Indoor Personal NavigationSystem for the Blind Using Augmented GPS

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Indoor navigation can be challenging for blind individuals given the lack of access to room numbers, building maps, and other navigation-critical information. While the global positioning system (GPS) has proven beneficial in supporting outdoor navigation, this technology has previously been unavailable for indoor usage. Koronis Biomedical Technologies (KBT) believes the use of new highly sensitive GPS receivers augmented with advanced dead reckoning technology will provide a solution for improving indoor navigation for the visually impaired. Dead-reckoning uses measures of heading and velocity to provide a three dimensional positioning solution based on a known starting point. KBT proposes to develop a small indoor personal navigation aid to support blind/low-vision travel. The commercialization of such a device would have immediate benefit on the independence and quality of life for a large market segment of our society, as the World Health Organization estimates over 12 million U.S. citizens have some form of uncorrected vision loss, with these projections doubling by the year 2030. In this phase II SBIR project, KBT will develop a production-ready personal navigation device that supports indoor route guidance and location-based information. The key advantage of our approach is that the device does not require building modifications and is developed around a user-centered interface thoroughly tested in several human behavioral studies. The KBT device will also leverage the software platform of an existing outdoor navigation system for the blind, thus representing the first viable system supporting seamless indoor/outdoor travel. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this project is to develop a personal indoor navigation device using high-sensitive GPS augmented with dead-reckoning technology.