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Two new apps are set to assist blind individuals in navigating indoor spaces by providing spoken directions through a smartphone. This offers a safe solution for wayfinding in areas where GPS is ineffective.

UC Santa Cruz professor of Computer Science and Engineering Roberto Manduchi has devoted much of his research career to creating accessible technology for the blind and visually impaired. Throughout years of working with these communities, he has learned that there is a particular need for tools to help with indoor navigation of new spaces.

"Moving about independently in a place that you don't know is particularly difficult, because you don't have any visual reference—it's very easy to get lost. The idea here is to try to make this a little bit easier and safer for people," Manduchi said.

In a new paper published in the journal ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, Manduchi's research group presents two smartphone apps that provide indoor wayfinding, navigation to a specific point, and safe return, the process of tracing back a past route. The apps give audio cues and don't require a user to hold their smartphone in front of themselves, which would be inconvenient and attract undue attention.

Safer, scalable technology

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