Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

DOI： 10.3169/mta.7.134

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Human Interface Society  

Visual graphics can be accessible by raising the lines of the graphics and converting printed letters into Braille. When this conversion is done on demand of individual blind person, it is called private tactile graphic conversion service, which has not been yet established as a common welfare service for the blind in Japan. Thus, for the future prevalence of this service, a nation-wide user survey was conducted. Among 202 respondents, only 16 people (7.6 %) were using this service. The top provider of this service was Braille transcription circles, followed by Braille libraries, Braille transcription volunteers, and friends and acquaintances. The top converted graphics were maps. Two thirds of the clients were using these services at a frequency of once or less in a few months. The problems faced in using these services were long waiting times for the graphics to be converted, hardness to understand the tactile graphics, and the problems accompanying tactile graphics production. An additional survey for Braille libraries' Web sites proved the scarcity of tactile graphic conversion service providers.

DOI： 10.11184/his.20.2_147

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication, Engineers, IEICE  

Many text entry methods are available in the use of touch interface devices when using a screen reader, and blind smartphone users and their supporters are eager to know which one is the easiest to learn and the fastest. Thus, we compared the text entry speeds and error counts for four combinations of software keyboards and character-selecting gestures over a period of five days. The split-tap gesture on the Japanese numeric keypad was found to be the fastest across the five days even though this text entry method produced the most errors. The two entry methods on the QWERTY keyboard were slower than the two entry methods on the numeric keypad. This difference in text entry speed was explained by the differences in key pointing and tapping times and their repitition numbers among different methods.

DOI： 10.1587/transinf.2017EDP7101

Scopus

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Human Interface Society  

A user survey on Braille transcription and audio recording services for the blind was conducted. The use rates of these two services were both more than 40%. The top two providers of these services were either of Braille transcription or audio recording circles and Braille libraries. Nearly half of the users were using these services at a frequency of once in a few months. The problems faced when using these services were long waiting times for the books to be translated. The difference between these two services were documents to be translated and the frequency: Braille transcription service was used mostly for work-related documents, product manuals, music materials, and technical books whereas audio recording service was used for novels, technical books, magazines, and non-fictions: A certain amount of people were using audio recoding service more frequently, once in a week to a few times a month, than Braille transcription service.

DOI： 10.11184/his.20.1_13

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：IEICE-INST ELECTRONICS INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS ENG  

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of device size on non-visual icon search using a touch interface with voice output. We conducted an experiment in which twelve participants searched for the target icons with four different-sized touchscreen devices. We analyzed the search time, search strategies and subjective evaluations. As a result, mobile devices with a screen size of 4.7 inches had the shortest search time and obtained the highest subjective evaluation among the four devices.

DOI： 10.1587/transinf.2017EDL8062

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：WILEY  

The present study investigates the efficiency of haptic search facilitated by the division of the searchable area. Previous studies have shown that scales provided around tactile maps for blind persons can shorten the search time for tactile symbols on the maps, but the optimum number of divisions has not been found. We conducted an experiment in which maps with different numbers of divisions were presented to blindfolded participants. The search times for tactile targets on the maps were measured and a movie that recorded searching behavior was analyzed. Our results indicate that scales with 3 x 4 divisions minimize search time, and the movie analysis reveals that this optimization is determined by the time of both scale-counting and target-searching. This finding elucidates the manner of human haptic search and should be utilized for the optimization of automated tactile map creation.

DOI： 10.1111/jpr.12151

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：Fuji Technology Press  

In order to assist blind people in using a flat touchscreen, "virtual" tactile dots which feedback either of or both speech and vibration when touched have been proposed. In this paper, we investigated their effectiveness in map reading application. We conducted two experiments with eight blind participants in which participants perceived the distance and direction between two virtual tactile dots. Their results show that the perception of distance and direction by virtual tactile dots was accurate enough. However, the search time for these dots was significantly longer than that for real tactile dots. This search time issue made us conclude that the reading and vibrating tactile map is not practical.

DOI： 10.20965/jaciii.2017.p0079

Scopus

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IOS Press  

To disseminate the use of tactile maps, a tactile map creation service has been offered according to the demands of blind people and their helpers. From June 2010 to December 2016, 151 tactile maps were created. Three quarters of them were maps of outdoor areas and one fifth were floor plans of a building or property. Half of the outdoor area maps were mobility maps and the other half were city maps. The service users' comments confirmed the usefulness of tactile maps as route maps and as providing information on a city. However, it was revealed that these tactile maps are too complicated for late blind people.

DOI： 10.3233/978-1-61499-798-6-687

Scopus

PubMed

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

To determine the optimum size of a braille font, we conducted an experiment in which a popular Japanese braille font was printed at various sizes on capsule paper and read and rated by late blind people. The results show that braille printed at 16 to 19-point sizes was read faster and rated higher than that printed at smaller or larger sizes. These optimum sizes mostly coincide with those found for young congenitally blind people. A new finding was that many reading errors that stemmed from mistaking the range of braille cells were observed at larger sizes, 20 to 22-point sizes. This means that enlarging the font size is not necessarily beneficial for late blind people and optimum sizes should be strictly selected when doing so.

DOI： 10.3169/mta.5.2

Scopus

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：National Institute of Public Health  

<p>To support the adequate communication of blind and visually impaired people who are print-disabled, reading and writing, braille transcription, and audio recording services are provided both publicly and privately. We conducted a user survey on these human-assisted services. We also conducted another user survey on the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices such as mobile phones (keitai), smartphones, tablets, and personal computers by blind and visually impaired people. The results of these surveys revealed no significant differences in the usage rate of the human-assisted services and ICT devices by residence. However, a few respondents noted that service providers were limited in their residences. Furthermore, specifically regarding the usage of ICT devices, most smartphone or tablet workshops were held in three major metropolitan areas (Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) in Japan. These points can be regarded as differences among residences.</p>

DOI： 10.20683/jniph.66.5_523

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：IEICE-INST ELECTRONICS INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS ENG  

We have developed software that uses the R statistics software environment to automatically generate tactile graphs-i. e. graphs that can be read by blind people using their sense of touch. We released this software as aWeb application to make it available to anyone, from anywhere. This Web application can automatically generate images for tactile graphs from numerical data in a CSV file. It is currently able to generate four types of graph-scatter plots, line graphs, bar charts and pie charts. This paper describes theWeb application's functions, operating procedures and the results of evaluation experiments.

DOI： 10.1587/transinf.2015EDP7405

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://id.nii.ac.jp/1492/00000489/

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：IEICE-INST ELECTRONICS INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS ENG  

A survey was conducted on the use of ICT by visually impaired people. Among 304 respondents, 81 used smartphones and 44, tablets. Blind people used feature phones at a higher rate and smartphones and tablets at lower rates than people with low vision. The most popular smartphone model was iPhone and the most popular tablet model was iPad. While almost all blind users used the speech output accessibility feature and only a few of them used visual features, low vision users used both visual features such as Zoom, Large text, and Invert colors and speech output at high rates both on smartphones and tablets. The most popular text entry methods were different between smartphones and tablets. For smartphones flick and numeric keypad input were popular among low vision users while voice input was the most popular among blind users. For tablets a software QWERTY keyboard was the most popular among both blind and low vision users. The advantages of smartphones were access to geographical information, quick Web browsing, voice input, and extensibility for both blind and low vision users, object recognition for blind users, and readability for low vision users. Tablets also work as a vision aid for people with low vision. The drawbacks of smartphones and tablets were text entry and touch operation difficulties and inaccessible apps for both blind and low vision users, problems in speech output for blind users, and problems in readability for low vision users. Researchers and makers of operating systems (OS) and apps should assume responsibility for solving these problems.

