Scientists Design Low-Cost Indoor Navigation System for Blind
From: University of Nevada, Reno - 05/18/2012
By: Mike Wolterbeek 

University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) researchers have developed Navatar, an
indoor navigation system for people with visual impairments. The
smartphone-based system combines human-computer interaction and
motion-planning research. "Existing indoor navigation systems typically
require the use of expensive and heavy sensors, or equipping rooms and
hallways with radio-frequency tags that can be detected by a handheld reader
and which are used to determine the user’s location," says UNR's Kostas
Bekris. Navatar uses two-dimensional architectural maps, which are already
available for many buildings, as well as low-cost sensors such as
accelerometers and compasses. The system locates and tracks users inside
buildings, finding the best path based on their needs, and provides
step-by-step instructions to the destination. "To synchronize the location,
our system combines probabilistic algorithms and the natural capabilities of
people with visual impairments to detect landmarks in their environment
through touch, such as corridor intersections, doors, stairs, and elevators,"
says UNR's Eelke Folmer. The directions are provided using synthetic speech,
while users confirm their location by verbal cues or by pressing a button on
the phone. The researchers now are seeking new applications for Navatar,
including integrating it into outdoor navigation systems that use global
positioning systems. 

Read the entire article at:
http://newsroom.unr.edu/2012/05/18/university-of-nevada-reno-scientists-design-low-cost-indoor-navigation-system-for-blind/

Links:
Kostas Bekris
http://www.cse.unr.edu/robotics/pracsys/bekris

Eelke Folmer
http://www.eelke.com/

Navatar: Navigating Blind Users in Indoor Spaces using Tactile Landmarks (with video 2:11)
http://www.eelke.com/navatar-indoor-navigation-blind.html

Navatar
http://eelke.com/navatar

Motion-Planning Research Enables Indoor Navigation System for the Blind
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/13849