Audio navigation system for the visually impaired

A navigation system featuring audio prompts comprising:

• a database including a plurality of beacon identifiers, wherein each beacon identifier corresponds to a physical beacon, wherein each beacon identifier is associated with a venue and a location, wherein the venue is defined as a collection of related locations and the location is defined as a specific position within a venue, wherein the database links a pair of beacon identifiers when a person is able to walk between the locations of the corresponding pair of beacons without passing the location of any other beacon;
• a user interface;
• a speaker;
• a Bluetooth communications module that detects and communicates with nearby beacons;
• a controller in communication with the user interface, the speaker, and the Bluetooth communications module;
• a memory in communication with the controller, the memory including instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the controller to:
• receive, via the Bluetooth module, a first beacon identifier from a first beacon,
• lookup, in the database, a current venue associated with the first beacon identifier,
• lookup, in the database, a list of locations in the current venue,
• display the list of locations in the current venue as a selectable list on the user interface,
• receive a selection of one of the displayed locations from a user through the user interface, the beacon corresponding to the selected location being a destination beacon,
• determine a route from the first beacon to the destination beacon, wherein the route is determined by finding a path from the first beacon to the destination beacon, wherein the route is an ordered list of beacons to be encountered as the user moves from the first beacon to the destination beacon,
• for each beacon along the route:
• announce, via the speaker, navigation instructions for the user to navigate to a next beacon in the ordered list;
• in response to user movement along the route, receive, from the Bluetooth module, a newly encountered beacon identifier;
• when the newly encountered beacon identifier matches a beacon identifier of the next beacon in the ordered list, announce, via the speaker, arrival at the next beacon;
• and
• update the next beacon to the following beacon in the ordered list, and
• upon receiving a beacon identifier of the selected location, announce, via the speaker, arrival at the selected location.