DOI： 10.1587/transinf.2014EDP7317

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：Association for Computing Machinery, Inc  

We have worked on the development of software that uses the R statistics software environment to automatically generate tactile graphs-i.e., graphs that can be read by blind people using their sense of touch. We released this software as a Web application to make it available to anyone, from anywhere. This Web application can automatically generate images for tactile graphs from numerical data in a CSV file. This report discusses the Web application's functions and operating procedures.

DOI： 10.1145/2661334.2661389

Scopus

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：IEICE-INST ELECTRONICS INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS ENG  

Braille fonts allow us to easily make braille labels on capsule paper. For legibility, fonts should be printed at optimum sizes. To find the optimum sizes for Japanese braille fonts, we conducted an experiment in which a Japanese braille font was printed at various sizes on capsule paper and read and rated by young braille users. The results show that braille printed at 17 and 18 point sizes were read faster and evaluated higher than those printed at smaller or bigger sizes.

DOI： 10.1587/transinf.E97.D.2191

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

We have developed a Web-based tactile map automated creation system tmacs. Users simply type in an address or the name of a building and the system instantly creates an image of a tactile map, which is then printed on capsule paper and raised up by a heater. This time we modified this system to deal with OpenStreetMap (OSM). The advantage of using OSM data is that tmacs becomes to be able to create tactile maps of any location in the world and include information which is useful for blind people such as tactile paving. Another feature of the new system is that sighted users can change the point and scale of a tactile map in the same way as a regular Google Map. We are exploring the possibility of increasing the number of countries whose tactile maps can be created with tmacs.

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/26707

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/26706

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineering  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/26708

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

researchmap

Other Link： http://search.jamas.or.jp/link/ui/2014288014

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

To investigate appropriate representation of numerical data to blind people, a user experiment was conducted. Its results have shown that embossed graphs give quicker and correct access to the data than braille and electronic tables. Based on this observation, we started developing software for creation of embossed graphs which can be operated by blind people. Up until now line graphs can be created with this software.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-642-31522-0_25

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：PION LTD  

In visual search tasks, the ratio of target-present to target-absent trials has important effects on miss rates. In this study, we examined whether the target prevalence effect occurs in a haptic search task by using artificial tactile maps. The results indicated that target prevalence has effects on miss rates, sensitivity, and criterion. Moreover, an increase in miss rates in the low-prevalence condition (10%) was strongly correlated with a decrease in search termination times (target-absent reaction times). These results suggest that the prevalence effect on haptic search is caused by a decrease in the search termination time and a shift in decision criterion and a decrease in sensitivity.

DOI： 10.1068/i0509sas

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

To implement a user interface for blind people, auditory and tactile outputs have mainly been used. However, an auditory interface is ineffective for tasks that require the rapid recognition that vision enables. Thus, this paper presents a method to achieve rapid recognition with a non-visual user interface. This user interface is implemented to achieve a prototype fully controllable system of an RC helicopter for blind people by using a braille display as a tactile output device. This paper also explains the system integration software, named brl-drone, and hardware components of that system including the AR. Drone. The AR. Drone is a controlled helicopter that uses an auxiliary magnetic sensor and a game controller to solve the problems that arise when a braille display is used as a tactile indicating device.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-642-31534-3_92

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25806

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25807

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

The authors have developed a tactile map creation system (TMACS). It is intended to assist blind persons' independent mobility. For this purpose, the system was designed to produce tactile maps, to be manipulated by the blind person and to support producing tactile maps of arbitrary locations of Japan. Through group interviews with blind persons, the authors collected information on what kind of strategies are useful for independent walk and what kind of objects can function as landmarks. TMACS is developed to make good use of these information. From the walking experiment, some assumptions which were made by the authors were confirmed. On the other hand, some unexpected or contradicted results were observed on the usefulness of landmarks and the cause of losing right routes.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-642-14100-3_80

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：視覚障害リハビリテーション協会  

【背景】<BR> 私たちが現在開発している触地図自動作成システム（Tactile Map Automatic Creating System：TMACS）は，Webベースのアプリケーションである．任意の地点の住所を入力すると触地図の原図が作成される．これを一般のプリンタでマイクロカプセルペーパーという特殊な用紙に印刷し，更に立体コピー機にかけることで触地図が生成される．このシステムの使い勝手を視覚障害者に評価してもらう中で，立体コピー機で作る触地図だけでなく点字プリンタで作る触地図も触りたいという要望があり，点図触地図の開発に取り組み始めた．<BR>【概要】<BR> 現在はまだ開発中であるが，完成後の点図触地図の作り方は次のようになる．点図触地図の作成はインターネットと点字プリンタに接続されたパソコンで行う．まず初めにTMACSのサイト（http://tmaps.eng.niigata-u.ac.jp/tmaps-devel/）にアクセスする．次に，出発地・目的地（省略可能）を入力するテキストボックスに触地図として出力したい住所や地名を指定し，検索・出力する．出力するとファイルが2種類ダウンロードされる．一つはEDELファイルである．EDELは点図の作成・編集ができるフリーソフトであり，EDELファイルで触地図を提供することにより触地図の編集ができる．もう一つは触地図の原図となる画像ファイル（png）である．このファイルを独自に開発したソフトで読込み，点字プリンタに直接出力することにより触地図が生成される．このソフトはEDELで生じる線の歪みという問題を解消している．触図を印刷できる点字プリンタは（株）JTRのESA 721である．<BR>

DOI： 10.11507/jarvi.19.0.49.0

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：視覚障害リハビリテーション協会  

１．はじめに<br><br>著者らは視覚障害自身が触地図を作成できるWebアプリケーションの研究・開発を行っている．研究の初年度である2008年には，数値データから触地図を生成する基礎技術を確立した．2009年には地図データを充実させ，触地図で表現できる要素を増やすことを可能とした．この間，研究成果報告会の開催やサイトワールドへの出品をとおして視覚障害者から意見・感想を集めている．2010年はこれまで要望の多かった触地図の簡略化をテーマに開発を行っている．<br><br>２．経路情報を利用した触地図簡略化<br><br>本アプリケーションは開発の当初から，２つの住所を出発地・目的地として指定して触地図を作成することができるように設計されている．これはルート検索のために触地図を使用できるようにするためである．今回の開発ではこの機能を発展させてルートの自動検索を行い，そのルート情報に基づいて触地図の簡略化を行う．<br>簡略化は以下の手順で行われる．１）ユーザが指定した出発地と目的地を含む触地図を描画する．２）出発地と目的地を結ぶ最短経路を検索する．３）最短経路を中心に一定の幅を残して他の部分を消去する（ただし，線路や駅などのランドマークは削除しない）．以上の処理が自動的に行われて，目的地と出発地の経路とその周辺だけが描かれた触地図ができあがる．<br><br>３．今後の展望 ― 触地図の普及・品質向上に向けて<br><br>2010年6月から触地図を配布するサービスを開始した．このサービスを通して，できるだけ多くの視覚障害者から意見を集め，触地図の品質向上をはかっていく予定である．

DOI： 10.11507/jarvi.19.0.53.0

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25808

Language：Japanese   Publisher：視覚障害リハビリテーション協会  

１．背景<br>視覚障害者用の触地図を作成する方法としてサーモフォーム，立体コピー，点字プリンタなどがある。しかし，いずれの方法も原型あるいは原図の作成段階で，晴眼者の関与が求められる．そこで我々は，視覚障害者の自立的活動のために，国内の任意の地点の触地図を視覚障害者自身が作成できるシステムの開発を行っている．<br><br>２．これまでの経過<br>これまでに，日本国内の任意の地点の触地図を出力できるシステムをWebアプリケーションとして実装し，公開してきた．このシステムはスクリーンリーダを使って操作することができる．触地図として出力したい場所の地名や施設名，住所をユーザが入力することで触地図の原図を自動的に生成する．生成された原図をカプセルペーパに印刷して立体コピー現像機にかけることで触地図が完成する．触地図には道路，線路，駅，水域が描かれる．開発したシステムについて意見を広く集めるため，サイトワールド2008に出品した．また少人数の視覚障害者からより詳細な意見の聞き取りを行うためのワークショップを2回開催した．<br><br>３．今回の提案<br>比較的多くの人から，システムの改善意見として挙げられたのが，「線の太さで道路種別を表現する」と「ランドマークの表示」である．今回はこれらの意見をシステムに取り込み実装した．

