• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.69-83
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• 2013

This paper aims to determine the preference and use of electronic information and resources by blind/visually impaired users in the leading National Capital Region (NCR) libraries of India. Survey methodology has been used as the basic research tool for data collection with the help of questionnaires. The 125 in total users surveyed in all the five libraries were selected randomly on the basis of willingness of the users with experience of working in digital environments to participate in the survey. The survey results were tabulated and analyzed with descriptive statistics methods using Excel software and 'Stata version 11'. The findings reveal that ICT have a positive impact in the lives of people with disabilities as it helps them to work independently and increases the level of confidence among them. The Internet is the most preferred medium of access to information among the majority of blind/visually impaired users. The 'Complexity of content available on the net' is found as the major challenge faced during Internet use by blind users of NCR libraries. 'Audio books on CDs/DVDs and DAISY books' are the most preferred electronic resources among the majority of blind/visually impaired users. This study will help the library professionals and organizations/institutions serving people with disabilities to develop effective library services for blind/visually impaired users in the digital environment on the basis of findings on information usage behavior in the study.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.7-15
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• 2016

Purpose: There are the number of color tactile walking surface indicators installed in Korea, because of indefinite regulation in blind and vision-impaired persons' tactile walking surface indicators. In case of yellow tactile walking surface indicators, it shows a deviation severe color. In this study, the researchers suggested color and brightness reference for helping blind and vision-impaired persons' walking through analyzing the color references of tactile walking surface indicators and the color luminance between tactile walking surface indicators and sidewalk currently used. Method: Reasonable luminance contrast criteria is suggested by examining ways of improving the recognition and recognition of objects according to color contrast visually impaired through literature review and analyzing standards of tactile walking surface indicators and the Europe, Japan and Australia of color and luminance contrast criteria. And by examining the color of the tactile walking surface indicators reported in Korea currently used to derive the problem presented by the luminance contrast in the reference and comparison. Finally, the visually impaired tactile walking surface indicators is set for color selection criteria for the recognition rate improves. Results: In order to improve the recognition rate to be tactile walking surface indicators of the contrast of the visually impaired and the environment than the color of the tactile walking surface indicators itself to secure always a certain level or more of brightness contrast values in the set of the color of the tactile walking surface indicators so important. Implication: In order to set the blind tactile walking surface indicators color recognition based on the verification of the real pedestrian based on the results presented in this paper it is required. It is to be understood as an element of the barrier free configuration for securing the walking pedestrian safety.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.67-76
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• 2015

Purpose : The current tactile walking surface indicators have not been easily accessible to blind and vision-impaired people due to unexpected variation of walking environment and walking behavior of transportation poor. Moreover, those indicators frequently cause the inconvenience to transportation users' walking. Thus, this study aims to investigate the improvement of tactile walking surface indicators, by comparing and analyzing findings from the relevant research. Results from this study contribute to suggest the better standard criteria of tactile walking surface indicators for transportation users, especially blind and vision-impaired people, the handicapped, the child and the elderly and weak, providing the secure and convenient circumstance for walking. Method : This study presents the problems about the standard criteria of tactile walking surface indicators via the examination of finding from the past studies. For example, we examine all standard criteria, focusing on shapes, colors and qualities of materials used for Tactile Walking Surface Indicators. Then, the present study suggests the improvement of standard, which apply to the current walking environment practically and reasonably. Results : To improve the current condition of tactile walking surface indicators, the analysis on international and domestic standard criteria need to be conducted. Findings from these analyses helps to suggest the better criteria for the interval between projecting points of tactile walking surface indicators, effective perceived range of walking road, and the brightness contrast between tactile walking surface indicators and finishing materials. Implication : The suggested standard criteria of tactile walking surface indicators need to be tested by transportation users, and the practical instructions of establishing tactile walking surface indicators should also be developed.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.29-37
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• 2016

Purpose: Since the end of the 1990s the question of detecting blind and vision-impaired persons' tactile walking surface indicators have been rasied, the study of detecting tactile walking surface indicators has been started in Japan, German, and Sweden. Through the study, Japan, German, Sweden, and international's standard was revised. The Korean standard of tactile walking surface indicators was revised in 2013, the remarkable point was missed. Therefore, this study suggested deriving a range of types and dimensions of tactile walking surface indicators reasonable, and presenting the design principles for the development of new tactile walking surface indicators though domestic and international literature review. Method: This study was proceeded by comparison analysis of results from various tactile walking surface indicators' literature review from Japan, German, and Sweden, the most suitable range of types and dimensions was abstracted. Then, the range of types and dimensions was compared to the international standards and international reference standard, the ground rules were confirmed to apply new tactile walking surface indicators design. Results: Rationally, the wide and diameter of projecting line and projecting point should be downsized in order to improve detecting blind and vision-impaired persons' tactile walking surface indicators. And with same purpose, the ratio of the wide and diameter of projecting line and projecting point should be decided. The design of the tactile walking surface indicators in addition to the size and spacing of the protrusions should be to reflect the common elements that have been suggested a number of standard criteria. Implication: In this study, the design principles was derived through test results and theoretical studies, and new tactile walking surface indicators would need to be validated in local user.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제17권9호
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• pp.2377-2398
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• 2023

