Blind and Low Vision Indoor Guidance Using Personal Routes

This project develops a collaborative, smartphone-based navigation system for travelers who are blind or have low vision that will guide them through complex or unfamiliar environments by providing customized walking instructions tailored to users with visual disabilities. Travelers may select their desired destination from a searchable library of routes, and then receive step-by-step narrative walking directions delivered via an accessible mobile application that guides them to their destination. The key innovation in this project is the development of a collaborative route creation and planning feature enabling the community of users with visual disabilities to collect, share, and maintain walking instructions. This approach enables the application’s users to create and share narrative routes optimized for users who have visual disabilities, and allows users to share routes for those locales they regard as most important.