DOI： 10.11507/jarvi.18.0.48.0

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

The present state and future needs of visually impaired mobile phone users were surveyed. The results showed that many visually impaired users, even print enabled persons, were making use of speech output to e-mail and to access the Internet, and, accordingly, improvements of speech output were requested. Additionally, GPS navigation was on the high priority request list.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-540-70540-6_162

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25809

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25810

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

In this paper, we describe the design issues for an auditory Kanji explanation system for blind and visually impaired people. The system helps them with understanding, and selecting an appropriate Kanji when they read, and write Japanese text with the use of a computer. © ACM 2007.

DOI： 10.1145/1328491.1328538

Scopus

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本ロービジョン学会  

<br>【調査の目的】<BR>情報通信技術(ICT)の活用は、墨字へのアクセスに困難を抱える視覚障害者にとって不可欠である。携帯電話、パソコン、インターネットが普及し、視覚障害者がICTを利用する環境が整ってきた。電子的な情報入手やコミュニケーションがより身近なものになりつつあるが、一方で，これらの使いやすさや利用環境の問題点が依然として見られる。このような状況を踏まえて、本調査では視覚障害者の携帯電話、パソコン、インターネットの利用状況の調査を行った。現在の利用状況を整理して、これから利用しようとする人の参考となる情報を提供すること、また、現在の利用上の問題点をアクセス・ツール開発者（メーカー・研究者等）に提供し，利用環境の改善を促すことを目的としている。<BR>【調査の対象者】<BR>視覚障害関連のメーリングリストに登録している視覚障害者、視覚障害関連の施設を利用する視覚障害者、視覚障害のある大学生等を対象とした。<BR>【調査方法】<BR>メーリングリストを利用した調査と、調査用紙の配布による調査を行った。メーリングリストによる調査ではメールにより回答者を募集し，調査票の送付及び回答の回収にも電子メールを利用した。調査用紙の配布による調査では、点字及び墨字（拡大印刷）のアンケート用紙を施設に設置、配布した。調査用紙は回答者が郵便で送付、または調査者が直接回収した。<BR>【調査事項】<BR>質問項目として、回答者に関する情報、携帯電話、パソコン、インターネットについての４種類を設けた。携帯電話、パソコン、インターネットに関する質問では、利用しているハードウェア・ソフトウェア・通信環境について、使用している製品やサービスの名称・頻度・用途・問題点などを尋ねた。<BR>【調査結果】<BR>メール・点字・墨字による回答が合計340人から得られた（2007年6月20日時点）。視覚障害者が利用するハードウェアやソフトウェアに関する問題点，携帯電話・インターネットの利用目的と問題点が明らかとなった。

DOI： 10.14908/jslrr5.8.0.73.0

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25811

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

A Multimedia communication system for blind users is developed. The system is named MIMIZU and its terminal is composed of a refreshable tactile graphic display and a stylus pen device that utilizes ultrasonic technologies. Blind users can make drawings directly on the tactile display surface with the stylus pen. It was originally developed as a drawing system with an erasing function. As the research progresses, we have noticed that it has a potential as a communication system for the blind with multimedia interactions. To implement the system, we made a pair of terminals and connected them by a network cable and developed communication software for a whiteboard application. Using the system, a pair of blind users can make and share tactile image information with each other. We describe results of a simple experiment in which one subject tried to transmit simple drawings to the other subject using this system. The tactile display's resolution presented the difficulty in transmitting a circle, but the results were useful when transmitting shapes based on straight lines. Even when the subject is a circle, it is recognized when prior information is available. In addition to the communication software, we developed a type of ping-pong game for the system. The ball is shown by four pins arranged in a square and it moves from side to side. To play the game, players must hit the ball with a racket controlled by the stylus pen. The experiment with blind players showed that they could enjoy this game. © Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2006.

DOI： 10.1007/11418337_6

Scopus

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

A system with an optical 6-axis force sensor was developed to measure contact force during braille reading. In using this system, we encountered two problems. One is a variability of output values depending on the contact point This was solved by using two transformation techniques. The other is that subjects read braille in a different manner from the usual. We compared two manners of braille reading, one-handed vs two-handed, and found a small reduction in reading speed. Using this system, we collected data from four braille readers and quantitatively showed more minute contact force trajectories than those in earlier studies.

DOI： 10.1109/IEMBS.2006.260274

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25812

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25813

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

DOI： 10.3169/itej.58.1374

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： https://jlc.jst.go.jp/DN/JALC/00243480225?from=CiNii

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25814

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN  

A new Communication system for the blind has been developed. The. system, named MIMIZU, is composed of a pair of terminals equipped with refreshable tactile graphic display and ultrasonic pen device. Using the terminal, a blind user can make drawings directly as he likes on the tactile surface with ultrasonic pen. The other blind user can recognize the tactile image appeared on the other terminal by touching it. In this way, the system can support communication between blind users by means of tactile graphics. We describe results of simple experiments in which a subject tried to transmit simple drawings to the other subject. The results show difficulty of transmitting a shape of circle without preliminary information because resolution of the display was not enough. However, it is useful to transmit shapes composed of straight lines. And even if the shape is a circle, the user can recognize it when he has information in advance.

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER FOUNDATION BLIND  

Web of Science

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：THE VIRTUAL REALITY SOCIETY OF JAPAN  

We have developed two prototypes of the electronic tactile drawing system. The first one consists of a PC, a tablet device, a tactile display device and originally programmed software. The evaluation of the system showed its potentialities for a writing and explanation tool of graphics for blind persons. It posed a few technical problems as well. One of them was separation of the input and output devices. This problem was solved in the second prototype by developing a 2-axis arm positioning system. The new system allows users to directly draw on the tactile surface and evaluators favored this feature.

DOI： 10.18974/tvrsj.7.1_87

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25815

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

Clicking graphical objects such as icons and menus is the most frequent operating method in the Windows environment. This method is, However, very difficult for people who are blind. Thus, we have developed screen reader software that works on the basis of keyboard operation and speech output in order to give blind persons access to Windows. This paper first gives a brief description of the development, functions and prevalence of the screen reader. Secondly the user survey of Windows screen readers conducted in 2000 is described. Finally the necessity of R&D for blind persons' access to information devices other than PC s is mentioned.

DOI： 10.11485/itetr.25.42.0_13

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

To provide visually-impaired people access to graphical information, we previously developed a device called a "tactile mouse." It consists of a computer mouse and a small tactile display. Tactile information is fed back to the fingers according to the mouse's movements, giving the user the feeling of exploring tangible drawings. Because the tactile display is small, however, users tend to deviate from the tangible graphics when they move the mouse too much. To identify conditions for reducing this deviation, we conducted two experiments : one on line following and one on shape discrimination. We found that when the parameter called "hand-movement-to-pin ratio" was too low, the chances of deviation increased, and when it was too high, discrimination failures occurred more frequently. Consequently, intermediate conditions that led to less deviation and fewer discrimination failures were found to be adequate for the efficient use of the tactile mouse.

