Talking Kiosk Unveiled In Penn Station
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The MTA and Long Island Rail Road unveiled a talking kiosk Tuesday to help the visually impaired and other customers navigate Midtown Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station.
The kiosk features a touch-activated map of the station. As a customer touches different parts of the map, the kiosk describes the corresponding location and gives directions on how to get there.
The kiosk is located in the Long Island Rail Road's main concourse, between the entrances to tracks 14 and 15.
Carlos Gourgey, a legally blind customer, said the talking kiosk makes a difference in how he gets around Penn Station.
"I have a sense from using this kiosk that, like, I know how the station is laid out in ways that I never knew before, basically where the different tracks are and how to get to them," said Gourgey. "Usually when I come down to Penn Station, I feel like it's a big jumbled mess. I have no idea where this track is or that track is or anything is."
To help visually impaired customers find the kiosk, it emits the sound of a sparrow.