Guidance audio cues for navigation assistance

A system for assisting a user navigating to a destination on a device having a processor, an audio output, and a position detector that detects a position and a heading of the user, the system comprising:

• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide:
• a route selector that identifies a route to the destination and identifies, along the route, a set of navigation points;
• and
• an audio prompter that:
• periodically compares the position and the heading with a next navigation point along the route to determine a heading offset between the heading and the next navigation point and a distance between the position and the next navigation point;
• and
• periodically presents, through the audio output, a guidance audio cue that indicates the heading offset and the distance to the next navigation point, the guidance audio cue presented at least while the position of the user is stationary.

A system for assisting a user navigating to a destination on a device having a processor, an audio output, and a position detector that detects a position and a heading of the user, the system comprising:

• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide:
• a route selector that identifies a route to the destination and identifies, along the route, a set of navigation points;
• and
• an audio prompter that:
• periodically compares the position and the heading with a next navigation point along the route to determine a heading offset between the heading and the next navigation point and a distance between the position and the next navigation point;
• periodically presents, through the audio output, a guidance audio cue that indicates the heading offset and the distance to the next navigation point, wherein presenting the guidance audio cue that indicates the distance further comprises:
• selecting, for the guidance audio cue, an audio property that indicates the distance, wherein the audio property comprises:
• a tone of the guidance audio cue;
• a sweep of the guidance audio cue;
• a volume of the guidance audio cue;
• or
• a periodicity of the guidance audio cue;
• and
• presenting the audio property that indicates the distance through the audio output with the selected audio property.

A system for assisting a user navigating to a destination on a device having a processor, an audio output, and a position detector that detects a position and a heading of the user, the system comprising:

• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, provide:
• a route selector that identifies a route to the destination and identifies, along the route, a set of navigation points;
• and
• an audio prompter that:
• periodically compares the position and the heading with a next navigation point along the route to determine a heading offset between the heading and the next navigation point, a distance between the position and the next navigation point, and a velocity with which the user is approaching the next navigation point;
• and
• periodically presents, through the audio output, a guidance audio cue that indicates the heading offset, the distance between the position and the next navigation point, and the velocity with which the user is approaching the next navigation point.