WeWalk – General GPS information

WeWalk – General GPS information

Problem

A WeWalk customer experiences problems whilst using their WeWalk for navigation.

Applies to

  1. WeWalk 2

Resolution

The following information below provides some useful information which may help in understanding general GPS navigation and resolve potential problems.

What you need

  1. To use WeWalk GPS navigation features you must have a WeWalk app installed on your Apple IOS or Android smartphone.
  2. You must also have successfully paired WeWalk hardware with the WeWalk app to activate your device. 
  3. Your smartphone needs to have access to mobile data and Wi-Fi signal during navigation.


Alert
IMPORTANT!
Whilst navigating you should be aware that the map data that WeWalk relies on may not be 100 percent perfect.  There may at times be errors or gaps in the information provided by the map data.  Therefore you should always maintain local situation awareness whilst navigating and use traditional cane skills whilst navigating.

GPS

GPS is a form of satellite-based navigation, the availability of GPS satellite signal is dependent upon line-of-sight communication with satellites and your smartphone, therefore in practice it can only be used when outdoors.  There are two main types of civilian GPS used which are unassisted GPS (just satellite signals) and Differential GPS (using additional data from available Wi-Fi hotspots). 


Alert
IMPORTANT!
Since GPS and Wi-Fi are both radio based communications technologies users should be aware that reception quality may vary with local environmental conditions, service may not always be consistant or always available.  Use tradiaional can skills when the technology fails. 


When considering expected navigation performance, the satellite only unassisted GPS provides an accuracy between 3-5 metres or 9-15 feet.  Differential GPS (adding available Wi-Fi signals) can improve available accuracy to 1-3 metres or 3-9 feet precision.   
 
Users have a choice using distance based or time-based navigation updates within the WeWalk app under Navigation Preferences > Direction Repeat Preferences.  In very general terms time based navigational updates may provide more frequent information whereas distance-based update interval will provide less feedback.  Therefore, it may be necessary to switch from one to other depending on whether you are getting too little or too much information when navigating.  When using timed based navigation you can adjust the interval between direction repeats.  For new users it is recommended to set to time-based updates at the most frequent interval of every 15 seconds.  In the event this is too frequent it can be adjusted to a longer interval or switch to a distance-based update interval setting which will provide less frequent updates based based on distance travelled.  This setting is most similar that which drivers using GPS navigation get. 

Entering destinations

When providing a destination to the WeWalk app this must be given a specific address  or postcode.  The WeWalk cannot handle indefinite requests even via the voice assistant feature to find the nearest coffee place, apps like Google or Apple Maps are better for this task. 

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