• Journal of Information Management
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.97-126
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• 2010

Many visually handicapped people face difficulties with using libraries. Public libraries are thus required to meet the need of visually handicapped people. Public libraries should guarantee the visually handicapped the right to use appropriate services. If so, the visually handicapped can improve their life quality by decreasing information gap and increasing information comprehension or accessibility. This study is designed to analyze how visually handicapped people can use public libraries. Based on the analysis, this study can provide actual suggestions to improve opportunities for the visually handicapped to use libraries. Data are collected from visually handicapped people who are the members of Suseong Public Library, Daegu, Korea. In specific, this study can analyze various characteristics(i.e., information needs, selection and use behavior of information sources, difficulties and gaps to access information, use behavior and service satisfaction of public library) regarding their library use by telephone interviews.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2022

As city environments have recently become crowded, there are many obstacles that interfere with the walking of the visually impaired on pedestrian roads. Typical examples include ballads, parking breakers and standing signs, which usually do not get in the way, but blind people may be injured by collisions. To solve such a problem, many solutions have been proposed, but they are limited in applied in practical environments due to the several restrictions such as outside use only, inaccurate obstacle sensing and requirement of special devices. In this paper, we propose a new method to automatically detect obstacles while walking on the pedestrian roads and warn the collision risk in advance by using only sensors embedded in typical mobile phones. The proposed method supports the walking of the visually impaired by notifying the type of obstacles appearing in front of them as well as the distance remaining from the obstacles. To accomplish this goal, we utilized an object recognition technology applying the latest deep learning algorithms in order to identify the obstacles appeared in real-time videos. In addition, we also calculate the distance to the obstacles using the number of steps and the pedestrian's stride. Compared to the existing walking support technologies for the visually impaired, our proposed method ensures efficient and safe walking with only simple devices regardless of the places.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Visually impaired people have very difficulty using retail stores due to the absence of braille information on products and any other support system. In this paper, we propose a basic algorithm for a system that recognizes products in retail stores and explains them as a voice. First, the deep learning model detects hand objects and product objects in the input image. Then, it finds a product object that most overlapping hand object by comparing the coordinate information of each detected object. We determine that this is a product selected by the user, and the system read the nutritional information of the product as Text-To-Speech. As a result of the evaluation, we confirmed a high performance of the learning model. The proposed algorithm can be actively used to build a system that supports the use of retail stores for the visually impaired.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.117-122
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• 2023

This paper introduces the improved and expanded contents of the previous research that implemented a system that guides the visually impaired using the vibration of a smart watch. In the previous study, we proposed an algorithm that recommends the most safe route based on calculating negative and positive values for the topography of the route and the features installed on the route. In addition, by designing several vibration patterns, a system that guides the user through vibration was proposed and implemented. In this paper, the user's personal preferences are reflected in the algorithm that recommends the safe route first. In addition, an automatic feedback function was added to the algorithm so that the user's satisfaction evaluation on the recommended route was immediately reflected. A history simulation function was added so that the past route could be reviewed, and the compass of a smart watch was used to help visually impaired people find directions at junctions.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.533-538
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• 2017

In this thesis, the ambulatory aid mechanism was implemented so that blind people could be safer at risk of walking outdoors. Using ultrasonic sensors, the obstacles can be detected when the distance between the obstacle is within 50 cm of the obstacle. If the light sensor becomes less than 25 lux, the LED will automatically turn on and help the safety of the visually impaired and the security of sight of the peripheral walkers. Color recognition sensors increase the rate of recognition of yellow color by the detection distance is 1cm, it vibrated when yellow light was detected. Using GPS with 7.3 m of error range, the guardian was able to check the location of the visually impaired.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.73-92
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• 2020