DOI： 10.3169/itej.54.840

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： https://jlc.jst.go.jp/DN/JALC/00067156559?from=CiNii

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/4974622

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

For the purpose of providing access for blind people to graphical information, a device called "tactile mouse" has been developed. It consists of an ordinary computer mouse with a small tactile display unit on its top. The combinatory effect of the active movement of the hand and the tactile feedback to the fingers makes users feel as if they were exploring tangible drawings. To evaluate its usability, two experiments of line following and form recognition were conducted. It was found that, when the parameter called hand-movement-to-pin ratio was very low, the chance of deviation from the virtual forms increased, and when it was too high, on the other hand, recognition task became difficult and the error rate rose. These factors led to longer performance time and lower ratings. These results gave a quantitative indicator of tha ratio for the efficient use of the tactile mouse.

DOI： 10.11485/itetr.23.66.0_1

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25817

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：John Wiley and Sons Inc.  

Personal computers have been helping blind persons to deal with textual information. Recently, however, operating systems based on GUIs have been rapidly spreading in the personal computer environment. Since GUIs utilize many figures and appeal to the eye, they are inherently difficult to adapt for blind persons. For the purpose of providing blind persons with access to a GUI-based operating system, we have proposed and developed a screen reader that works on the basis of keyboard operation and corresponding speech output. This paper first discusses the problems of accessibility of GUIs to blind problems and proposes the use of a screen reader as a solution. Then, the development of a prototype screen reader, the evaluation of the prototype, and the functions of the new screen reader after revision based on evaluations are described. Lastly, the purposes blind persons have for using personal computers and the applications usable with the support of our screen reader are compared. The effectiveness of our approach is discussed. © 1998 Scripta Technica.

DOI： 10.1002/(SICI)1520-684X(19981130)29:13<18::AID-SCJ3>3.0.CO;2-1

Scopus

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://hdl.handle.net/10191/25818

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Maruzen Co  

The reaction time for the discrimination between the target word and nontarget words was measured using the stimuli which were made by substituting different phonemes for some of the phonemes in the target word. As the substituted phoneme, /k/ was used in more than half of nontarget words so that the reaction time for the phoneme /k/ can be used as the reaction time for the detection of substituted phonemes. It is shown that if nontarget words are discriminated when the substituted phonemes are detected, the response latency for nontarget words is the equal to the substituted phoneme detection time.

DOI： 10.1250/ast.17.323

Scopus

researchmap

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Acoustical Society of Japan  

DOI： 10.1250/ast.14.363

CiNii Article

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

These days many people are using software schedulers to record and confirm daily plans. But, there are few schedulers which are designed to be used by blind people. Thus, we have developed a scheduler for blind people as a Web application that does not require installing. This scheduler is accessible to blind people. To quickly move the focus between frequently used links, shortcut keys are prepared. Labels which cannot be accessed from the keyboard at default can now be accessed with the Tab key. This scheduler was evaluated by two blind persons and found to be easy-to-use.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We conducted an experiment to find highly discriminable combinations of tactile circular dot symbols on swell paper with blind and sighted persons as subjects. Dot diameters varied from 1 mm to 5 mm by a 0.5 mm step. These dots were presented to the subjects in a paired comparison experiment and they were asked to answer which dot was larger or both were the same size. As the result, the thresholds for 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm diameter circular dots were found to be around 0.5 mm to 0.7 mm. These values are smaller than the ones in the previous research. The thresholds were compared between blind and sighted persons and it was found that there was no significant difference for 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm diameter circular dots.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Swell paper is one method of making tactile graphics. Its foaming heights are affected by several factors such as the heat setting, the position, color, size of the graphics, and the type of printers and paper. In this study, we changed three of these parameters: the heat setting and the position and the size of the graphics. The foaming heights of the tactile graphics with various parameters were measured by using a 3D measurement system. As the results, we found the quantitative effects of these parameters on the foaming heights of tactile graphics.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Kanji learning materials by means of assembling their radicals are useful for not only sighted people but also people with low vision. However, radical cards of many conventional learning materials are hard to see for people with low vision. Moreover, properties of radical cards made of paper are not easily changeable. Thus, we decided to handle these issues by way of ICT: we started developing a Kanji assembling application that works on tablets. The size, color arrangement, and font of the default radical cards of this application are chosen to be easy-to-see for people with low vision. These properties are easily changeable according to the individual needs of people with low vision. Voice output function helps people who are hard of reading characters on the radical cards to use this application.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of personal computers and the Internet by blind and visually impaired people. Among 304 respondents, 290 people (95.4%) used personal computers. The survey results are as follows: The operating system used by the most people was Windows 7. The number of refreshable Braille display users decreased whereas the number of portable braille notetaker users increased. In the market of screen reader, Web browser, word processor, OCR, database and other types of software, products from Kochi System Development ranked at the top. Problems in using PCs raised by most respondents were the lack of Web accessibility, concretely speaking, inaccessibility to some Web pages, images, Flash objects and PDF files, difficulty in searching for desired information and reading Web pages, and inaccessibility to CAPTCHA. The solutions to these kinds of inaccessibility are required of the PC user environments.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We used R statistical software and developed software for automatic creation of "tactile graph" which blind people can read by touching. This software is a web application and open for anybody. By using this software, the user can create images of tactile graphs automatically by inputting numerical data of CSV files. So far, this web application can produce four types of tactile graphs such as scatter graphs, line graphs, bar graphs, and pie graphs. This paper describes the function and operation methods of the developed web application.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of ICT by visually impaired people. Among 304 respondents, 81 used smartphones and 44, tablets. Blind people used cellphones with a higher rate and smartphones and tablets with lower rates than people with low vision. Both blind and low vision users found voice inputting, browsing, and finding current location with smartphones useful. Besides them, object recognition apps were useful for blind users and easy-to-see screens for low vision users. Drawbacks of smartphones to both blind and low vision users are difficulties in inputting from a software keyboard and using touch interface. Low vision users raised only a few problems in using tablets. Blind users hoped for easy-to-use navigation apps and improvements in screen reading functions and low vision users, improvements in screen magnifying and high contrast functions.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of ICT by visually impaired people. Among 304 respondents, 246 people used cell phones, 81 smartphones, 44 tablets, and 290 personal computers. People with grade 1 disability used cell phones with a higher rate and, on the contrary, smartphones and tablets with a lower rate compared with people with grade 2 or lower. To ease the use of ICT devices, most people with grade 1 disability used screen reading while as people with grade 2 or lower used screen magnifying, high contrast, magnified fonts along with screen reading. Merits of using smartphones and tablets for people with low vision were maps, train route finders, and legible screens and for blind people object recognition apps. Problems in using smartphones and tablets were difficulty in typing on and operating touchscreens both.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a worldwide open project to collect and create free-access geographic data. Besides being worldwide and free, OSM has the advantege of being able to store arbitrary information such as tactile pavings and sound traffic signals which useful for blind people. Taking these advantages, we started to develop a tactile map automated createion system as a web application using geographic data of OSM. This paper describes the methods of using OSM data and tactile symbols used in our system.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Tactile Map Automated Creation System (tmacs) utilizes an automatic braille translation program "eBraille" for translating place names. eBraille outputs some transcription errors of Kana from Kanji (Chinese characters), which is a necessary step for braille translation, because some place names have multiple Kana transcriptions for the same Kanji. We researched and developed a program to improve the translation accuracy of place names. Firstly we analyzed the transcription errors of place names by using 1 2 1 5 1 0 municipality names database which is provided by Japan post Co., Ltd. We then used morphemes of prefecture and municipality names so that we can modify our program to output correct translation. As a result, eBraille achieved 9A.91% of Kana transcription accuracy.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We conducted a paired comparison experiment to find highly discriminable combinations of tactile circular dot symbols on swell paper Dot sizes varied from 1mm to 8mm by 1mm step The analysis of answer distributions, touching times and degrees of confidence revealed that it is easy to discriminate between dots with a diameter of 1mm and dots with a diameter of 3mm or more, dots with a diameter of 3mm and dots with a diameter of 5mm or more and dots with a diameter of 5mm and dots with a diameter of 7mm or more It was also found that the higher the degree of confidence, the higher the success rate of discrimination and the shorter touching times

