ABSTRACT
Abstract: The challenge of enabling safer and more effective indoor navigation for visually impaired people has motivated researchers for decades. However, overall, there is a lack of practical, low-cost, accessible, customizable, and user-friendly navigational aids to allow people with low or no vision to safely navigate or evacuate buildings. The existing solutions (both commercial and research) have been developed to assist blind and visually impaired people to familiarize themselves with different physical spaces, localize themselves within a space, plan useful routes within a space, and avoid hazards while moving from place to place. Among these assistive tools
CONTENTS
8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 166 8.2 Indoor Navigation Technology Challenges ........................................... 167
8.2.1 Familiarization ............................................................................... 168 8.2.2 Localization .................................................................................... 169 8.2.3 Path Planning ................................................................................. 171 8.2.4 Communication and Interaction.................................................. 172
8.3 Example Indoor Navigation Aids ............................................................ 173 8.3.1 Familiarization Tools ..................................................................... 173 8.3.2 Enhanced Traditional Mobility Aids .......................................... 176 8.3.3 Smartphone-Based Mobility Aids ............................................... 177 8.3.4 Custom Devices .............................................................................. 179 8.3.5 Supporting Infrastructure ............................................................ 181
8.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 182 Acknowledgments .............................................................................................. 183 References ............................................................................................................. 183
are enhanced mobility aids, which include tools such as augmented white canes with laser-emitting diodes and sensors, magnetic field probes, radiofrequency identification, ultrasonic devices, and camera and vision-based systems. Location-aware systems have also been developed using technologies such as GPS, mobile phone infrastructure, or wireless access points to triangulate the location of a user. Some of these technologies for localization have been coupled with tracking tools to create navigation systems for visually impaired users.
