Yuko Shimomura

The Support System for a Visual Impaired Person Using Laser Eyewear

We construct a system for a visually impaired person. On our system, an image is input by a camera, is transformed by an image conversion system, and is provided to the visually impaired person by an eyewear like glasses. If this system is used, a person can move with the eyewear, and also can watch a scene in the position of line of sight. In the eyewear composed of our system, which is made by QDLaser Inc., the image is projected directly onto a retina. QDLaser Inc. has worked on a small-sized scanning optics to be installed inside the glass frame, and has developed the eyewear named Retinal Imaging Laser Eyewear with the trademark of RETISSA. One of remarkable features of RETISSA is focus free. Regardless of the function of a crystalline lens and eyesight, the wearer can see laser scanned full-color image captured by a digital camera installed in the center of the frame connected to a controller. One of other features of RETISSA is an attractive appearance of eyewear. RETISSA also enables universal design like sunglasses and corrective glasses and realizes complete AR. We explain the system and this eyewear.

The Translation System from Japanese into Braille by Using MeCab

When a blind student enters college, many Braille books such as textbooks and reference books are needed. Students are hoping to get them before class starts. Volunteers want to give Braille books to blind students as soon as possible. However, Braille has its own rules. In translating into Braille some mistakes will occur. In order to minimize the errors, the following system is required. In other words, it is a system that converts printed textbooks into machine-readable codes, rewrites them into Kana characters in Braille rules, makes a split, corrects braille conversion mistakes and grammatical mistakes, and translates them into Braille. I will describe Japanese complexity and Japanese Braille here. I will also describe the complexity of rules when expressing Japanese Braille and the system we build.

Application of Deep Learning to Classification of Braille Dot for Restoration of Old Braille Books

The Braille book gradually causes from ordinary printed books. Because the Braille is a reading letter and visually impaired people touch the boss with the finger’s belly, in Braille books that are frequently read, the Braille are dirty with aged use, holes open, and they collapse. In our project, we convert Braille books into machine-readable electronic data and finally restore the book. First, a Braille book is scanned by an image. Next, we detect braille by image recognition technology. And next we interpret the image, classify and identify Braille. Furthermore, we correct errors such as misdetection of braille and misidentification. Finally, we save the result as a character code. In this paper, we report techniques of elimination of gradient in the scanning images of Braille book, those of detection and identification of the Braille dot, and those of interpretation of braille dots as cells.

A System that Warns of Dangerous Environmental Sounds for the Hearing Impaired

By just a looking it, It’s hard for us to know if hearing impaired people have obstacles. Therefore, Hearing impaired people cannot understand of the circumstances, and they cannot get supports enough. They often live without telling they have obstacles people around them themselves. The purpose of this study, we will develop the system that visually notifies the dangerous sounds generated outside the visual field. We construct the database of environmental sounds, and select the dangerous sound from the environmental sound. This system checks the waveform data and dangerous sound database, and displays danger on the monitor if it meets conditions such as volume and distance from the source. This system displays characters using “realistic fonts” that we have developed from before, that is the expression method expressing the feeling of sound using manga technique. In this study, we will report outline of this research and a prototype of our system. We record the sound supposed to be dangerous sounds with variety of directions and range from sound source using microphone array. And we compare the waveform data for each microphone recorded, and verify the features. This system identifies three kinds of sounds and displays using realistic fonts reflecting volume and direction of sound source.

Construction of Restoration System for Old Books Written in Braille

Braille books follow a process of deterioration different from ordinary printed books. Braille is a reading letter and visually impaired people touch the boss with the finger’s belly. Therefore, in Braille books that are frequently read, Braille is dirty with aged use, holes open, and they collapse. In old Braille books, braille collapses and deteriorates due to pressure from left and right books in the library. Therefore, in this research, we convert Braille books into machine-readable electronic data. First, a Braille book is scanned by an image. Next, we detect braille by image recognition technology one by one from braille page. And we classify and identify Braille. Furthermore, we correct errors such as misdetection of braille and misidentification. Finally, we save the result as character code.

Mathematical model and computer simulation of text reproduction based upon “Quantity Rather Than Quality” concept

Generally, in universities it is ordinary that a small number of experts of the note taking support the hearing impaired because of the difficulty of taking a note simultaneously with hearing a lecture. The purpose of this research project is to construct a new note taking system, namely, the note taking system based upon “Quantity Rather Than Quality” concept. The origin of the name of our system is that in our system many beginners of the note taking, who is an alternative way of a skilled note taker, type the text data and finally reproduce the lecture note with the similar quality as experts do. In this study, we present the mathematical model of our note taking system. We confirm that the increase of the number of people brings the improvement of the accuracy of the input result, and the increase of the probability of correct input brings the expectation value of probability under fixing the number of persons. Finally, we give the results of computer simulation of the model and discuss the feasibility of our concept in detail.