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Popular digital maps use light colors in the background and roads This color arrangement makes it difficult for people with low vision to track routes on these maps Thus, we developed an online map in which users can change color of roads and the background arbitrarily This online map was evaluated through an experiment in which thirty-two sighted subjects followed routes in maps with four kinds of color arrangements with / without low vision goggles As a result, maps with gray roads and those with a black background shortened tracking times compared to maps with light-colored roads and background

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Two popular games, breakout game and horizontal scrolling game, were tactualized on a refreshable braille display for blind people In both games, the speed of moving objects such as the ball for the breakout game and the enemies for the scrolling game is thought to affect the difficulty of the game To investigate the relationship between them two experiments were conducted in which subjects played sub-tasks of the games and the success rate was calculated In both experiments, the success rate fell as the speed rose A learning curve was observed only for the breakout game

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In this study, we are focusing the voice assistance for our tactile Braille e-learning for the visually impaired including people with acquired vision loss. To clarify the optimal speech rate for the voice assistance, we experimented and compared five speech rates. This paper reports the results of the experiments, our discussion about the optimal speech rate and the future tasks for the implementation to our e-learning.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

"Kouseiyomi" is a set of expressions that consist of the names of the parts of kanji characters and the positional relationships of the parts. Recalling the shapes of kanji characters by these expressions requires two subtasks; (1) to recall the shapes of the parts and (2) to recall the positional relationships of the parts. Thus, we performed an experiment in which seven acquired totally blind persons were asked to choose the part that was explained by kouseiyomi out of four alternatives by touch and to place two or three parts in the positions designated by kouseiyomi. As the result, about 70% of kanji characters tested were correctly reconstructed by six or more participants. At the same time, kanji characters which consists of three parts aligned both vertically and horizontally were incorrectly placed by four participants. Finding better expression methods for these kinds of kanji characters remains as a future task.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Before developing software which automatically makes station plans tangible, two preliminary surveys were conducted on blind persons' needs for tactile station plans and on station plans on the Web. The user needs survey showed the presence of needs for tactile station plans among younger generations, ultraviolet curing resin is most preferable as the way to produce tactile maps, tactile maps are desired to be delivered before visiting stations, and which facilities should be included in tactile maps. The Web survey revealed that station plans can be found on the Web for 31.6% of about 9,000 stations nationwide, 74.6% of them are GIF files, their projection methods are plain, one-point perspective, and isometric projection (about 30% each), which facilities are found in many station plans.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have developed learning material of acupuncture - acupoints and meridians - for the visually impaired. It utilizes ontology to construct the relations between the concepts in the acupuncture field and enables tactical understanding similarly as visual understanding. We used our learning material in the acupuncture lecture for the visually impaired, quantitatively analyze its efficacy and compared the results with the group which did not used our material for learning.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

For our taclie Braile e-learning for the visually impaired, that is, people with acquired vision loss, we research and develop to add voice assistance for the users. To clarify the optimal speech rate for the voice assistance, we experimented and compared three candidates: 400 Japanese characters per minute, which is reported to be the standard speech rate, 600 characters per minute and 800 characters per minute. Our results suggested 400 characters per minute was the most understandable speed for the visually impaired.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Route guidances are one of walking assistance for visually impaired people. We are developing the route guidance automated creation system using digital map data. In route guidances, landmarks are important information to grasp one's position and keep the route. In order to search landmarks along the route from digital map data, we proposed a method of regarding the nearest line from the point as the road facing that point and verified the search accuracy. As a result the proposed method proved to be effective in about 60 percent of points along the route. Remaining 40 percent of points were in big buildings, near intersections, and near yard roads. We devised algorithms for searching these points correct. The second verification of search accuracy showed over 80 percent of points were correctly searched.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We conducted an experiment to find highly discriminable combinations of area symbols on embossed graphics with sighted and blind persons as subjects. In the experiment, we measured subjective evaluation on differences of textures and reaction times by pair comparisons with dot patterns of ten different dot distances and three dot diameters as stimuli of area symbols. The experimental result showed that dot patterns with more than 2.1mm differences in dot distances among the same dot diameter are highly discriminable and those with more than 1.4mm differences in dot distances among the different dot diameters. Prom these results, we selected appropriate pairs of dot patterns on embossed maps, taking the range of area symbols in consideration.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To improve the usability of tactile maps, it is necessary to create easily detectable symbols in tactile maps. To propose easily detectable symbols in tactile maps on the basis of quantitative data, we conducted haptic search experiments with sighted people, and measured search times as an index of search efficiency. We created three symbols whose size were different, and measured search times for each symbol. In the result, subjects found the biggest symbol faster than smaller ones. This result suggests that it should be good to use big symbols as important places (e.g., departure place and destination) when tactile maps are created.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

People with serious motor disabilities can operate electronic devices like personal computers with the help of a "control-interface switch" operable even by slight voluntary body-movements. Such switches, however, have a defect of being affected significantly by involuntary body movements, resulting in erroneous operations of the devices. Then, we have been attempting to develop a geomagnetic sensor-based control-interface switch, GSN/1, which is able to eliminate involuntary movements. In this paper, we evaluated two characteristics of GSN/1 as follows: 1) detection ability of voluntary movement and 2) elimination ability of involuntary movement. Experiments employing healthy volunteers demonstrated that GSN/1 could be sensitive to thumb movements with a tip motion distance of more than 6 [mm] and insensitive to involuntary body movements like twitch.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To assist blind persons' mobility, we are developing a tactile map automated creation system. As it is important to read tactile symbols in the map quickly and accurately, we conducted experiment to evaluate find-ability and discriminability of these symbols. As a result, it was found that tactile guides make the symbols to be fastly searched, and it was difficult to discriminate the difference between some lines and textures in the embossed maps. Based on these results we concluded that improvements of tactile symbols are necessary.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We developed a route guidance automatic creating system to help blind people know their route by speech. The route guidance consists of surrounding information around the starting place, the overview of the route, the route information, and the reference sentence. In order to examine whether or not the route guidance is easy to understand, we conducted a walking experiment with a blind person as a subject. As a result, he was able to walk the expected route guidance. On its way, he investigated two open spaces to know if they were crossings or not. Based on the experimental results, we concluded the a few modifications are necessary for the guidance, the change in the expression of a three way intersection and the addition of an azimuth and a parking are necessary.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We research and develop support programs for the blind and partially sighted people such as a web-based Japanese-to-Braille translation program and tactile Braille e-learning. To refer to the efforts and supports for the blind and the partially sighted overseas, we visited support organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom from November to December in 2010. Our visit in the US resulted in the development of an e-learning system for English tactile Braille with sound support. In the UK, we introduced the two programs-English eBraille translation and English tactile Braille e-learning-and received comments. This paper reports our research for the supports for the blind and the partially sighted in the UK.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To convey shape images of Kanji characters to blind persons, we propose "kouseiyomi" or constitutional explanation of kanji characters. Kouseiyomi of a kanji character consists of names of the parts of the kanji and their positional relationships. We made a set of rules of breaking down kanji characters into parts and developed a set of kouseiyomi for 6,355 kanji characters included in JIS 1 and JIS 2 lists based on these rules. We performed an experiment in which sighted participants were asked to write kanji characters expressed by kouseiyomi. The result shows that they could write kanji at a correct rate of around 90%, which is significantly higher than the rate performed with explanation by idioms. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of kouseiyomi in conveying shape images of Kanji characters. At the same time, a few kouseiyomi expressions were answered with low correct rates. We considered its reason.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To assist blind persons' mobility, we are developing a tactile map automated creation system. By using tactile maps created with this system, we conducted a walking experiment with two blind participants. It was proven that they were able to reach new places without a guide. An analysis of the protocols and videos during walking showed the mechanism of mistaking parking lots for crossings and mistaking crossings for entrances of a building or a park, and the effectiveness of gas stations and restaurants as landmarks. Based on these analysis, we concluded necessary improvement of the tactile map automated creation system, importance of using both tactile and audio maps, and necessity of developing a database for blind travelers.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We are developing the Tactile Automatic Creation System (TMACS) which enables blind persons to produce tactile maps with screen readers. The current system produces tactile maps on capsule paper. According to the request of blind persons, we started developing programs for printing tactile maps with the embosser. There are two methods for producing embossed tactile maps: one is to output tactile maps directly to the embosser and the other is to create EDEL files. We held a workshop for blind persons and asked the participants the usability of tactile maps produced with our new programs.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Fujitsu's RakuRaku phone series with the voice output function can send GPS information by e-mail. Using this information we developed a mail service with which users can receive mails about names of shops and buildings in the vicinity of the present location and the distances and directions to them. Also, users can set the range of the search, select the types of shops to search and choose whether or not to feedback the distance. Five blind persons used this service and returned questionnaire about it. The result shows that improvements of the service such as speeding up the responses, increasing information on rest rooms and parks and others are necessary.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

