How Technology is helping this blind marathon runner

Simon Wheatcroft, was diagnosed with the horrific retinitis pigmentosa, at the age of 18 which left him blind.

But since then, he has never looked back and transformed himself into an exceptional ultra marathon runner popular world over and technology so far has played a major role into helping him achieve his dream.

Wheatcroft did not let his blindness affect his life but is rather using the power of mobile applications in the modern world to achieve his goal. In the past one year, he had entered into a partnership with IBM to develop an app which would help him during his runs. The app would help notify him of any possible obstacles and keep him on pace with the rest.

The application is called eAscot and interestingly is named after his guide dog Ascot. While it is still under development with IBM's London Bluemix Garage, one of its premier innovation hubs, Wheatcroft is using the GPS based fitness tracking app called Runkeeper in the meantime which itself is empowered by IBM's cloud. "This app allows me to track my run and know far I am from the closest marked landmarks," says Wheatcroft.

But the application ecosystem for such blind runners is still in its nascent stage and for such heavy duty ultra marathon runs; the apps need to memorize all the landmarks and should be enabled with satellite navigation with a simpler user interface.

Moreover, developers will need to take into account all parameters like location, weight of the device, hallucination proof UI and huge amounts of monetary investments.

Although the app is still in the development and testing phase, Wheatcroft used a version of the app to run the difficult 258 km Sahara race in Namibia desert, one of the most dangerous races in the world to compete in the world.

Wheatcroft however went ahead and participated in it and managed around 161 km before pulling out of the race due to the tough weather conditions.

"It was a gritty challenge but I did not give up and continued to push myself and win the race in the coming years," says Wheatcroft.

Moreover, he adds that the app used corrective navigation in the desert which unlike other mapping and running apps puts one back on the course whenever that person is going wrong. "Its navigation from a different perspective," says Wheatcroft.

With an effervescent smile on his face, Wheatcroft confidently points out that he will continue to run and hopefully the technology will get even better and cheaper and empower the blind community.

source: techgig.com