by Jianfeng Wu (open source)
VoiceVista is a free iOS app developed as a community-maintained, MIT-licensed successor to Microsoft Soundscape—a pioneering spatial audio navigation project discontinued by Microsoft in 2023. Built on the same open-source codebase and design philosophy, VoiceVista preserves and extends Soundscape's mission of supporting orientation and independent travel for people who are blind or have low vision.
VoiceVista uses GPS and 3D binaural audio to place street names, intersections, and points of interest in the physical direction they are located relative to the user, creating a dynamic audio map of the surrounding environment. Shaking the phone triggers an immediate location announcement. Users can place an audio beacon on a destination that grows progressively louder as they approach it. Street preview mode lets users mentally rehearse a route before travelling, and route and marker data can be imported and exported for sharing with O&M specialists or peers.
VoiceVista serves people who are blind or have low vision who travel independently, providing spatial awareness and orientation support as a complement to white cane or guide dog travel. It is widely recommended by orientation and mobility specialists for building mental maps of neighbourhoods, campuses, and transit routes.
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