The navigation system for the visually impaired

The objective of this study is the development of auto-navigation system which supports activities of the visually impaired without help of others. This system navigates the visually impaired by using information about three sensors (a gyroscope, a terrestrial magnetism sensor and an acceleration sensor), DGPS, and digital maps. Here, the authors report the outline of the system and assess the developed method. From the experiments, the following characteristics become clear. (1) Using the authors' method, under any condition the position of a user can be estimated accurately. (2) The system can calculate the suitable route and navigate a subject correctly.