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We present a robot-assisted wayfinding system for the visually impaired in structured indoor environments. The system consists of a mobile robotic guide and small passive RFID sensors embedded in the environment. The system is intended for use in indoor environments, such as office buildings, supermarkets and airports. We describe how the system was deployed in two indoor environments and evaluated by visually impaired participants in a series of pilot experiments. We analyze the system's successes and failures and outline our plans for future research and development.

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Research on spatial cognition and blind navigation suggests that a device aimed at helping blind people to shop independently should provide the shopper with effective interfaces to the locomotor and haptic spaces of the supermarket. In this article, we argue that robots can act as effective interfaces to haptic and locomotor spaces in modern supermarkets. We also present the design and evaluation of three product selection modalities-browsing, typing and speech, which allow the blind shopper to select the desired product from a repository of thousands of products.

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