CityU Navigation App for the Visually Impaired

Abstract

In Hong Kong, most of the public areas are equipped with accessible facilities that assist the visually impaired person (VIP) to locate where they are and find their destination. However, if the destination is too far away from their present location, it is still difficult for them to reach the right place. This project is designed specifically for the VIP-visitors of City University of Hong Kong (City U). The project consists of two parts. For the first part, it is a mobile application written in Swift and runs on the iOS platform. This application helps the VIPs to find their way inside City U through playing aloud the navigation instructions step by step, so that they do not have to memorize loads of instructions. Furthermore, the application reminds the VIPs when they have reached the destination by playing an alerting sound. For the second part, it is a backend system which allows long-term improvement of the system. It consists of a SQLite database and an admin panel programmed with Python and Django web framework. Administrator can edit the landmarks and the navigation instructions stored in the database using the admin panel. With the help of the backend system, users can build up a further complete navigation system even when there are changes of facilities in City U.