This article addresses the possibility of developing a new art appreciation method using olfaction, which was not previously considered an important sense in expanding the cultural enjoyment of visually impaired people. The human olfactory system is a faculty that is not considered very important in modern society; however, this is due to cultural factors, and from a biological point of view, the human sense of smell has sufficient potential for practical application. In this study, it is assumed that when various types of scent are perceived through this sense of smell, each has its own unconscious relation to color and concept, which researchers have termed "color directivity" and "concept directivity." Through experiments, the researchers found that some specific scents have color directivity and concept directivity, and in using these scents, they succeeded in delivering information about colors used in artworks to the visually impaired. Based on this study, we hope to continue our research on the use of color-concept directional scents that can convey the brightness and saturation of colors and more diverse hues.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.664-665
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• 2015

최근 IT기술이 점점 발달함에 따라 장애인의 일상생활을 편리하게 하는 도구들이 속속 개발되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 시각장애인들이 색상판별을 진동을 통해 감지할 수 있는 시스템을 개발하였다. 이것은 최근 대중화되고 있는 사물인터넷(IoT)의 기반이 되는 아두이노 기술을 접목하여 다양한 스위치와 센서로 입력 값을 받아들여 LED, 모터와 같은 외부출력장치를 제어함으로써 상호 작용을 만들어 낼 수 있는 시스템이다. 구체적으로 제안하는 시스템은 컬러센서를 통해 색상을 감지하고 색상 값을 수치 값으로 읽어 들이고 수치 값에 진동의 세기 주기 등을 달리함으로 시각장애인이 색상을 판별할 수 있도록 되어있다.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.55-67
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• 2018

There is a growing interest on and expansion of rights of people with disabilities. Among them, people with visual impairment show high adaptation to environments in comparison to people with other types of disabilities, thus a large percentage of them live in their own houses rather than residing in a care facility. According to the housing status of people with visual impairment, the ratio of their residence in rural areas is high. In rural areas people who have disabilities often live in poor residential environments, requiring much improvement. However, such improvement is too costly for them to pay, and home modification that does not fully consider the user, may cause less efficiency and another dangerous situation to people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to delineate empirical lessons for direction of customized home modification for people with disabilities through analysis of process of home modification including the execution as a intervention. This study used qualitative method to examine and analyzed the entire customized home modification process. The conclusion of this study is as follows. First, home modification measures should be derived considering the suitability of the target building for the specific condition of residents. Second, discussions with various stakeholders from the early stage during which proper home modification measure is searched are essential for realizing appropriate customized home modification. This study has significance in that it provides the direction for customized home modification for people with disabilities as well as empirical data that could reduce trials and errors in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1260-1264
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• 2008

An official report printed in June, 2005 represents that there are 180 thousands people with visual impairments in Korea, and 10 thousands of people with visual impairments are newly increased by every year since 2000. They are neglected from getting education, selecting job, and enjoying recreation activity. Above all, they have strong restriction when they are walking on the street; they are facing difficulty and inconvenience. Many smart cane products were introduced but expensive cost blocked popularization of them. In this study we have an object to development of smart cane that is chip and proper for korean street. For this, we suggest basic design of smart cane and experiment on ultrasonic sensors for visually impaired person.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.384-391
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• 2008

For use in the guide system for the people who are visually impaired, an obstacle searching device using synchronous ultrasonic wave emission was proposed and developed. Generally, the conventional obstacle detection methods use the ultrasonic distance measuring device with successive scan method. However, the scan method causes a theoretical error and it couldn't estimate accurate obstacle distances. The proposed synchronous firing method use the plural number of ultrasonic sensors which emit ultrasonic wave simultaneously and estimate the distance to the closest obstacle relatively accurately. We analytically analyzed the errors of the conventional and proposed methods and compared the quantitative differences of the errors. The differences verified by obstacle search experiments. Using the proposed ultrasonic wave synchronous firing method, 3 dimensional obstacle location estimating device was designed and implemented. The results of the 3 dimensional obstacle detecting experiments showed the proposed method had good performances and it would be sufficiently use in the guide system for the people who are visually impaired.