AirNav

Inspiration

Traveling through airports can be stressful for anyone, but for people who have mobility challenges, limited English proficiency, or anxiety in crowded environments, it can be overwhelming.

Our inspiration came from our grandmas, who often travel alone to visit family. They do not speak much English, have difficulty reading airport signs, and frequently feel lost trying to find their gates, restrooms, or the correct TSA lines. Each of us has experienced the same situation where our grandma calls us multiple times during a trip, even when she is already inside the airport, because the terminal feels confusing and unfamiliar.

This made us realize that airports should be accessible to everyone, not only to frequent travelers. AirNav was built to give people like our grandmas a calm, confident, and guided travel experience with clear directions, simple visuals, and multilingual support.

What it does

AirNav is a multilingual, accessible indoor navigation system designed specifically for airports. It provides a Google Maps style experience inside the terminal with an intuitive and friendly interface.

Key features include:

Boarding pass scanning that automatically detects the gate, terminal, and airline
A fully interactive 3D airport map
Turn by turn navigation to gates, restrooms, restaurants, TSA, and amenities
Real time user position tracking shown as a moving blue dot
Multilingual support for global travelers
Accessibility focused design with high contrast mode, large text options, and clear voice guidance

AirNav makes airport navigation easy for elderly travelers, first time flyers, and anyone who needs additional assistance.

How we built it

AirNav uses multiple layers of technology to create a seamless indoor navigation experience.

Technical components include:

A 3D environment created by converting Columbus (CMH) airport SVG maps into a textured Three.js world
Marker mapping for gates, restrooms, food locations, elevators, and TSA checkpoints using normalized coordinate systems
Custom pathfinding built with an A* style node graph to generate natural walking routes
Boarding pass scanning using barcode and QR detection to extract gate and terminal data
A multilingual accessibility engine with dynamic text translation and text to speech
A modern frontend built with React and Lovable

Challenges we ran into

Converting a complex 2D airport map into an accurate 3D coordinate space
Ensuring icons and markers from the SVG map aligned precisely with the 3D environment
Making boarding pass scanning reliable in different lighting and camera situations
Designing clear and simple navigation instructions that work for elderly and low vision users
Implementing multilingual support without breaking layout structure
Building pathfinding that feels natural inside irregular airport layouts

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Developed a functioning 3D indoor navigation system within a short hackathon timeframe
Created a user interface simple enough for elderly users like my grandma
Accurately mapped CMH airport including gates, restrooms, restaurants, and amenities
Implemented smooth turn by turn indoor navigation
Successfully added multilingual and accessibility features
Built a real solution that can help real travelers

What we learned

Indoor navigation requires a completely different approach compared to outdoor navigation
Accessibility must be designed from the beginning for a tool like this to truly help people
Multilingual design affects layout, spacing, and usability
Transforming static 2D maps into 3D interactive environments is challenging but rewarding
User centered design improves both functionality and usability

What's next for AirNav

Future plans include:

Support for additional airports such as ORD, JFK, LAX, and ATL
Integration of real indoor location tracking using Bluetooth beacons or WiFi RTT
Audio only guidance mode for visually impaired travelers
Push alerts for boarding times and gate changes
Partnerships with airports and airlines for full integration
Offline mode for travelers without data access

Our long term vision is to make AirNav a universal accessibility and navigation layer for airports anywhere in the world so that every traveler can feel supported and confident from the moment they enter the airport to the moment they reach their gate.