At the first stage of braille learning, it is preferable to use braille characters which are easy for beginners to read tactually. This is the motive for exploring such braille characters through an experiment. The experimental results showed that braille characters with less than three dots, space in the second row, or a simple arrangement of dots were read with short reading times. At the same time, it was found that beginners tend to misunderstand the angle of the dotted lines and miss the space in the second row. Based on these results, we discussed the relationship between the arrangement of the dots and the reading time and the application of the experimental results to braille educational textbooks.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

IT support centers for persons with disabilities in local areas have a small number of staff members and volunteers as well as clients. This situation makes it difficult to supply high quality services continuously. Additionally, large support areas make it difficult for the supporters to travel over to the users, vice versa, in terms of cost and time. This paper describes the current status of one of local support centers, Niigata IT Support Center for Persons with Disabilities, to share and discuss the tasks with other local support centers.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

This paper reviewed Technical Reports of IEICE which were presented in Technical Committee WIT for the last ten years (1999-2009) and dealt with assistive technology for visually impaired and blind persons. The most dominant theme was technologies assisting the use of personal computers; 30 percent of the reviewed reports handled it. Among them, 40 percent studied Web accessibility. Followings were technologies assisting mobility and navigation, braille, I/O interfaces, and speech. Researches for the assist of deaf and blind persons were reported in a big number whereas only a few researches for low vision were reported. Many research results became available on the market as well as freely on the Web. Based on this review, the second author, a user of these assistive technologies, described future expectations in this research field.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In response to a demand from a visually impaired person, we undertook the development of a Web application which speaks out the components of Kanji characters and displays them in large sizes. Speech output explains not only the names of Kanji components but also their location in the character so that blind persons can construct the image of Kanji characters in their mind. Large fonts are prepared for persons with low vision. Future tasks are gathering information on improvement of the application through its use by blind persons and constructing a database on Kanji components and their locations in the character.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Department of Biocybernetics, Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University, opened a PC class for the visually impaired who lived in Niigata Prefecture, in cooperated with Niigata Prefectural Association of the Visual Impairment, in 2003. So far, we have had twelve classes for six years. In this technical report, we reported this PC class, which is one of the contribution of Niigata University to the visually impaired.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To promote independent mobility of blind persons, we are developing a system which enables them to produce tactile maps of arbitrary locations in Japan. The system is a Web application with accessibility in mind so that blind persons can use it. The user assigns a target location by text input. Then, the system searches for geographical data around the target from the map database, selects necessary data for tactile maps, renders a map image, and lays out the image along with braille legends, the directional symbol, and the scale around it. The user prints the whole image onto a sheet of capsule paper by using an ordinary printer and put the print into the "heater." The heater makes the black ink printed lines and symbols expand so that users can feel them with their fingers. We held a workshop at which several blind persons experienced the operation or the system and explored the tactile maps they made. The attendees' opinions were gathered to improve the system.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We approached product of tactile picture used 3D CAD molding system. It was possible to apply 3D digitizing of figure in three dimensions and data processing by latest devices to the product of tactile pictures. Using the 3D data, Small size prototype of tactile pictures produced by rapid prototyping used nylon powder and 3D milling used chemical woods. 18 persons with visual impairment evaluated the products understandability and impression to touch. The results suggested that can utilize teaching aids to appreciate tactile pictures

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of the Internet among people with visual impairments. Among 413 effective respondents, 386 people were using the Internet. More than 80% of respondents in their twenties to sixties were using the Internet more than four or five days in a week. Respondents who were print disabled were using the Internet more often than people who were print enabled. Home Page Reader was the most used assistive software with speech output and PC-Talker was the second. Among those software users, 40.1% were using more than two softwares. Many respondents answered that they use the Internet for collecting the information and e-mail. Especially, among thirties the Internet was often used for online shopping and putting out the information. Problems such as lack of alternative text for images, inability to access dynamic content, and inability to navigate Web pages with complex structure were pointed out.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of the Internet among people with visual impairments. Among 413 effective respondents, 386 people were using the Internet. More than 80% of respondents in their twenties to sixties were using the Internet more than four or five days in a week. Respondents who were print disabled were using the Internet more often than people who were print enabled. Home Page Reader was the most used assistive software with speech output and PC-Talker was the second. Among those software users, 40.1% were using more than two softwares. Many respondents answered that they use the Internet for collecting the information and e-mail. Especially, among thirties the Internet was often used for online shopping and putting out the information. Problems such as lack of alternative text for images, inability to access dynamic content, and inability to navigate Web pages with complex structure were pointed out.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In making an ICT usage rate survey, utilizing mailing lists and facilities for visually impaired persons inevitably leads to biased sampling. In order to make less biased sampling, accordingly, we decided to make calls to as much visually impaired persons as we can in a certain city. Specifically, we invited the cooperation of the Welfare Association for the Visually Impaired in that city and gained a permission to interview with its members via telephone. Responses from 23 members showed following tendencies. (1) Persons with disability grade 1 (most severe) are using ICT more actively than persons with grades 2 through 4 (less severe). (2) Braille users are using ICT more actively than non-braille users.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In making an ICT usage rate survey, utilizing mailing lists and facilities for visually impaired persons inevitably leads to biased sampling. In order to make less biased sampling, accordingly, we decided to make calls to as much visually impaired persons as we can in a certain city. Specifically, we invited the cooperation of the Welfare Association for the Visually Impaired in that city and gained a permission to interview with its members via telephone. Responses from 23 members showed following tendencies. (1) Persons with disability grade 1 (most severe) are using ICT more actively than persons with grades 2 through 4 (less severe). (2) Braille users are using ICT more actively than non-braille users.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of personal computers, assistive tools, and application software among people with visual impairments. Among 413 effective respondents, 391 people were using personal computers. Among 391PC users, screen readers were used by 330 people, screen magnifier software by 15 people, and Accessibility Features in the operating system by 59 people. More than half of those who answered that they were print enabled were using screen readers. The usage rate of electronic braille notetakers has risen compared to the previous survey results in 2002. Problems such as imperfect speech output, frequent freeze-ups of screen readers, application software, and the operating system, and lack of readability were raised by many respondents.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

