senior Travel Companion Service – Empowering Seniors to Explore

Service offering tailored trip planning and travel escort services for seniors and couples, including those with unique needs like dementia.

Cost: Varies by trip. Contact carolsgiuliani@gmail.com.

Grit Freedom Chair – Defying Boundaries of Mobility

Combines manual wheelchair functionality with mountain bike versatility, enabling individuals with diverse abilities to explore challenging terrains.

Price: Starting around $3,000. info@gogrit.us.

My Stream – Harnessing Connectivity for All

Enhances wireless connections and delivers accessibility services on smart devices, even offline. It caters to various needs, such as live audio streaming and accessibility content in museums.

Price: info@MyStreamTechnologies.com

TravelAbility Announces Winners of InnovateAble Pitchfest for Assistive Technology

by

TravelAbility, an organization working to improve the travel experience for people with disabilities, has announced the winners of its InnovateAble Pitchfest, a virtual event that showcased the latest assistive technology and innovations for travelers with disabilities. The event took place on July 26, 2023, to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The InnovateAble Pitchfest featured presentations from 10 companies and startups that have developed cutting-edge products and services that can make travel easier and more enjoyable for people with different abilities. The presentations were judged by a panel of experts from the tourism industry, the investor community, and the CES pitchfest recruiter, as well as by the attendees who voted for the People’s Choice Award.

The overall winner of the InnovateAble Pitchfest was Enchroma, a company that makes specially engineered glasses and scenic viewers that enable people who are color blind to see colors. The glasses and viewer telescopes are offered to the public by over 200 organizations including 80 museums, 40 state and national parks in 18 states, and many other tourist destinations.

The first runner-up was Translate Live ILA, a device that allows hotels and attractions to provide close captioning, language translation, and ASL sign language assistance on demand. The second runner-up was Spoke, an app that alerts people who are deaf or hard of hearing to important public announcements in airports and other locales.

The People’s Choice Award went to Centaur Robotics, a revolutionary electric vehicle that elevates and fits into the space of a dining room chair to navigate narrow rooms spaces.

Other companies selected for InnovateAble included:

Dateability, The only dating app designed for the disabled and chronically ill communities.

Vacayit, Explore and experience sensory and audio described tours in 160 Australian locations

Lisnen, App that notifies the deaf or HOH to phone rings, door knocks and alarms that can save their life

Be My Eyes, An app that uses ChatGTP4 to help blind users navigate a hotel or attractions

Purple Lens, A digital accessibility toolkit that combines automated and human remediation

Picture Live, A photobook that enables audio descriptions or ASL interpreters via a QR code.

For more information about TravelAbility and InnovateAble Pitchfest, contact Jake Steinman at jake@travelability.net.

To access all Innovateable presentations: click here.

About the TravelAbility Portfolio of projects: 

EMERGING MARKETS SUMMIT is a boutique conference covering the growing niches of accessibility, sustainability and DE&I

TRAVELABILITY INSIDER, is an online newsletter with 3300 subscribers

TRAVELABILITY FOR HOSPITALITY is a quarterly newsletter for the hotel industry

DESTINATIONS WITH ACCESSIBILITY  is a micro-site that aggregates accessibility content for 143 destinations in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, THE ACCESSIBILITY PLAYBOOK is a 38-page resource containing videos, slide decks, technology, products, tips and use case scenarios designed to help any travel organization/company advance their accessibility

THE DESTINATION A11Y CLUB,is a collection of DMO’s committed to advancing accessibility together. INNOVATEABLE, is an annual showcase of adaptive innovations, technologies, services and amenities that can be introduced through the travel channel 

Our YOUTUBE CHANNEL archives contain over 100 video sessions from prior conferences and events. TRAVELABILITY FOUNDATION is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation with the mission to work with travel industry suppliers to make travel more accessible for people with disabilities

Belgium Destination Launches Plate-like Brochures for Deaf and Blind Visitors

by

Our Takeaway: This groundbreaking technology enables blind or deaf visitors to access videos with professional level audio descriptions and sign language interpreters that can be accessed by hovering the phone over a QR code on each page. Attendees at The Emerging Markets Summit in Savannah will be able to feel and touch the actual English language versions of these books as well as the meet the developer, Alain Cloet founder of Picture Live, in person.  

The city of Ghent has launched a hardbound tourist itinerary book for hearing and visually impaired visitors, as reported by Belgian news outlet VRT. The campaign includes special booklets which contain tactile pictures of seven attractions in the historic center of Ghent, along with an audio description that people can listen to via their cell phones. There is also a version with sign language.

“It is a booklet with plates of seven Ghent sights you can touch,” Alain Cloet, who came up with the idea, told VRT. “Tactile plates are photos covered with a tactile layer. The tactile plates include an audio description that people can listen to using their mobile phones. There is also a version using sign language. A video will appear on your mobile with a sign language interpreter explaining the sight.”

The walks include a QR code to activate audio description and a link to videos in Flemish Sign Language. On the smartphone, visitors can listen to a description or watch a movie in Flemish Sign Language. The designers will continue to develop and refine the product so that it becomes even more accessible and user-friendly. Read More.

INNOVATEABLE Pitch Fest Showcases 11 Cutting Edge Adaptive Innovations for Travel

by

Our Takeaway: For the past four years TravelAbility has hosted LaunchPad, a pitch event curating the best innovations that can help the industry make travel easier for disabled travelers. This year’s event has been rebranded as the InnovateAble Showcase and will be held via Zoom on July 26th from 10AM to 1PM PST to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the ADA.

“We are excited to bring together some of the brightest minds in assistive technology to showcase their latest innovations,” said Jake Steinman, Founder of TravelAbility. “This is a B2B event and an opportunity to feature entrepreneurs with innovations that can be introduced through the destination channels to their industry partners.”

This year’s pitch event will be held via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact us at: info@travelability.net.

Delta’s Support of Roll-in Wheelchair Securement System Creates Burst of Hope for Disabled Travelers

by

Our Takeaway: The new Wheelchair Securement System unveiled at an annual trade show in Germany gained spectacular credibility once Delta Airlines announced its support.

TravelAbility provided part of the funding that helped advisory board member John Morris’ travel to the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Show so he would be the first to test drive the securement system in real time.

Here’s what he found:

Delta Flight Products, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines that was established to re-think aircraft interiors, announced it was backing the Air4All wheelchair securement system on commercial jets — the company plans to unveil its design prototype at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany next week. Chris Wood, my friend and colleague in accessible travel advocacy, is a partner in the Air4All seating product. Last year, he spoke to me about his design innovation — you can watch our conversation here and read my initial reporting on Air4All here. With the announcement that Air4All will debut in Hamburg, I decided that I needed to be there — critical reporting on this product, its advancements, features and opportunities for improvement should come from within the disability community. I look forward to seeing, touching, and testing the Air4All system myself, and sharing my insights with each of you. Read More.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to third parties.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to 3rd parties.