NaviNote: Enabling In-situ Spatial Annotation Authoring to Support Exploration and Navigation for Blind and Low Vision People

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Ruijia, Wu, Yuheng, Houseago, Charlie, Gaspar, Filipe, Aleotti, Filippo, Gálvez-López, Dorian, Johnston, Oliver, Mazala, Diego, Garcia-Hernando, Guillermo, Bandukda, Maryam, Brostow, Gabriel, Van Brummelen, Jessica
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Chen, Ruijia
Wu, Yuheng
Houseago, Charlie
Gaspar, Filipe
Aleotti, Filippo
Gálvez-López, Dorian
Johnston, Oliver
Mazala, Diego
Garcia-Hernando, Guillermo
Bandukda, Maryam
Brostow, Gabriel
Van Brummelen, Jessica
author_facet Chen, Ruijia
Wu, Yuheng
Houseago, Charlie
Gaspar, Filipe
Aleotti, Filippo
Gálvez-López, Dorian
Johnston, Oliver
Mazala, Diego
Garcia-Hernando, Guillermo
Bandukda, Maryam
Brostow, Gabriel
Van Brummelen, Jessica
contents GPS and smartphones enable users to place location-based annotations, capturing rich environmental context. Previous research demonstrates that blind and low vision (BLV) people can use annotations to explore unfamiliar areas. However, current commercial systems allowing BLV users to create annotations have never been evaluated, and current GPS-based systems can deviate several meters. Motivated by high-accuracy visual positioning technology, we first conducted a formative study with 24 BLV participants to envision a more accurate and inclusive annotation system. Surprisingly, many participants viewed the high-accuracy technology not just as an annotation system but also as a tool for precise last-few-meters navigation. Guided by participant feedback, we developed NaviNote, which combines vision-based high-precision localization with an agentic architecture to enable voice-based annotation authoring and navigation. Evaluating NaviNote with 18 BLV participants showed that it significantly improved navigation performance and supported users in understanding and annotating their surroundings. Based on these findings, we discuss design considerations for future accessible annotation authoring systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_08837
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle NaviNote: Enabling In-situ Spatial Annotation Authoring to Support Exploration and Navigation for Blind and Low Vision People
Chen, Ruijia
Wu, Yuheng
Houseago, Charlie
Gaspar, Filipe
Aleotti, Filippo
Gálvez-López, Dorian
Johnston, Oliver
Mazala, Diego
Garcia-Hernando, Guillermo
Bandukda, Maryam
Brostow, Gabriel
Van Brummelen, Jessica
Human-Computer Interaction
H.5
GPS and smartphones enable users to place location-based annotations, capturing rich environmental context. Previous research demonstrates that blind and low vision (BLV) people can use annotations to explore unfamiliar areas. However, current commercial systems allowing BLV users to create annotations have never been evaluated, and current GPS-based systems can deviate several meters. Motivated by high-accuracy visual positioning technology, we first conducted a formative study with 24 BLV participants to envision a more accurate and inclusive annotation system. Surprisingly, many participants viewed the high-accuracy technology not just as an annotation system but also as a tool for precise last-few-meters navigation. Guided by participant feedback, we developed NaviNote, which combines vision-based high-precision localization with an agentic architecture to enable voice-based annotation authoring and navigation. Evaluating NaviNote with 18 BLV participants showed that it significantly improved navigation performance and supported users in understanding and annotating their surroundings. Based on these findings, we discuss design considerations for future accessible annotation authoring systems.
title NaviNote: Enabling In-situ Spatial Annotation Authoring to Support Exploration and Navigation for Blind and Low Vision People
topic Human-Computer Interaction
H.5
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.08837