Japanese

No.114　March 2009

Lecture

  • An evaluation of an optimum stimulus presentation method considering tactile sensation on passive 6-finger Braille - Towards information barrier-free presentation system for those people deaf-blind or a braille biginner -
    Tadahiro SAKAI and Takayuki ITO    ↓summary

    summary
    We have developed an integrated information receiving terminal to convey data broadcasting information for visually impaired persons.This report describes this terminal,the 6-finger Braille presentation method, and psychophysical experiments. The first experiment tested how accurately Braille information can be recognized when information is presented by various stimuli in consideration of the skin mechanoreceptor for a short period of time.The second experiment evaluated the Braille recognition ratio by using delayed stimuli to fingers to reduce tactile masking and phantom sensations. The results indicated that a pressure stimulus is better than a vibration stimulus and the improvement in the correct ratio is less with delayed stimuli.The highest correct ratio was for a stimulus presentation condition with apparent movement for each finger.

  • Automatic News Flash Readout Broadcasting Service of Earthquake and Tsunami Information Using a Data Broadcasting Technology
    Kinji MATSUMURA,Hiroyuki SEGI,Satoru KONDO,Toru TAKAGI,Yasuaki KANATSUGU and Toshihiro SHIMIZU    ↓summary

    summary
    A news flash readout broadcasting service for earthquake and tsunami warnings has been proposed in response to requests made by visually impaired people,and an experimental system was developed to confirm its feasibility. The experimental system automatically reads out news flashes by activating itself according to commands sent in the data broadcasting. At the broadcasting station,the readout voices are automatically synthesized from earthquake and Tsunami information sent by the Meteorological Agency. It was confirmed that automatic news flash readout using a commercially available digital broadcasting receiver is a universal service for both the blind and the sighted.