An Indoor Navigation Aid Designed for Visually Impaired People

Abstract

This work introduces the hardware architecture and general principles of a portable indoor navigation system for guiding visually impaired people. It operates through wireless communication between a compact hardware interface unit carried by the user, a central processing unit and an active RFID unit. The RFID unit collects signals as regard to the position of the user, the central system processes those signals to estimate the position of the user and proposes a route and direction for the user to follow, whereas hardware interface unit provides interaction. The orienteering of the user is obtained by a tactile compass.