In our daily lives, we engage in a variety of tasks that rely on our senses, such as seeing. Blindness is the absence of the sense of vision. According to the World Health Organization, 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from various forms of vision impairment. Unfortunately, blind people face a variety of indoor and outdoor challenges on a daily basis, limiting their mobility and preventing them from engaging in other activities. Blind people are very vulnerable to a variety of hazards, including falls. Various barriers, such as stairs, can cause a fall. The Internet of Things (IoT) is used to track falls and send a warning message to the blind caretakers. One of the gaps in the previous works is that they were unable to differentiate between falls true and false. Treating false falls as true falls results in many false alarms being sent to the blind caretakers and thus, they may reject the IoT system. As a means of bridging this chasm, this paper proposes an intelligent shoe that is able to precisely distinguish between false and true falls based on three sensors, namely, the load scale sensor, the light sensor, and the Flex sensor. The proposed IoT system is tested in an indoor environment for various scenarios of falls using four models of machine learning. The results from our system showed an accuracy of 0.96%. Compared to the state-of-the-art, our system is simpler and more accurate since it avoids sending false alarms to the blind caretakers.

• 한국사회복지학
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• 제54권
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• pp.149-176
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• 2003

최근 장애를 정의하는 새로운 패러다임이 형성되면서 장애인복지정책에 있어 사회통합의 비중은 더욱 확대되고 있으며, 특히 사회복지전달체계가 지역사회 중심으로 이루어지면서 지역사회통합에 대한 관심은 더욱 높아지고 있다. 본 연구는 이동권의 제약이 심하여 지역사회통합의 문제가 심각하게 드러날 수 있는 전국의 시각장애인 1,004명을 대상으로, 지역사회통합실태를 파악하고 지역사회통합수준에 영향을 미치는 요인들을 규명함으로써 시각장애인의 지역사회통합을 위한 정책적 함의를 도출하고자하였다. 주요한 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 시각장애인의 지역사회통합에 영양을 미치는 요인으로는 연령, 학력, 주관적 경제상태, 일상생활의 제약정도, 정서적 지원과 정보적 지원, 재활서비스 활용정도 등으로 나타났다. 둘째, 저시력 장애인과 전맹 장애인의 경우 공통적으로 일상생활제약과 가족이나 주변사람들의 정서적 지지가 지역사회통합정도에 영양을 미치고 있었다. 하지만 전맹 장애인은 의사소통 교육여부가, 저시력 장애인은 정보적 지원이나 재활서비스 활용수준이 지역사회통합정도에 영향을 미치는 것으로 밝혀졌다 셋째, 학령기 이후 실명된 경우 학령전에 실명된 경우보다 일상생활에 제약받는 정도가 높은 것으로 나타났다. 학령기 이후 장애인의 경우 정서적, 정보적 지원, 의사 교육 참가여부, 재활서비스 활용도가 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타나 실명시기가 늦은 경우 여러 가지 사회적 지지나 교육, 재활서비스를 통한 지원이 지역사회에 영양을 미치고 있었다. 결과적으로, 시각장애인의 사회적 통합을 향상시키기 위해서는 장애정도별, 장애발생 시기별로 구분된 특화된 서비스와 정책적인 마련이 시급함을 알 수 있다.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.54-62
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• 2020

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Status of Registered Persons with Disabilities", the number of people with disabilities is 2,494,460 as of 2015. The lowest rates of children with disabilities were intellectual disabilities (23%) and mental disorders (33.3%). The highest rates of screening were blindness (97%), heart failure (94.4%), and hearing impairment (92.7%). 65.2% of visually impaired people who have already had a disability at the time of marriage, and the remaining 34.8% can be thought to be the cause of high incidence of disability after marriage. 'SID (Seed in the Dark)' project was designed to recapture the visually impaired parent's desire for attachment and the space difficulties of the blind who want to be a normal parent to their children through a visual impairment of a father with 7-year-old daughter. Using Gear VR(Virtual Reality), the general public was able to feel the surroundings as if they had no vision and focused on the hearing. Especially, We expressed the sound wave visually and added the hilarious game element which grasps the terrain of the maze by sound wave like a 'blind person who perceives the surroundings by sound' and catches up with daughter. People with disabilities who are far from mental illness often have a form of family with children. The fact that the rate of childbirth is high means that there is relatively little problem in daily life. It is wondered that the rate of blindness among the visually impaired, which accounts for 10% of the total disabled, is the highest at 97%. This is because, in the case of the visually impaired, the obstacle is often caused by aging, accidents, or diseases due to inherited causes rather than the visual disorder. In particular, However, the fact that there is an obstacle in vision that accounts for 83% of the body's sensory organs causes other difficulties in the nursing process of children who are non-disabled. Parents do not know the face of child when their visual impairment is severe. Parents are extremely anxious about worry that they will be lost or abducted if their children are not by their side. And that the child recognizes the disability of his or her parents other than the other parents easily and takes it as a deficiency. Since visually impaired parents are mentally mature parents with non-disabled people, they may want their children not to feel deprived of their disability. The number of people with visual impairments has been increasing since 2001, and people with impairments often become disabled. In addition, there is much research on the problem of nondisabled parents who have children with disabilities, while there is relatively little interest and research on the problem of nondisabled child rearing of parents with disabilities.

