Take 40 enthusiastic first-time geocachers using a new, state-of-the-art GPSr, and turn them loose in the Gold Country of California, and what do you have? An event. Not just any event; these cachers are blind.

On September 19 and 20, 2003, approximately 40 individuals met for the "Way Fun" gathering, sponsored by the Society for the Blind, the Rose Resnick Lighthouse, and the Sendero Group, the manufacturer of GPS products and other mobility aids designed for the visually impaired. Included in the two-day event was a progressive food, wine and historical treasure hunt.Friends and family who are sighted were also invited to the fun event, and were given the opportunity to experience a different perspective by either being blindfolded, or led by a blind tour guide. Using Sendero's BrailleNote GPS, teams of two, three, or four were given coordinates to various wineries, where bottles of wine were hidden as caches. "Hunger, thirst and your ability to use BrailleNote GPS will govern your progress through the treasures of the California Gold Country", instructed Mr. Mike May, CEO of the Sendero Group.

Participants had the choice of either operating the BrailleNote GPSr, or observing its use. Friends and family who are sighted were also invited to the fun event, and were given the opportunity to experience a different perspective by either being blindfolded, or led by a blind tour guide.

The BrailleNote GPS is a combination which uses a GPSr the size of a cell phone to track GPS satellites and a Braille and speech PDA. Its software allows a location to be calculated from among hundreds of thousands of points of interest, automatically creating routes and the distance to and from a desired destination. In "Look Around" mode, the BrailleNote GPS will announce the location of a nearby intersection, train station or custom-marked bus stop, restaurant, hotel, or other waypoint from a massive database of millions of available points of interest in the United States. According to May, what the BrailleNote GPS might sound like would be, "McDonalds at 3 o'clock, 927 feet…300 feet, 200 feet, 100 feet. Boom, you are there."

The two-day event gave participants information concerning independent navigation in a fun, enjoyable manner. The stress was not on technology, but rather the activities offering independent access to various locations. May states, "The GPS satellites and map databases are merely a means to an end, an access tool to a greater variety of work and play."

In a world made up of print signs, the empowerment of electronic tags is incredible for those who cannot see... A similar gathering is being planned in Bar Harbor, Maine, as well as another in Ireland and Scotland. May explained, "One of the things we will do is to leave the blind participants on their own to find their way from Dublin to Cork, where Irish Guide Dogs is located, and from Cork to Edinburgh where the next event will take place. In a world made up of print signs, the empowerment of electronic tags is incredible for those who cannot see those print signs."

Part of the pending event will have people locating as many geocaches as they can between Cork and Edinburgh. "If there is a way to hook up with sighted geocachers during our events, this would be a fun thing to do for all concerned," said May.

For more information about the BrailleNote GPS, or a future event, please contact the Sendero Group at GPS@SenderoGroup.com, or visit their web site.