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Presentation of the TANIA Indoor/Outdoor Navigation System with RFID Technology at the SightCity 2010 in Frankfurt

The new TANIA prototype is tested by a young test subject.

The new prototype of the TANIA (Tactile Acoustical Navigation and Information Assistant) system with RFID technology will be presented April 28-30, 2010 at the Sheraton Airport Hotel in Frankfurt. It can be tested there at Booth F19 at the SightCity Exhibition. RFID technology can be used to recognize objects with RFID tags and to initialize the user's position automatically within the map of the current environment.

Developed at the Visualization and Interactive Systems Group at the University of Stuttgart within the framework of the Collaborative Research Center 627 (Nexus), the TANIA system provides blind, deafblind, and visually-impaired users with the potential for independent orientation and navigation, both indoors or outdoors, with up to one-step accuracy. Data security and privacy are ensured because no transmitters have to be installed and no connections to WiFi access points are required. The TANIA system consists of a small portable computer, a movement sensor and a GPS sensor. 

TANIA is based upon digital maps of buildings, cities, and environments which can be provided by BNI on demand. Augmented text information may be integrated into these maps at appropriate locations, such as current railway schedules at railway stations, or menus at restaurants. All information can be presented acoustically or on a Braille display.

Pilot projects have been conducted in Germany, the United States, and Australia.  New mapping projects are planned for the Center for the Visually Impaired in Würzburg and the Center for the Deafblind in London.