“Commercial products have been created that primarily use GPS in conjunction with voice-over communication as a means of telling the visually impaired where they are and which way to go,” Rose said. “Unfortunately, these products often suffer from poor positioning. That is, they are not accurate enough to tell the difference between a sidewalk and a road, or going in the wrong building or doorway.”

According to Rose, utilizing Draper Laboratory’s robotics expertise in vision navigation and Auburn’s GPS and pedestrian dead-reckoning capabilities allows the system to provide blind people with more precise directions, as well as indoor navigation. The prototype will enable impaired individuals to more intuitively participate in activities and events in a readily available way, from attending concerts to taking the subway to visiting friends.

The system of devices, which Bevly describes as potentially including an ankle bracelet containing inertial sensors or a camera positioned in a pair of glasses, is under contract with the Federal Highway Administration. A prototype device is expected to be available in 2015.