• 한국임상보건과학회지
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.399-408
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• 2015

Objective. There were two objectives of the study, first was to identify the barriers as perceived by the patients and providers to access the low vision services and second was to identify the challenges faced by the main providers. Study design. Structured questionnaire based interviews of patients and providers Methodology. To find out the barriers to access of low vision services, the interviews based on structured questionnaire were conducted for two patient groups. The first group consisted of 97 visually impaired individuals attending the department of low vision services at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Rawalpindi while the second group included 56 visually impaired individuals attending the four rehabilitation centers/schools for the blind in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. To identify the barriers as perceived by the main providers of low vision services and challenges faced by them the interviews based on structured questionnaire were conducted for 19 low vision service providers. Results. From patients point of view, major barrier to low vision services identified was inability to visit hospital /rehabilitation center alone - 29.8% in hospital group and 33.9% in rehabilitation centers group, while the lack of social support, lack of family support, cost of travelling, long distance, afford ability, hesitation in using devices and lack of satisfaction were other important barriers identified. From providers' point of view, major barrier to uptake of services was the need for repeated follow-ups. Optometrists were the main provider of low vision services contributing to 47.4% of the providers. The major challenge faced by the providers was motivation of patients to use low vision devices. Conclusion. The major barrier to low vision services according to the patients is inability to visit the hospital alone, while according to providers, it is the need for repeated follow up which proves major barrier towards uptake of services. The motivation is the major challenge faced by providers, majority of which are optometrists.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.57-66
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• 2015

Purpose : The guidelines of establishing convenience facilities for the handicapped have not consistently been provided to the identical criteria in walking facilities. Thus, transportation poor had difficulties in walking environment. Method : This study aims to suggest the practical direction of guidelines of establishing tactile walking surface indicators. To do this, this study examines the problems of the current guidelines for establishing facilities, and then analyzes international criteria, with comparing criteria used in German. Therefore, findings from those analyses can provide the secure and convenient environment for walking to transportation users, in particular blind and vision-impaired people, the handicapped, the child, and the elderly and the weak. Results : For the improvement of tactile walking surface indicators, the clear criteria of establishing tactile walking surface indicators is proposed, considering the characteristics of walking environment. Then, the sample items corresponding to the various situations need to be exemplified. To provide more secure environment walking for transportation poor, the establishing criteria partially adopted ideas from Universal Design also need to be developed. Implication : The proposed detail drawing of tactile walking surface indicators need to be tested by transportation users due to high safety in walking circumstance, and also the guidelines of continuously maintaining tactile walking surface indicators also needs to be studied.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Individuals with visual impairments face numerous challenges in their daily lives, with navigating streets and public spaces being particularly daunting. The inability to identify safe crossing locations and assess the feasibility of crossing significantly restricts their mobility and independence. Globally, an estimated 285 million people suffer from visual impairment, with 39 million categorized as blind and 246 million as visually impaired, according to the World Health Organization. In Saudi Arabia alone, there are approximately 159 thousand blind individuals, as per unofficial statistics. The profound impact of visual impairments on daily activities underscores the urgent need for solutions to improve mobility and enhance safety. This study aims to address this pressing issue by leveraging computer vision and deep learning techniques to enhance object detection capabilities. Two models were trained to detect objects: one focused on street crossing obstacles, and the other aimed to search for objects. The first model was trained on a dataset comprising 5283 images of road obstacles and traffic signals, annotated to create a labeled dataset. Subsequently, it was trained using the YOLOv8 and YOLOv5 models, with YOLOv5 achieving a satisfactory accuracy of 84%. The second model was trained on the COCO dataset using YOLOv5, yielding an impressive accuracy of 94%. By improving object detection capabilities through advanced technology, this research seeks to empower individuals with visual impairments, enhancing their mobility, independence, and overall quality of life.