Navigation module of Blavigator prototype

People with vision disabilities deal with serious limitations while moving around. Common navigation systems do not fully address the needs of blind people, which can only be attended with an adapted product. Blavigator is a navigation system for the blind, currently being developed at the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Blavigator proposes a solution to enhance mobility, finding routes and providing contextual information about points of interest in user's surroundings, guiding him to a desired destination. In this paper is presented the navigation module of Blavigator that ensures a continuous feed of information with sufficient detail allowing the blind user to reach the desired destination successfully. A pilot test with 5 blindfolded persons was conducted to test the navigation module feasibility and do some performance analysis. The results are promising and provide evidence that the navigation module helps blind people to successfully reach the desired destination.

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