Tools and applications to assist visually impaired people in navigation and orientation: A systematic review

This paper presents an overview of technologies proposed in the literature to assist visually impaired individuals with pedestrian navigation and spatial orientation. These aspects are essential when designing systems to support visually impaired and blind users in reaching a point of interest or establishing their position and direction in space. A total of 1224 papers were initially retrieved from major databases, of which 44 met the inclusion criteria after applying filters on publication year (2015–2025), relevance to visual impairment, and methodological quality. Each included study was coded by platform, technology type, and target user group. The analysis shows that most systems rely on smartphone-based solutions, followed by wearables and sensor-based platforms. The majority target blind users with no residual vision, while only a minority explicitly address low-vision users or distinguish congenital from acquired blindness. Beacon-based systems appear promising for indoor use but raise issues of maintenance, scalability, and sustainability. Overall, despite notable technical advances, many solutions remain limited in usability, portability, and user acceptance. Future work should prioritize lightweight and non-intrusive wearables, multimodal and customizable feedback, and the integration of accessibility features into navigation tools.