CaterPillar™ stations are placed at decision points throughout a venue: at exhibit entries, path junctions, room exits, service locations, and points of interest. Each station emits a spatially distinct audio tick or pulse beacon. A blind or low-vision visitor uses these signals to orient - turning toward the sound of a destination, judging proximity from signal strength and timing, and navigating the physical space through auditory localization in the same way a sighted visitor navigates by sight. No wearable required. No smartphone required. No language assumed.
Station-based acoustic signals
Physical stations placed at navigation decision points emit precisely timed, spatially distinct audio ticks or pulse beacons. Visitors orient toward destinations by following the signals - the same perceptual mechanism as locating a sound source in space.
No wearables, no tracking
CaterPillar™ does not require any wearable device. It does not track visitor location or identity. It emits guidance signals into the environment. Visitors receive those signals passively through their own hearing and orientation.
Language-neutral by design
Acoustic pulse signals carry no linguistic content. CaterPillar™ works regardless of which language the visitor speaks, reads, or uses. Navigation is universal without translation or localization.
Cane-compatible
CaterPillar™ is fully compatible with standard white cane use. Visitors who use a cane navigate the physical environment with the cane while using CaterPillar™ acoustic signals for orientation and destination-finding.
Runs on QuickSilver® nodes
CaterPillar™ stations run on the same non-proprietary QuickSilver® compute infrastructure as other AV++® technologies. No specialized hardware category required. Deployment, maintenance, and support follow standard AV++® procedures.
Resilient and degraded-mode capable
The accessible navigation path remains functional during partial system degradation and incident modes. Accessibility is not dependent on full-stack operation - CaterPillar™ is designed to be reliable when it is most needed.
