CHATFIELD STATE PARK — By the time Sue Shusterman turns away from the bench at the overlook and back toward the trailhead, she knows the paddleboarders are out in force 300 yards away on the gleaming blue surface of Chatfield Reservoir.
She knows the high runoff waters have flooded the roots of Chatfield’s willows and cottonwoods, and that the first spring-green layers of the foothills rise to the west like soft fabric.
How she acquired these life-affirming memories is at first a mystery, since Shusterman is blind and is heading back toward the parking lot making her usual sweep of the path in front with her ever-present white cane.
But then a friendly voice emerges from the phone that Shusterman is pointing toward the path from her other hand.
A little to the left to stay on the paved path. Looks like there’s a trail all the way down to the beach, about 75 yards, if you wanted to go. I’ll just be here watching, let me know if you need anything.
The voice is from a live, trained human guide FaceTiming through Shusterman’s phone camera on the Aira ability-assist app. Sight-impaired people have been using Aira’s guides to make it easier to do anything from navigating an airport to filling out an online job form. Now, all 42 Colorado state parks like Chatfield are geofenced to allow any visitor to use Aira for free to stroll the trails with a helpful set of eyes.
The Aira guides seemingly effortlessly offer what a blind hiker either needs, or wants. If there’s a dangerous steep drop-off on the right, they warn. If the hiker would rather know if the sneezeweed is in bloom or the sailboats are luffing through a turn, Aira offers that instead.
For Shusterman, trying Aira as an outdoors adventure for the first time, the allure was simple: “Independence.”
“So she’s doing, I think, a phenomenal job of including the necessary safety things, but the perks of the scenery, too,” Shusterman said, as she paused during a conversation with an Aira guide based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “She’s doing great.”
State accessibility officials recently announced the expansion of Aira to state parks grounds, after previously providing Aira free for other state-related functions such as navigating a government building or getting help on an online site or filling out forms. Colorado cannot control the cellphone signal, though, so parks officials encourage visitors to try Aira at a familiar or close-in park space before ranging farther afield with it. Popular parks like Staunton or Golden Gate contain pockets where signals are not strong.
For consumers buying access on their own, Aira costs about $50 for 30 minutes of assistance a month. Private employers and governments often buy package access to Aira and other accessibility apps for all employees to use. State accessibility coordinator Theresa Montano, who is blind and accompanied Shusterman on her Chatfield walk, said Amazon buys access so that sight-impaired shipping center employees can navigate steps to pack orders.
Montano uses Aira at her state job, saying the guides on the app can share her computer screen and help her get through an online task in 30 minutes that might take her four hours without help or through older accessibility tools.
Adding Aira for state-owned lands was wrapped into the overall $250,000 budget for free Aira use on state property and with state websites. The additional utility is an obvious plus, Montano said.
“This gives blind people the same opportunity to come and enjoy it by themselves or with their family if they want to, and be independent,” she said.
After being dropped at Chatfield by rideshare, Shusterman was quickly able to find the Aira app and launch it — the tech companies’ touch and voice assistance tools have all gotten better, Montano said. Shusterman quickly described to the Aira guide where she was and what she wanted to do, but that didn’t matter so much — with a clear view from the phone camera, the guide simply needed to describe what she saw and have Shusterman point the camera if necessary.
“I use a guide dog,” Shusterman said. “But I didn’t bring him today because it’s really hot. And I was a little nervous about that. And I thought you know, this will be really interesting.”
Once launched, Shusterman began striding fast, far outpacing Montano as she lingered back to describe other state programs. Shusterman got descriptions of the curving paved path and warnings when bikers were coming, as well as more poetic advice about the cloud cover and the fall lines.
User reviews of Aira have been great, Montano said.
“The Aira agents are all trained and vetted out. And they’re all over the world. I’ve had agents in Mexico or wherever, they just look through the view through the camera and let you know what they see,” Montano said.
Shusterman walked away taking more from the big picture experience, rather than any particular scenic detail.
“For me, it was, you know what, I could go for a walk on this path, and I could feel completely safe, and I would enjoy a nice walk and get some exercise, in an unfamiliar area,” Shusterman said. “It’s definitely a real confidence boost for me.”