New Navigation Tool Offers a Virtual World for the Blind
From: EurekAlert - August 26, 2003

The Navigational Assistance for the Visually Impaired (NAVI) system developed
by University of Rochester researchers uses radio and passive transponders to
help guide blind people, though its potential applications could extend
beyond this primary capability. NAVI features a detector that beams a radio
signal to the transponders, which are attached to stationary objects such as
buildings; the detection of these transponders triggers an audio response
burned onto a CD in a portable player that gives the user navigational aid.
In addition to helping the visually impaired, the device can be used to
enhance museum tours or walkthroughs of important places. "This is a
wonderful example of our students taking theory from the classroom, knowledge
of some of the difficulties faced by some groups of people, and combining
that with existing devices to transform it into a real-world application that
is of genuine usefulness to people," declares NAVI project leader Jack
Mottley, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and
biomedical engineering at the University of Rochester. The CD player would
allow users to change informational CDs as they move to different locations,
while future versions of the device could store data in solid-state memory
that can be automatically revised upon entering a new locale, or let persons
set up their own tags and record relevant data as they desire. The passive
tags do not need to be plugged in and require no batteries, and deploying
them is a relatively cheap proposition, says Mottley. The development team
behind NAVI is applying for a patent on the device, in the hopes of
partnering with a manufacturer to maximize the system's user-friendliness. 

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/uor-nnt082603.php
http://www.rochester.edu/pr/News/NewsReleases/latest/Mottley-NAVI.html


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Radio Tags Give Guidance
From: Technology Research News - 10/01/2003
By: Kimberly Patch

University of Rochester researchers have developed a navigational aid for the
visually handicapped that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in
a unique way. Most of the current buzz surrounding RFID tags revolves around
how the technology is enhancing inventory management by allowing items
outfitted with the mobile transponders to be tracked with stationary radio
receivers. The University of Rochester's Navigational Assistance for the
Visually Impaired (NAVI) system inverts that equation by keeping the
transponders stationary and the receivers mobile so that users can keep track
of their whereabouts. Associate professor of electrical and computer
engineering Jack Mottley explains that users would wear headphones and CD
players, and specific tracks on the CDs would be triggered when they come
into the range of passive transponders. A NAVI setup would not only help the
visually impaired to navigate, but would augment self-guided touring as well,
and serve as a cheaper alternative to global positioning systems. The system
is assembled from commercially available elements, and deployment is
relatively cheap thanks to the low cost, durability, and simplicity of the
radio frequency transponders. The most difficult aspect of the NAVI system's
development was integrating the radio frequency system's identification
tracking function and the CD system's audio playback component. The
University of Rochester researchers are working to extend the tag reader's
range, while Mottley expects the size of the device will eventually shrink
down to something about as small as a portable CD player.  

http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2003/092403/Radio_tags_give_guidance_092403.html