New "talking kiosk" aids blind travelers at Penn Station in NYC

From Newsday in NY:

No, that's not the sound of a commuter picking up four calling birds on his way home.

The chirping you may hear in Penn Station's main concourse is coming from the MTA's new "talking kiosk" - a device that officials say could work wonders in helping the visually impaired, and most anyone else, find their way around the station.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials unveiled the $23,000 machine, which replaces an older version removed earlier this year. The new model, they say,
improves upon the original and costs less than half as much.

"We're really looking at systems here that are fully accessible to people with a variety of different needs, but also are completely usable and inviting to members of the general public," said Steven Landau, director of research for Manhattan-based
Touch Graphics, which developed the technology for the MTA. "This approach to universal design is the wave of the future."

The wall-mounted device, which resembles an automated teller machine,
is located between tracks 14 and 15 of the Long Island Rail Road in the main terminal and makes its presence known by emitting the sound of a lark sparrow.

A customer uses a tactile map of Penn Station that includes a "You are here" type of star with an indentation to communicate where he or she is relative to the surroundings. A programmed voice also will give instructions to a destination; for example, explaining that to get to the escalator to New Jersey Transit, one must "with your back to the kiosk, walk forward with your angle slightly to the left.

"The MTA used the input of several visually impaired riders in developing the kiosk. But Frank Perino of Islip, founder and president of Innersight, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, said that more important than a talking kiosk is having more Braille signage near track stairways and on platforms. He also said the talking kiosk appeared to be overly complicated.

"By the time you've figured it out, you've missed your train," he said.

LIRR president Helena Williams said the kiosk is only one step in the agency's ongoing commitment to aiding the disabled.

"We welcome people with disabilities to give us their input," she said.