Digital guides for visually impaired athletes

We want you to run free

In early 2022, Nordic Evolution introduced a new way for visually impaired to move without traditional companions such as man or dog. An audio guidance system that enables blind athletes to independently follow digitally designed paths and focus on the task at hand, the motion.

It is an indescribable feeling of freedom to be able to run by myself as a blind person, something I have longed for all my life!

 Ida Östlund

We arrange camps and activities

Try out digital guidance with us!

Would you like to try out digital guidance in a specific activity or maybe try out a whole set of activities for a few days? We organise one-day events and multi-day camps where visually impaired people can try our system in the activity of choice. Kayaking, hiking in the mountains, skating on a lake or cross-country skiing/alpine skiing in the north, it’s up to you!

Over the past year we have been invited to various events in Sweden where we have demonstrated our system to the visually impaired. Now we offer you to book us for events in more natural settings, where we can arrange activities to suit your needs!

Upcoming events

cross country skiing

16 MARCH, Norrköping/Kimstad

Welcome to cross-country skiing in classic style and you can choose to ski between 1 and 5 laps on a 1.5 km course. You can borrow one of our digital guides and you will also have an guide throughout the race for added safety. If you want to come the day before and test the course, we can help with accommodation at the ski stadium and transport (e.g. from Norrköping station). Read more at Kimstad GoIF.

RUNNING - EAST SWEDEN GAMES

1 JUNE, Linköping

Here you have the opportunity to take part in an athletics competition with digital guidance. You can choose to run 100 and/or 3000 meters on a 400 meters outdoor arena. You don’t have to worry about collisions, as there is also the option of a guide to accompany you for extra security. Accommodation and local transport can be arranged. Read more at Linköping Friidrott and contact Frida at LGIF if you have any questions, phone 0702 290 054.

News

Radiosporten (junior) – Sveriges Radio visited us in Linköping and tested our digital guide system. A 100 meter track with start- and finished signal was prepared. In this reportage you follow Loke (8 year & blind) together with LGIF

Guidance through sound signals

While following a pre-recorded digital path, you hear infrequent signals in both ears. If you stray off the path, the side facing the center turns silent, while the signal gets increasingly frequent in the ear furthest away from center. This makes it easy to keep in the center while moving along a digital path.

The Nordic Evolution guidence system generates sound alerts in the left and right ear so the visually impaired person can stay center while following a digital path

Blind Athletes Demonstrate the system

We sell our digital guide system

Guidance module

Digital guide module for visually impaired and snow depth measurement

For visually impaired

A digital guide system that enables people with impaired vision to enjoy sports and everyday trips without being accompanied by a guide. Popular activities are for example running, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, long jump, skating, kayaking and hiking. The digital guide is also convenient in your everyday life, for walking to school, the grocery store, the gym etc. without a companion.

What to carry

Wireless earphones and the Nordic Evolution guidance module which is 14 cm high, weighs about 100 grams and is worn with a custom headband. The system requires a WIFI-network which can be generated by a smartphone.

How to set up navigation

First you create the digital path you would like to follow, or you use the user-generated paths in our database. You can record a path by moving the module over the ground, but you can also design the path on a map in our computer interface. 

Then you design the type of audio signals that you would like as a guide along the path. Besides GPS navigation you can set distance marks, information about slopes or other places of interest, it’s up to you!

unique guide/position system

The compact Nordic Evolution guidance module includes a high-precision GPS that connects to several satellite systems and with a unique series of sensors, the system offers an average position accuracy of 10 cm in the majority of Sweden. In optimal environments, the system can reach an accuracy of 1 cm. This precision, combined with a sophisticated and intuitive computer interface, enables users to easily create and follow their own paths, as well as sharing them with other users. As of today, the Nordic Evolution guidance system is solely adapted to the local network conditions in Sweden, so please contact us for use in other countries.

Suitable for various activities

Follow the links below to explore how you can use our digital guidance system in various ways

Long jump

Everyday life

Triathlon

Set up guide paths and sound alerts

Manage paths In the user interface

Design paths and sound alerts in the firmware for visually impaired athletes

A path following an arena track

Digital guide path for visually impaired recorded from gps

Buy a system for your sports ground

To your visually impaired athletes

Do you want to make your sports club available for visually impaired athletes? Enable them to run, jump etc. on their own without the need of available companions? We want as many people as possible to benefit from our digital guides and sharing a system is a great way to increase accessibility.

We always deliver our systems with training but we also offer to set up the paths you want around your sporting grounds. For athletics, this could for example be a digital path for the long jump, the 100 meter sprint and along a lap around the arena, that also could be used for warm ups before other sports. In this way, your visually impaired athletes could enjoy some of the exercises without being dependent on a companion.

Contact us to discuss how we can supply a digital guide with custom paths to the visually impaired athletes in your sports club.

With custom designed paths

Sports ground with digital guide paths for visually impaired athletes

A few of our customers

Norrköping municipality Nordic Evolution customer

Our digital guidance system is used for cross-country skiing at Kimstad GoIF Skidcenter

LInköping municipality Nordic Evolution customer

Our digital guidance system is used for running at Friidrottsarenan Campus Valla

Jönköping municipality Nordic Evolution customer

Our digital guidance system is used for running at Råslätts IP

Blind child testing digital guidance with the Nordic Evolution GPS system
blind person skiing with digital guide gps module on helmet
Den blinde motionären Johan Pettersson testade digital ledsagning på löparbana genom Nordic Evolutions GPS-baserade digitala ledsagare.