Visual Inertial Odometry

A motion tracking technique that combines camera-based visual tracking with inertial sensor data (gyroscopes and accelerometers) to estimate a device’s position and orientation in 3D space with high accuracy. VIO works by tracking salient visual features across consecutive video frames and fusing these optical estimates with inertial measurements to overcome the limitations of either method alone. In accessibility contexts, VIO is the technology underlying smartphone augmented reality frameworks like Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, enabling indoor navigation apps for people who are blind or have low vision where GPS is unavailable or inaccurate.