Smart Nation: Indoor Navigation for the Visually Impaired

Most of the existing indoor navigation systems providing active guidance to the visually impaired are bulky, expensive and hence are not accepted widely. This paper presents the experimental design and implementation of an Unsighted Indoor Navigation System (UINS) for the visually impaired using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, carried out as part of a capstone project. This system consists of BLE beacons for trilateration and proximity ranging, and an Android application that communicates with beacons to provide navigation through audio in a step by step manner. The purpose of this system is to allow the visually impaired to navigate themselves in unfamiliar indoor environments.