A survey was conducted on the use of personal computers, assistive tools, and application software among people with visual impairments. Among 413 effective respondents, 391 people were using personal computers. Among 391PC users, screen readers were used by 330 people, screen magnifier software by 15 people, and Accessibility Features in the operating system by 59 people. More than half of those who answered that they were print enabled were using screen readers. The usage rate of electronic braille notetakers has risen compared to the previous survey results in 2002. Problems such as imperfect speech output, frequent freeze-ups of screen readers, application software, and the operating system, and lack of readability were raised by many respondents.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Publisher：National Institute of Special Needs Education  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://www.nise.go.jp/kenshuka/josa/kankobutsu/pub_a/a-35/a-35_2.pdf

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We conducted a survey on the use of mobile phones, computers, and the Web by visually impaired persons. This report focuses on the use of mobile phones. The number of respondents who use mobile phones was 380. Characteristically, most visually impaired users, especially print disabled persons, use specific "universal design" type models with voice output. Seventy-five percent of print disabled respondents use e-mail, and 63% the Web through mobile phones. They requested the improvement of display legibility, advanced voice output which is realized by screen readers, a GPS feature, and other applications useful to visually impaired users.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

Persons who acquired visual disability late in life sometimes find it easier to read enlarged braille rather than the standard-sized braille. Thus, we developed software which can print braille with variable interdot spaces. By using this software, we printed braille sheets with five kinds of interdot spaces and conducted an experiment to explore the relationship between the interdot spaces and legibility of braille with beginners in braille as subjects. Both objective and subjective data showed that (1) braille with wider interdot spaces than the Japanese standard-sized braille was easier to read, but (2) braille with too wide interdot spaces, such as Jumbo Braille, was difficult to read, therefore (3) the Japanese L-sized braille and braille with its neighboring sizes were appropriate for the beginners.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：English   Publisher：National Institute of Special Needs Education  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have been conducting a series of researches to improve shosaiyomi of Kanji characters. In this report, we deal with Joyo (common use) Kanji. We mainly used the word familiarity database as an index when selecting the words to explain Kanji characters. In this way we developed a new set of shosaiyomi for 939 Joyo Kanji characters (since 1006 Educational Kanji characters are subtracted). To evaluate it, we conducted a Kanji writing test with university students as subjects. As a result, a set of shosaiyomi comprising words with higher familiarity gained a significantly higher average correct rate than another set comprising of words with lower familiarity. Thus, it becomes clear that the word familiarity database is an effective index when developing easy-to-understand shosaiyomi of Joyo Kanji for university students. In this test, we also examined another hypothesis that some words are easier to understand when presented as verbs than presented as nouns. However, the result did not support it statistically.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We analyzed the relationship among braille reading speed, contact force, tactile movements, and attributes of thirty-two braille readers. As a result, we have found that braille reading speed is related to the age when braille was learned and the frequency of braille usage but not to tactile movements. Also, it was found that most of slower braille readers show a light contact force, whereas faster readers show a comparatively strong force that varies from person to person.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In this paper, we propose a new method of assisting Kana-Kanji conversion for people with visual impairment. There are many homophone words in Japanese, shosai yomi is one of effective methods of assisting. However, it is difficult to decide with shosai yomi when semantic of word and semantic of kanji character are different. Our method, "Jisho setsume yomi", provides the sematic information of the word and usage. We developed program for evaluation and distributed it to people with visual impairment. We obtained generally positive respose from the evaluators.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We analyzed the word familiarity and construction of shosaiyomi of screen reader products. The word familiarity and construction were compared among three groups of Kanji difficulty; educational Kanji group, common use Kanji group, and JIS 1 Kanji group. It was found that as the degrees of difficulty increase, (1) the word familiarity lowers, (2) the number of Kanji which can be explained with just pronunciation and paired Kanji characters decreases, and accordingly (3) the number of Kanji which is explained with elements of Kanji or the name of well-known persons or places increases.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

The purpose of our study is to investigate the relation between contact force of fingers during braille reading and the reading skill measured by the reading speed. We had used two kinds of pressure measurement system; one of them contains a small-sized displacement sensor and the other pressure sensitive sheets. However, these systems presented low precision and instability. This time we introduced a 6-axis force sensor for high precision and stability. As the sensor supports the measuring plate at one point, variability of output values are observed depending on the contact point. This pr...

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ)  

We have been conducting a series of researches on the problem of shosaiyomi of kanji that arises when screen reader software is used by elementary school students with visual impairments. It is preferable that development of shosaiyomi that is used by elementary school students is based on word familiarity of children. However, there are few studies on word familiarity of children. In this paper, we have analyzed whether familiarity of elementary school students can be estimate from that of adults. As a result, a comparatively strong correlation was observed. Thus, it was suggested that familiarity of elementary school students can be estimate from familiarity of adults.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://id.nii.ac.jp/1001/00056912/

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have surveyed accessibility of Web sites of 61 boards of education and 55 education centers of prefectures and government-decreed cities. In the survey, WebInspector, Fujistu Co., was used as a checking tool. The survey results were expressed in the view of importance of the addressed problems, number of problems counted for each organization, and kinds of problems classified in accordance with the check list of JIS X 8341. The result was compared with that of the survey done for special schools half a year ago.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

The purpose of our study is to investigate the relation between contact pressure of fingers during braille reading and the reading skill measured by speed. For this purpose we have introduced a pressure measurement system using pressure sensitive conductive ink and performed experiments with braille readers as subjects. Reading speeds of five participants varied from 7.51 to 10.87. These speeds are very fast and it can be said that they were experienced and skillful readers. Contact pressures were measured while they were asked to read braille with a finger of their dominant hand. One subje...

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

The purpose of our study is to investigate the relation between the pressure and movement of fingers while reading braille and the reading skill measured with speed and correctness. For this purpose we have conducted literature review of braille reading, introduction of a pressure measurement system using pressure sensitive conductive rubber, and its preliminary use. Two braille readers participated in the test and read braille in two modes : one with their dominant finger and hand, the other with their both hands as they do in everyday life. One subject showed an average value of 80-90 gf ...

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have been conducting a series of researches on the problem of shosaiyomi of Kanji that arise when the screen reader is used by elementary school students with visual impairments. So far, we have clarified that the use of words that are out of their vocabulary is the primary factor that cause lower recall rate of original Kanji characters. The next step of the research is to know the limit of vocabulary of children. To do so, we have performed a survey on familiarity of elementary school students with words. The words used in the survey were selected out of "Educational Fundamental Vocabulary" and grouped into four categories according to the grade in which the words first appear in the textbooks. As a result, it was found that difference of variance among the four groups was statistically significant; The ratio of words whose familiarity is relatively high is higher in lower first-appearing grade and decreases as the first-appearing grade gets higher.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

There are a lot of homonyms in the kanji. Therefore, it is difficult to do the expression that uniquely specifies the kanji only by the voice. We did kanji explanatory expression experiment and analysised. The result shows (1)kanji that means part of body or number tends to be explained with that attributes, (2)the strategy that explain with attributes were adopted more than existing screen reader's explanatory expressions.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

