Navigation Solutions for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons: A State-of-the-Art Survey

Abstract

This survey provides a comprehensive overview of navigation solutions designed for Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) individuals, analyzing 75 systematically selected papers and focusing on three critical aspects. First, it identifies a significant gap in the literature, highlighting the lack of seamless indoor/outdoor navigation systems that can support uninterrupted mobility for users in different environments. Secondly, it highlights the limited attention given to inclusivity factors such as usability, accessibility, user experience, and co-design when developing these solutions. Finally, it assesses the technological readiness of current navigation systems by evaluating their ability to effectively meet the needs of BVI persons in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, this study provides a complete open-access repository of the analyzed data to support reproducibility. The results of this study are intended to guide future research and development efforts toward creating more comprehensive, user-centered navigation solutions.