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New Microsoft patent helps travelers avoid “ghetto”
By Gheni_Platenburg in Demographics & Dockets
January 12, 2012

Image A new Microsoft GPS patent seeks to help travelers avoid the “ghetto” while en route to their destinations.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the MSNBC story on the new travel aid:

A recently approved GPS patent by Microsoft has been tagged as the "avoid ghetto" app because it involves route changes due to "unsafe neighborhoods."

The word "ghetto" is nowhere to be found in the patent, but the phrase has somehow attached itself to this pedestrian route product.

The short version of the patent’s intent was reported as follows: As a pedestrian travels, various difficulties can be encountered, such as traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures.

A route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian.

Moreover, the route can alter as a situation of a user changes; for instance, if a user wants to add a stop along a route.

It can be more dangerous for a pedestrian to enter an unsafe neighborhood than a person in a vehicle since a pedestrian is more exposed and it is more difficult for her to leave an unsafe neighborhood quickly.

The app focuses more on walking navigation, rather than vehicular travel, and takes into account variables such as weather, terrain and "security information”, from which the racially under-toned phrase “ghetto” is likely to have derived.

For the complete story, click this link. What do you think about this new feature?