• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2020

Visually impaired people use tactile maps to get spatial information about their surrounding environment, find their way, and improve their independent mobility. However, classical tactile maps that make use of braille to describe the location within the map have several limitations, such as the lack of information due to constraints on space and limited feedback possibilities. This study describes the development of a new multi-modal interactive tactile map interface that addresses the challenges of tactile maps to improve the usability and independence of visually impaired people when using tactile maps. This interface adds touch gesture recognition to the surface of tactile maps and enables the users to verbally interact with a voice agent to receive feedback and information about navigation routes and points of interest. A low-cost prototype was developed to conduct usability tests that evaluated the interface through a survey and interview given to blind participants after using the prototype. The test results show that this interactive tactile map prototype provides improved usability for people over traditional tactile maps that use braille only. Participants reported that it was easier to find the starting point and points of interest they wished to navigate to with the prototype. Also, it improved self-reported independence and confidence compared with traditional tactile maps. Future work includes further development of the mobility solution based on the feedback received and an extensive quantitative study.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.783-789
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• 2007

In this paper, firstly, we propose a generating method of the 3-D obstacle map using ultrasonic sensors. Secondly, we try to find the necessary stimulation conditions of compact tactile display device for effective transfer of obstacle information. The final goal of this research is the development of a walking guide system for the blind to walk safely. The walking guide system consists of a guide vehicle for the obstacle detection and a tactile display device for the transfer of the obstacle information. The guide vehicle, located in front of the walking blind, detects the obstacle using ultrasonic sensors. The processed information makes an obstacle map and transmits safe path and emergency situation to the blind by the tactile display. The tactile display device, located in the handle which is connected with the guide vehicle by cane, offers the processed obstacle information such as position, size, moving, shape of obstacle and safe path, etc. The concept of a walking guide system with tactile display is introduced, and experiments of 3-D obstacle detection and tactile perception are carried out and analyzed.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

In this paper, we propose a haptic display system that can convert Braille and tactual map(braille map) to tactile information recognizable through sense of touch almost in real-time. The proposed system consists of a haptic display hardware device, which actually delivers tactile signal to visually impaired people, and a device control software program, which converts Braille and tactile information to tactile signal and transfers it to the hardware device. Experimental evaluations of the proposed system were performed with 10 visually impaired persons. Experimental results show that the proposed system can provide similar Braille recognition rate and speed to those of existing Braille information devices. In addition, the proposed system converts tactile information to tactile signal under maximum 1.1 seconds, so that it can provide graphic information in almost real-time which is not possible with existing tactile devices, such as Braille printer.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.452-458
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• 2013

In this paper, we propose the method for automatically transfers images into tactile maps information based on cognition characteristics of visually impaired persons to more easily provide various image information for visually impaired persons. The proposed method automatically classify color images into row complexity and high complexity based on intensity information and transfer images into tactile map information using each different transformation process. Experimental evaluation, We performed with visually impaired five persons experiments for evaluating the recognition and satisfaction that tactile maps of the proposed automatic transforming method and the manually generated tactile maps of braille textbooks. Experimental results, the recognition and satisfaction that the tactile maps of the proposed method generated are very similar to those of the tactile maps of braille textbooks. Therefore, it could hugely be reduced the time and money of production education materials, and it could greatly improved educative results because it can add more easily that many image data of education materials.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.535-547
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• 2012

Controlling the balance of motion in a context involving a biped robot navigating a rugged surface or a step is a difficult task. In the present study, a $3{\times}5$ flexible piezoelectric tactile sensor array is developed to provide a foot pressure map and zero moment point for a biped robot. We introduce an innovative concept involving structural electrodes on a piezoelectric film in order to improve the sensitivity. The tactile sensor consists of a polymer piezoelectric film, PVDF, between two patterned flexible print circuit substrates (FPC). Additionally, a silicon rubber bump-like structure is attached to the FPC and covered by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. Experimental results show that the output signal of the sensor exhibits a linear behavior within 0.2 N ~ 9 N, while its sensitivity is approximately 42 mV/N. According to the characteristic of the tactile sensor, the readout module is designed for an in-situ display of the pressure magnitudes and distribution within $3{\times}5$ taxels. Furthermore, the trajectory of the zero moment point (ZMP) can also be calculated by this program. Consequently, our tactile sensor module can provide the pressure map and ZMP information to the in-situ feedback to control the balance of moment for a biped robot.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2009

In walking guide robot, a guide vehicle detects an obstacle distribution in the walking space using range sensors, and generates a 3D grid map to map the obstacle information and the tactile display. And the obstacle information is transferred to a blind pedestrian using tactile feedback. Based on the obstacle information a user plans a walking route and controls the guide vehicle. The algorithm for 3D detection of an obstacle distribution and the method of mapping the generated obstacle map and the tactile display device are proposed in this paper. The experiment for the 3D detection of an obstacle distribution using ultrasonic sensors is performed and estimated. The experimental system consisted of ultrasonic sensors and control system. In the experiment, the detection of fixed obstacles on the ground, the moving obstacle, and the detection of down-step are performed. The performance for the 3D detection of an obstacle distribution and space mapping is verified through the experiment.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.136-141
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• 2007

