Dead Reckoning

Dead reckoning is a navigation technique that estimates a user's current position by tracking their movement from a known starting point, using data from inertial sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes. In accessible wayfinding applications for blind and low-vision users, dead reckoning enables indoor positioning where GPS signals are unavailable, by continuously measuring steps, direction changes, and movement patterns from a smartphone or wearable device. While dead reckoning accumulates positional errors over time (drift), it can be combined with other localization methods like GPS or beacon signals to provide more reliable navigation in mixed indoor-outdoor environments.