An efficient indoor navigation technique to find optimal route for blinds using QR codes

Abstract

Blind navigation is an accessibility application that enables blind to use an android Smartphone in an easy way for indoor navigation with instructions in audio form. We have proposed a prototype which is an indoor navigation application for blinds that uses QR codes. It is developed for android Smart phones and does not require any additional hardware for navigation. It provides automatic navigational assistance on pre-defined paths for blind. QR codes are placed on the floor sections after specific distance that acts as an input for current location detection and navigation. Whenever a QR code is scanned it provides the user with the information of the current location and asks the user to select the destination and then offers optimal and shortest path using path finding algorithms. During navigation whenever the deviation from the proposed path is detected it prompts the user and guides back to the right path by comparing the current path with the generated path. All of the instructions throughout the application are provided in audio form to the user. The interface of the application is well built for blinds which makes the smart phones user-friendly and useable for blind people. The user interacts with the application through a specific set of user-friendly gestures for specific inputs and operations. At the end, we have performed comparison between different state of art approaches and concluded that our approach is more user friendly, cost effective and produced more accurate results.

Blind Navigation: Technologies for Visually Impaired

“…Every time the person has to go out he has to pre define all the locations, and also having QR codes everywhere is also not possible. Hence this proposed system is not user friendly [5].…”

Indoor Navigation Systems for Visually Impaired Persons: Mapping the Features of Existing Technologies to User Needs

“…In single-camera systems [36][37][38][39], cameras without depth sensors are used. Building on ideas from non-vision-based systems, the use of fiducial markers (Aruco, QR codes) is suggested [37,38] as an alternative to computationally intensive video analysis. Markers simplify complex video processing, as the system focuses on the recognition of a finite set of markers integrated in the environment.…”

“…Markers simplify complex video processing, as the system focuses on the recognition of a finite set of markers integrated in the environment. Idrees et al [37] tested the recognition of QR codes under varying light conditions and markers of different sizes and blurriness levels. QR codes were easily detected under low light conditions and at a blurriness ratio of up to 60%.…”

“…Since most of the systems described in the studies under review are in the development phase, personal computers are usually used for data processing, storage, and the realization of complex navigation or video processing algorithms [21]. Off-the-shelf communication devices such as smartphones [37,45,53] or tablets [42,45] are usually used because they provide a convenient means of addressing the research challenges. These devices ensure standardized data transfer (over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G/4G) between wearable devices and servers.…”

An approach to vision-based localisation with binary features for partially sighted people

“…In the literature, there are many attempts to support blind or visually impaired people using for this purpose: social applications [7], text readers [10], Global Positioning System (GPS) [41], radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags [15,27], radio beacons [37], QR codes [14], visual markers [20,33], LED markers [26], ultra-wideband (UWB) technology [22], infrared (IR) cameras [18], or ultrasonic sensors [33]. Most of these approaches aim to provide an accurate position of a blind person relying on a device attached to the location of interest.…”