I-Corps: Translation Potential of a Crowdsourced System to Support Widely-Available, Accessible Wayfinding

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is the development of a technology to improve accessible wayfinding (navigation). For people who are blind, the lack of accessible wayfinding is a key barrier to accessing economic and social opportunities. The United States is home to more than one million people who are blind, with more than 250,000 being between the ages of 18 and 65. This research aims to commercialize a sustainable, long-term navigation solution that is financially viable and empowering for people who are blind. The potential benefits to the United States include improvements in the health and wellness of the blind community through increased opportunities outside of the home and the expansion of the workforce in both number and diversity of perspective by including more people who are blind. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of two complementary technologies: a smartphone navigation app and a mechanism to wear and control the smartphone. The navigation app uses cutting-edge visual-inertial positioning technology (combining the phone's camera and other sensors) to enable people who are blind to efficiently locate themselves in both indoor and outdoor environments and receive non-visual guidance to precisely locate their destination. The data that feeds this navigation experience is generated through a crowd-sourcing approach whereby people can easily contribute mapping data to improve the navigation experience of others. The solution also includes a physical product to enable the user to use on the phone camera and controls without needing to devote a hand to holding the phone, which is an important feature for people who also use a cane or guide dog for navigation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.