Physical disability probes for geographic information

A method of enhancing a geographic database, the method comprising:

• receiving data from a probe device associated with a being having a physical disability;
• comparing at least a portion of the received data with map data of a geographic region;
• generating geographic data records based on the comparison, the geographic data records being attributed with a physical disability designation;
• and
• storing the generated geographic data records with the associated attribute designations in the geographic database.

A system for obtaining data for a map database, the system comprising:

• a geographic database including map data records of a geographic region;
• and
• a data collection facility in communication with the geographic database, the data collection facility receives a plurality of probe data,
• wherein the plurality of probe data being received from respective physical disability probes, and
• wherein the data collection facility analyzes the received probe data to update data corresponding to physical disability accessible paths.

A method of collecting geographic information, the method comprising:

• in each one of a plurality of physical disability assistant devices being used along paths in a geographic area:
• determining position data that represents that portion of the path upon which the physical handicapped assistant device is located;
• and
• transmitting data that indicates the position data to a central facility.

A geographic data collection system comprising:

• a physical disability device configured to assist a being having a physical disability with movement;
• a probe sensor connected with the physical disability device, the probe sensor configured to collect geographic data;
• and
• a processor in communication with the probe sensor, the processor configured to control collection of geographic data via the probe sensor,
• wherein geographic data collected via the probe sensor is provided to a data collection facility to determine map data records corresponding to a physical disability accessible path.

A method of obtaining data for a navigation database about routes accessible to persons with physical disabilities, the method comprising:

• equipping persons with a specific type of physical disability with probe sensor devices that collect position information;
• collecting position data from the probe sensor devices as the persons with the specific type of physical disability travel throughout a geographic region;
• providing the collected geographic data to a data collection facility;
• and
• updating a navigation database to indicate paths in the geographic region that are accessible by persons having the specific disability and paths in the geographic region that are not accessible by persons having the specific disability.