As speech works the interface between computers and their blind users, its properties considerably affects the efficiency of their manipulation. Thus, the properties of speech adopted by the users of screen readers were surveyed to present basic data on the needs of improvements of speech synthesizers. The result shows (1) most respondents adjusted the speed of speech to the fastest, (2) most respondents did not change the default pitch of the voice (middle height), (3) more than 80% of the respondents set the sex of the speaker to the male voice.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：障害者団体定期刊行物協会  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have been doing research for the development of electronic raised-line drawing systems that enable blind persons to freely draw and modify tactile graphics. The former part of this report deals with the history of these developments ever done. Then the middle and latter parts explain the evaluation of the new system at a school for the blind. The purpose of the evaluation is to derive practical suggestions on what tasks the new system is effectively used in and what kinds of improvements are required for practical use. The configuration and functions of the new system and remarks of teachers and students are described in detail.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have been doing research for the development of electronic raised-line drawing systems that enable blind persons to freely draw and modify tactile graphics. The former part of this report deals with the history of these developments ever done. Then the middle and latter parts explain the evaluation of the new system at a school for the blind. The purpose of the evaluation is to derive practical suggestions on what tasks the new system is effectively used in and what kinds of improvements are required for practical use. The configuration and functions of the new system and remarks of teachers and students are described in detail.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have been doing research for the development of electronic raised-line drawing systems that enable blind persons to freely draw and modify tactile graphics. The former part of this report deals with the history of these developments ever done. Then the middle and latter parts explain the evaluation of the new system at a school for the blind. The purpose of the evaluation is to derive practical suggestions on what tasks the new system is effectively used in and what kinds of improvements are required for practical use. The configuration and functions of the new system and remarks of teachers and students are described in detail.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Publisher：National Institute of Special Needs Education  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Other Link： http://www.nise.go.jp/kenshuka/josa/kankobutsu/kiyo30/watanabe_t.pdf

Language：Japanese   Publisher：独立行政法人国立特別支援教育総合研究所  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

In order to augment independent social communication of people with severe visual impairments, improvements on computer usability and the increase in the number of computer users among them are necessary. With this background, we conducted a survey of accessibility to Windows and the Internet by visually-impaired PC users. The survey was done through four mailing lists, and we have got 99 effective responses. The survey result shows which hardware and software were used at workplaces or at home, purposes of using the Internet, and problems faced by them when they learned and used Windows and the Internet.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

The International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs 2002 was held at Linz University, Austria from July 15 to 20, 2002. 275 people from 33 countries participated this conference. 140 reviewed papers were classified into special thematic sessions, STSs, and ordinary sessions and discussed in each session. In this report we introduce some presentations that we found interesting in the sessions we attended.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

The International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs 2002 was held at Linz University, Austria from July 15 to 20, 2002. 275 people from 33 countries participated this conference. 140 reviewed papers were classified into special thematic sessions, STSs, and ordinary sessions and discussed in each session. In this report we introduce some presentations that we found interesting in the sessions we attended.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：National Institute of Special Needs Education  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Publisher：Japan Ergonomics Society  

CiNii Article

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：テクノタイムズ社  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We have developed an electronic raise-writer system that has advantages of both a raise-writer and a tactile display. The aim is to enable the blind to draw figures, graphics, etc.himself. The system is composed of a pen-style input device held by beam arms with two axis and tactile displays driven by piezoelectric actuators. The pen-style device controls the up and down position on the tactile display. The main points of improving the system are an input method by LCD tablet and a function of tactile animation. Blind students and their teachers evaluate the system. In this paper, we describe the actual state of the system and future plan led by remarks from evaluations and some consideration.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers  

Mouse with tcatile display sytem for blind people to use GUI is developed. A screen reader was used for converting text information on the screen to voice. A tactile display was used for displaying graphical information on the screen. The tactile display which is installed in the mouse, has 8x8 pin matrix with 3mm pin pitch. It is planned to coat the surface of pin matrix by rubber to supplement the space resolution. The system and discussion of pin-matrix density were shown.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We conducted a survey to gather information on Windows accessibility by visually-impaired users and to plan measurements to improve it. Its result shows that the speech synthesizers used within screen readers have a lot of problems in text analysis, especially when the text is English, pronouncing symbol characters, the intelligibility of discretely-pronounced mono-letters, naturalness, fatigue from listening too long, speech rate and response time. These requirements, which are essential for precise and quick information transmission through speech, are expected to be fulfilled in the near future.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

We developed a prototype of an "electronic raise-writer" system which enables blind people not only draw but also erase their drawing as they want. The system consists of a personal computer, a tablet, a tactile display set and originally programmed software. In order to find the effectiveness of the system, four blind persons were asked to use it and make comments on it. We found that the system can be used effectively as an exercise tool for writing and other purposes. Also many modifications that were required of the system were suggested.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

CiNii Article

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：社団法人情報処理学会  

One Purpose of our recent R&amp;D is to provide an environment in which blind people can use many kinds of popular application software on PCs. The first step to this goal was the development of a screen reader which works on Windows, a widely-spreading operating system. The second step is to vocalize applications indispensable in the workplaces. At the same time, we invited the cooperation of developers in vocalizing their own applications. As a result, an electronic timetable product and an electronic encyclopedia were improved to be accessible for blind people for the first time. As these products are designed for general purpose, blind people can obtain the newest information at low prices as sighted people can do.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本障害者雇用促進協会障害者職業総合センタ-  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers  

CCTV is one of the useful assistive technologies for people with low vision. However, the state of CCTV use has not been well known in Japan. In order to clarify the use of CCTVs and demand factors for future improvements, we conducted a CCTV user survey with a questionnaire. By analyzing the survey results, some user demands are extracted. We prototyped a CCTV based on the survey and evaluated it.

CiNii Article

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

J-GLOBAL

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To provide access for blind people to graphical information on the computer screen which changes frequently, we developed"tactile mice." A tactile mouse consists of an ordinary computer mouse with a tactile display unit on its top. To evaluate its usability, we measured the trajectories of the mouse as a function of time during exploring a virtually tangible line. The result indicates that as the distance sensitivity of the mouse is heightened, the deviation from the virtual line increases. The comparison between this result and the precedent studies shows that the deviation accounts well for the subjective evaluation of the tangibility of virtual lines.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本障害者雇用促進協会障害者職業総合センタ-  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：社団法人電子情報通信学会  

Speech synthesis technologies which assisted blind peolpe to use personal computers were subjectively evaluated by blind users. The evaluation shows that blind users preferred shorter system response time, faster speech speed, shorter pauses at commas and periods, and so forth, which will increase information processing speed through speech. Some of these requirements were met in our Windows screen reader. In addition, particular expressions, such as shousaiyomi and onkunyomi, which have been devised to discriminate homonyms through speech are explained by taking word processors for blind people, MS-DOS screen readers and our Windows screen reader as examples.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

For the visually-impaired and blind, we have developed a Windows screenreader which works on Windows Version 3.1. Our program is based on the key-driven and speech-output method in which Windows standard key assignments are made use of. To evaluate this software, its copies were distributed and used by visually-impaired and blind people. The results of the evaluations showed than the screenreader should have the functions such as (1)the user can change the speed of the synthesized speech, (2)the user can skip the current speech output, and (3)the user can stop the speech output altogether. In the current development of a screenreader which runs on Windows 95, we have been dealing with these requirements.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

To investigate the efficiency of selection from speech menu, a target/nontarget word discrimination experiment was conducted. Three out of four subjects could discriminate nontarget words when they perceived different phoneme from target words. They could discriminate target words when they perceived the first phoneme since only the first phoneme was different from nontorget words. The result suggests that faster speech menus are not necessarily more efficient than slower ones.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers  

An experiment was conducted in which subjects were required to search for an icon without looking at the GUI screen. Acoustical feedback was given to them when the cursor reached the icon or one of the edges of the display screen. The differences of the search distance between subjects or pointing devices were not statistically significant. The significant differences of the search time were due to the differences of the search speed. On the basis of these findings, a few starategies were proposed that are expected to assist the visually impaired and blind in using and understanding GUI.

CiNii Article

CiNii Books

researchmap

Award type：Award from Japanese society, conference, symposium, etc.  Country：Japan

researchmap

Award type：Award from Japanese society, conference, symposium, etc.  Country：Japan

researchmap

Award type：Award from publisher, newspaper, foundation, etc.  Country：Japan

researchmap