• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.337-345
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• 2014

The visually impaired who have many restrictions on their sight due to impairment of a sense of sight among special senses have substantial difficulties in the areas ranging from very minor behavior in their house to the external activities for social life. Visual impairment may cause many problems in various behaviors for protecting health which have recently drawn a lot of interests. As a method of analysis of collected data, this study conducted the frequency analysis of general characteristics and oral health behavior of the subjects, compared the average of oral public health behavior and oral health condition through t-test and F-test, and conducted the post verification of significant difference among groups with Duncan. For identifying the relevancy between the general characteristics and the oral health behavior, this study conducted Spearman's correlation analysis, and for identifying the impact on subjective, oral health condition, this study conducted multiple regression analysis. SPSS (SPSS20.0 for Windows, SPSS Inc, USA) was used as a statistical program, and the level of significance for determining statistical significance was considered at the level of 0.05. Because the visually impaired are the group whose behaviors for protecting health should be accurately recognized, this study intends to utilize the findings as basic materials for making information communication media suitable for the visually impaired by identifying the real conditions and behaviors of their oral health and analyzing their oral condition caused by such behaviors. With the help of information technology.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.54
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• pp.149-176
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of community integration of visually impaired people who have the limitation of mobility in comparison with another disabled and to find factors affecting community integration. The data were obtained through telephone interview with visually impaired people. The final sample was consisted of 1,004 respondents. The data were analyzed using statistical techniques such as crosstabulation, t-test, and hierarchical regression. In this study, the factors affecting community integration was divided into four dimensions : the attribution to disability, physical functioning, psychology and social support system. The major findings of this study were as follows: First, the factors affecting community integration of visually impaired people were age, education, economic status, social support, information support and participation of rehabilitation service. Second, the factors affecting community integration of the low vision and the blind are the limitation of daily activities and social support. But the factors affecting community integration of the blind are participation of education for braille and that of the low vision are information support and participation of rehabilitation service. Finally, the person losing eyesight since school age were the more limitation of daily activities than the person losing eyesight in babyhood. The factors affect community integration of the former are social support, information support, participation of education for braille, and rehabilitation service. The current findings suggest that intervention and policy aimed at improving social support system and formal services such as education, rehabilitation services should be considered by rehabilitation professionals and policy makers.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.29-35
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• 2023

Braille can be said to be an essential means used for the visually impaired to communicate or acquire information on visual materials in their lives. However, the rate of interpretation of braille among the visually impaired is insignificant at 5%. As a result, libraries for the visually impaired produce various types of materials that can obtain various information for the visually impaired and also have assistive technology equipment to interpret them. However, the publication rate of Braille books is too low to purchase and interpret Braille books. In addition, the Braille interpretation rate is too low, and the purchase of assistive technology devices is too expensive and slow. Therefore, in this paper, we implemented a system that displays Braille using Arduino to help visually impaired people in addition to the existing methods they use to obtain information. For Braille display, Korean data is transmitted from Python through serial communication between Python and Arduino, and Arduino, which receives the data, compares the Korean data with the data in the array in the program and retrieves the Braille values of the Korean data. Here, the Braille value was expressed by controlling the servo motor perpendicular or horizontal to the body using white and black circles based on the Braille list.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.666-676
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• 2016

This study was designed to examine the depressive symptoms of individuals who became visually impaired and identify factors associated with the symptom. For the analysis, data from the Korean National Survey of Individuals with Disability 2014 was used. Adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years who became visually impaired after the first year of birth were included with a total of 235 individuals in the final sample. To identify the determinants of their depressive symptoms, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. The results showed that about twenty percent of the respondents reported having depressive symptoms in the past year. Among the sociodemographic factors, age, gender, and marital status were identified as significant predictors, while smoking status, stress level, and self-reported health status were identified as important health-related predictors. Among the disability-related factors, the length of disability and activities of daily living level were found to be significantly associated with the likelihood of experiencing the symptom. The results indicate the need for practitioners working with visually impaired populations to be better aware of the risks of depression and develop a wide array of preventive measures and techniques to work with individuals suffering from depression.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.861-866
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• 2023

Individuals with visual impairments face difficulties in accessing accurate information about medical services and medications, making it challenging for them to ensure proper medication intake. While there are healthcare laws addressing this issue, there is a lack of standardized solutions, and not all over-the-counter medications are covered. Therefore, we have undertaken the design of a mobile application that utilizes image recognition technology, barcode scanning, and QR code recognition to provide guidance on how to take over-the-counter medications, filling the existing gaps in the knowledge of visually impaired individuals. Currently available applications for individuals with visual impairments allow them to access information about medications. However, they still require the user to remember which specific medication they are taking, posing a significant challenge. In this research, we are optimizing the camera capture environment, user interface (UI), and user experience (UX) screens for image recognition, ensuring greater accessibility and convenience for visually impaired individuals. By implementing the findings from our research into the application, we aim to assist visually impaired individuals in acquiring the correct methods for taking over-the-counter medications.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.45-54
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• 2012

The Act of Disability Discrimination and Rights Restriction was enacted in 2008 states that all services including cultural and artistic activities should be fair and easily accessible for disabled. The aim of this study was to determine how to improve the facilities and services for the disabled in Theater and provide complementary guidelines for amenities designed for people with disabled. The conclusions identified through this study are as follows: 1) It should be installed pedestrian safe passage so that visitors could access from the entrance of the ground to the seat in the theater. 2) Disabled seats install in a position to Emergency evacuation for people with disabilities, and it is recommended that general seats are placed side by side with Disabled seats. 3) It is analyzed services for the visually impaired and hearing impaired are very poor. Therefore assistive devices and human services should be provided to the visually impaired and hearing impaired. 4) People with disabilities can participate in the show as the performers, so it should be provided reasonable accommodations such as access to the stage.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• no.25
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• pp.119-129
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• 2000

The objective of this study is to evaluate the interior elements supporting the safety, mobility and accessibility for the visually impaired persons in the public, government, and other facilities. Ten facilities were analyzed with a checklist based on the architectural codes and the users needs. Also theses facilities were reviewed with mandatory items of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It appeared that the arrangement of elements such as stair, elevator and restroom, the plan of circulation path and the signage of way-finding had more problems than the details of each element. In addition, institutional facilities for the blinds and trainstation provided easy accessibility, adaptability and mobility compared to the hospital and bus terminal. Suggestions were provided to solve the problem which were found.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Interior Design Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.83-86
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to make interior environment which can support the education effectively through acceptance of the requirements of users about the environmental factors of learning spaces for the visually impaired students. For them, researcher investigated the literature cited and did the field survey. And also, this researcher analyzed user's satisfaction extent for structure, design, and technical environment factors by the evaluation elements. On the basis of the result of analysis, Two rooms which had big problems for physical environment were selected. And then the design recommendations focusing on environmental factors - circulation, furniture arrangement, colour, lighting etc. - were proposed by this researcher on the basis of space user's requriement.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.101-106
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• 2018

Most people with visual impairments can not use both hands freely because they carry a cane. And unnecessary contact with people around you during walking can occur. Other guides include guide dogs, but the price and maintenance cost are expensive and difficult to manage. In this paper, we propose a smart glove, which prevents unnecessary contact when blind people use the cane, detects the obstacle ahead by using the ultrasonic sensor, and informs the presence of the obstacle by using the servo motor. In addition, the electrostatic proximity touch module on the fingers executes a specific application of the smart phone connected by Bluetooth when the finger touches each other. It is designed to allow you to use text or phone calls when you are lost or in an emergency. The results of this study will be used as a tool to provide a more convenient life for the visually impaired.