Dronenavigator: Using Drones For Navigating Visually Impaired Persons

Even after decades of research about navigation support for visually impaired people, moving independently still remains a major challenge. Previous work in HCI explored a large number of navigation aids, including auditory and tactile guidance systems. In this poster we propose a novel approach to guide visually impaired people. We use small lightweight drones that can be perceived through the distinct sound and the airflow they naturally produce. We describe the interaction concept we envision, first insights from proof-of-concept tests with a visually impaired participant, and provide an overview of potential application scenarios.