These days, it’s easy to get so accustomed to technology that we wonder what we did before it was invented. Many of us feel this way about turn-by-turn navigation systems—did we actually rely on paper maps? If Microsoft has its way, soon the sight-impaired community will also be able to reap the rewards of GPS and Bluetooth® beacon technology—in a way specially customized for their needs.

After spending two years discovering the needs of the visually impaired, Microsoft—in a unique partnership with the charity Guide Dogs and a number of other partners—has developed lightweight, Bluetooth enabled headsets. Fitted with a GPS tracker and compass, which connect via Bluetooth to a Microsoft Windows smartphone, the headsets are designed to help the sight-impaired explore a city like never before. Using a 3D sound system, the headset helps users bypass unexpected obstacles, such as parked cars, cyclists, or curbs. Users can program in a preset destination, and subtle sounds like clicking and swishing noises will indicate whether they’re on the right route.

The headsets can also connect to Bluetooth beacons along the way, to give users information such as real-time bus timetables, and point out useful features—like the great Chinese food place on their right, or the public restroom on the left. Since the visually impaired depend so much on their sense of hearing, the headphones are specially designed so they don’t block out surroundings. Instead, they fit around the temples, emitting a vibration through the user’s cheekbones and into the inner ear, leaving the ears free to hear ambient sounds.

“There’s no better meaning than helping someone to be independent in their life,” says Microsoft’s Jenny Lay-Flurrie. “Everyone has that right, but not everyone has that capability. But I think that with technology, we can make that happen.”

The project is still in development stages, but it should be interesting to see whether it turns into one of those “what did I ever do without it?”

(Credit: Nanci Taplett)