It’s here! WayAround for Public Spaces debuted this week. The first installation at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Alexandria, Virginia coordinated with the annual NIB Training Conference and Expo.

WayAround for Public Spaces uses smart tags placed at key locations in the built environment. WayTags^® work with a mobile app for iOS or Android to provide accessible audio information describing the immediate surroundings.

The inaugural installation included elevators and restrooms on the floor where the conference sessions took place.

“There are lots of visual cues that sighted people use to orient themselves to a new space, yet many aren’t available to someone with vision loss even using tools like the white cane or a guide dog,” said Darwin Belt, co-founder and manager of WayAround and an architect with vision loss. “Today’s debut of WayAround for Public Spaces is a significant step toward increasing what kind of information is available to people with vision loss about the built environment.”

Read the entire press release here.