Client-server Approach in the Navigation System for the Blind

Abstract

The article presents the client-server approach in the navigation system for the blind - “Voice Maps”. The authors were among the main creators of the prototype and currently the commercialization phase is being finished. In the implemented prototype only exemplary, limited spatial data were used, therefore they could be stored and analyzed (for pathfinding process) in the mobile device’s memory without any difficulties. The resulting increase of spatial data scale and complexity required a modification of the data storage and operation. Consequently, the decision was made to maintain a central spatial database, which is accessed remotely. After that modification, the mobile application fetches the required batch of spatial data (with the pathfinding and search results) from the central server through the mobile internet connection, which has also become necessary for other purposes (e.g. voice recognition). The authors present the advantages and disadvantages of this new approach along with the results of the server operational tests.

Keywords

• Navigation System
• Navigation System for the Blind
• Voice Maps
• Spatial Data
• Geographic Information System (GIS)
• Mobile Device
• Pathfinding
• Mobile Application