Visually-impaired marathoner develops app to beat disability
Wheatcroft gave shape to Ascot in collaboration with IBM and has also tested prototype
with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that causes progressive blindness, lost most of his vision by the age of 17. The only time he was unable to complete a task was when he decided to propose to his girlfriend atop a mountain in California. “I had to abandon the ascent as the crevices and cracks were too deep, and propose to her midway,” he said.
The proposal was accepted, but since then Wheatcroft decided never to quit and began training on short runs in empty fields; soon he began running on roads. Though he kept colliding into lampposts and people walking their dogs, he never gave up. “The biggest challenge was mental and I had to convince myself I could do it,” said Wheatcroft, who eventually turned professional marathoner six years ago.
Prior to developing his own app, Wheatcroft used professional guides and Runner’s pro and Google glass apps.
“Prior to this, there were no apps specifically designed for the blind. “I was using Runkeeper which allowed me to map out a route, track my speed, and receive audio signals that informed when I needed to take a left or right turn,” said Wheatcroft.
Initial idea
He contacted IBM, which already had the Runkeeper app run on the IBM Cloud. “The invited me to visit the Bluemix Garage in London, its developer space, where I pitched the engineers there an idea for an app for visually impaired runners. IBM quickly came on board.”
Wheatcroft worked on a pilot that offered low-noise navigation. “I wanted the app to use GPS, but did not want elaborate directions, just beeps to indicate I had strayed in the wrong direction and beeps to guide me back,” said Wheatcroft, who has also worked in the IT industry for 10 years. He also worked on artificial intelligence projects prior to dropping out because of his visual impairment.