The Purpose Of This Paper Is To Use A Tactile Sensor To Compensate The Error Rate. Most Automated Sphygmomanometers Use The Oscillometric Method And Characteristic Ratio To Estimate Systolic And Diastolic Blood Pressure. However, Based On The Fact That Maximum Amplitude Of The Oscillometric Waveform And Characteristic Ratio Are Affected By Compliance Of The Aorta And Large Arteries, A Method To Measure The Artery Stiffness By Using A Tactile Sensor Was Chosen In Order To Integrate It With The Sphygmomanometer In The Future Instead Of Using Photoplethysmography. Since Tactile Sensors Have Very Weak Movements, Efforts Were Made To Maintain The Subject's Arm In A Fixed Position, And A 40hz Low Pass Filter Was Used To Eliminate Noise From The Power Source As Well As High Frequency Noise. An Analyzing Program Was Made To Get Time Delay Between The First And Second Peak Of The Averaged Digital Volume Pulse(${\Delta}t_{dvp}$), And The Subject's Height Was Divided By ${\Delta}t_{dvp}$ To Calculate The Stiffness Index Of The Arteries($Si_{dvp}$). Regression Equations Of Systolic And Diastolic Pressure Using $Si_{dvp}$ And Mean Arterial Pressure(Map) Were Computed From The Test Group (60 Subjects) Among A Total Of 121 Subjects(Age: $44.9{\pm}16.5$, Male: Female=40:81) And Were Tested In 61 Subjects To Compensate The Error Rate. Error Rates Considering All Subjects Were Systolic $4.62{\pm}9.39mmhg$, And Diastolic $14.40{\pm}9.62mmhg$, And Those In The Test Set Were $3.48{\pm}9.32mmhg,\;And\;14.34{\pm}9.67mmhg$ Each. Consequently, Error Rates Were Compensated Especially In Diastolic Pressure Using $Si_{dvp}$, Various Slopes From Digital Volume Pulse And Map To Systolic-$1.91{\pm}7.57mmhg$ And Diastolic $0.05{\pm}7.49mmhg$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.30 no.5 s.153
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• pp.699-710
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• 2006

The objective of this study was to identify the texture-related components of woven fabrics and to develop a multidimensional perceptual structure map to represent the tactile textures. Eighty subjects in clothing and tektite industries were selected for multivariate data on each fabric of 30 using the questionnaire with 9 pointed semantic differential scales of 20 texture-related adjectives. Data were analyzed by factor analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling(MDS) using SPSS statistical package. The results showed that the five factors were selected and composed of density/warmth-coolness, stiffness, extensibility, drapeability, and surface/slipperiness. As a result of hierarchical cluster analysis, 30 fabrics were grouped by four clusters; each cluster was named with density/warmth-coolness, surface/slipperiness, stiffness, and extensibility, respectively. By MDS, three dimensions of tactile texture were obtained and a 3-dimensional perceptual structure map was suggested. The three dimensions were named as surface/slipperiness, extensibility, and stiffness. We proposed a positioning perceptual map of fabrics related to texture naming system(TNS). To classify the textural features of the woven fabrics, hierarchical cluster analysis containing all the data variations, even though it includes the errors, may be more desirable than texture-related multidimensional data analysis based on factor loading values in respect of the effective variables reduction without losing the critical variations.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.322-331
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• 2017

In this paper we present a novel robotic palpation method for the lump shape estimation using contact pressure distribution. Many previous researches about the robotic palpation have used a stiffness map, which is not suitable to obtain geometrical information of a lump. As a result, they require a large data set and long palpation time to estimate the lump shape. Instead of using the stiffness map, the proposed palpation method uses the difference between the normal force direction and the surface normal to detect the lump boundary and estimate its normal. The palpation trajectory is generated by the normal of the lump boundary to track the lump boundary in real-time. The proposed approach requires small data set and short palpation time for the lump shape estimation since the shape can be directly estimated from the optimally generated palpation trajectory. An experiment result shows that our method can find the lump shape accurately in real-time with small data and short time.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.19-30
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• 2020

Purpose: The ratio of the visually impaired is gradually increasing due to various causes such as natural aging, accidents, and environmental changes. Therefore, this study has two folds. Firstly, it aims to analyze the current satisfaction level with information facilities for the visually impaired. Secondly, it aims to examine the factors affecting the satisfaction with indoor information facilities. Through this study, it helps to identify problems of information facilities for the visually impaired and it works as a practical data for further improvements. Methods: For 50 visually impaired people, a telephone survey was conducted on the satisfaction with the braille blocks, braille signboards, braille information boards with tactile map, audio guide devices, and safety egress devices. Microsoft Excel and SPSS 26.0 were used for the analysis. Results: It was confirmed that the overall satisfaction with the indoor information facilities was very low. The more the visually impaired people recognized the installation standards, and the better the maintenance was, the higher the satisfaction. In the case of braille blocks and braille signboards, the effect of information transfer on satisfaction was relatively high. In the case of audio guide device and safety egress device, the standard suitability influenced satisfaction. Implications: The low level of satisfaction with the overall information facilities can impede visually impaired people from receiving practical help through the information facilities. Factors influencing the satisfaction level of each facility were identified, which makes it possible to prepare effective improvement measures.