AR-Driven Voice Controlled Indoor Navigation System for the Visually Impaired

Navigating unfamiliar indoor environments presents significant challenges for visually impaired (VI) individuals, often limiting their independence and accessibility. Traditional aids, while helpful, may not provide sufficient real-time, contextual information for complex indoor spaces. This paper proposes an AR-Driven Voice-Controlled Indoor Navigation System designed to empower VI users. The system leverages smartphone capabilities, integrating Augmented Reality (AR) for environmental understanding and visual cue overlay (for users with residual vision), voice recognition for hands-free interaction, and indoor positioning techniques for accurate localization. The primary goal is to provide intuitive, turn-by-turn audio and supplementary AR visual guidance, enabling VI individuals to navigate indoor spaces like university campuses, shopping malls, or public buildings with greater confidence and safety. The system processes voice commands to determine destinations, calculates optimal paths, and delivers navigation instructions through spatial audio and haptic feedback, augmented by AR overlays. Preliminary evaluations indicate a promising approach to enhancing autonomous mobility for the visually impaired.