A pocket-PC based navigational aid for blind individuals

This paper describes a pocket-PC based electronic travel aid (ETA) that helps a blind individual navigate through indoor environments. The system detects surrounding obstacles using ultrasonic range sensors and the travel direction using an electronic compass. The acquired information is processed by a pocket-PC to generate a virtual acoustic environment where nearby obstacles are recognizable to the user. This virtual environment is played back through stereo headphones, so that the user can perceive surrounding obstacles and the direction of the Earth´s magnetic North, using spatialized 3D sounds. The paper describes the instrumental and computational aspects of the design and presents the results, demonstrating the improvement in blind travel achieved with the system.