Indoor navigation for the blind and 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 the blind and vision impaired (BVI) 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. In order to give complete coverage, the Requirements Analysis has been broken down into the subcategories of positioning accuracy, robustness, seamlessness of integration with varying environments and the nature of information that is outputted to a BVI user. We then apply this framework to a number of existing navigation solutions for the BVI, drawing upon the notable achievements that have been made thus far and also the crucial issues that remain unresolved or are yet to receive attention. It was found that these key issues, which existing designs fail to overcome, can be attributed to the need for a new focus and user centred design attitude - one which incorporates universal design, recognises the uniqueness of its audience and understands the challenges associated with the systems/devices intended environment.