Although airport and airline personnel are available to help guide legally blind or visually impaired persons to departure gates, they usually can't explore and use the terminal amenities as sighted people can.
An increasing number of airports have been installing Bluetooth beacons, which can be used for indoor navigation, but often they are deployed to enhance services for sighted travellers, not to help blind people.
In a study at Pittsburgh International Airport, hundreds of Bluetooth beacons were installed throughout the facility. NavCog, the smartphone app, then employed these beacons. It relied on an annotated map of the terminal with the locations of restrooms, restaurants, gates, entrances and ticketing counters. Using this, the app could give audio directions to users.
