How does Stay on Trails work?

Step 1: You choose a route.
The user opens a web page on their smartphone. No separate app is required. On that web page, the user chooses a walking route in a park or forest. The route can be created in advance or shared by other users.

Step 2: The smartphone camera looks at the path. While walking, Stay on Trails uses the smartphone camera. That camera continuously observes the surroundings for the user, especially the walking path.

Step 3: The images are analyzed by AI. The camera images are sent to a server in real time. There, an artificial intelligence model analyzes the images. The model recognizes what is part of the path and what is not: for example grass, bushes, stones, mud, or other parts of the environment.

Step 4: The system finds the center of the path. Once the AI model has recognized the path, the system calculates where the center of that path is. This allows Stay on Trails to know whether the user is still walking properly on the path, or is drifting too far to the left or right.

Step 5: The user receives guidance through sound. The information is sent back to the smartphone. The user then receives short beeps through stereo sound: on the left or right side of the earphones. This works a bit like parking sensors in a car. When the user moves away from the center of the path, the sound helps them move back in the right direction.

Step 6: Extra tools help keep the user on course. In addition to AI and camera images, Stay on Trails can also use GPS, QR-code waypoints, and customized voice guidance. This way, the user not only knows where the path is, but also where they are on the route.

Step 7: The technology learns and grows along the way. The AI models are small and fast enough to respond in real time. They are shared via GitHub, so others can also contribute and improve the technology. Users can also create routes themselves and share them with the community.

Why is this important?

Many navigation tools work well in cities, but less well in parks and forests. For people who are blind or visually impaired, this makes natural areas difficult to access. Stay on Trails wants to change that.

The system is primarily intended for people who are blind or visually impaired, but it can also be useful for older walkers, people with cognitive disabilities, or anyone who finds it difficult to orient themselves on unfamiliar paths.

The ultimate vision is an AI navigator that works almost like a guide dog: aware of the environment, adapted to the user, and present when needed. The goal is to make parks, forests, and public natural areas accessible to everyone again.