Design of a Social Collaboration and Precise Localization Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) encounter various difficulties during their daily activities like path planning, navigation and obstacle avoidance. Many BVI still trust and rely on the white cane to explore their environments. The state-of-the-art white canes have audio systems to guide the BVI through their environment. In this paper, we present a top-down design approach for a social collaboration service especially designed for the BVI. We also present a precise localization approach for indoor and outdoor environments which serves as the underlying foundation for the social collaboration environment. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.