Indoor navigation for people who are blind or vision impaired: where are we and where are we going?

Despite over a decade of intensive research and development, the problem of delivering an effective indoor navigation system to blind and/or vision impaired (BVI) persons remains largely unsolved. In an attempt to strengthen and improve future research efforts, we define a set of criteria for evaluating the success of a potential navigation device. The requirements analysis has been broken down into the subcategories of positioning accuracy, robustness, seamlessness of integration with varying environments and, perhaps the most critical aspect, the nature of information that is provided to a BVI user. We need apply this evaluation framework to significant examples of research in this area before concluding the paper by presenting and evaluating our own system. The results of this paper clearly prove the need for a new focus and user-centred design attitude in relation to this problem – one which incorporates universal and inclusive design principles, recognises the uniqueness of the audience and understands the challenges associated with the systems/devices intended environment of use.