Development of the Astronomical Observation System for the Visually Impaired Person

• Project/Area Number: 16K00958
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Science education
• Research Institution: Aichi University of Education
• Principal Investigator: Haba Yoshito 愛知教育大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (60377950)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥130,000 (Direct Cost: ¥100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥30,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
• Keywords: 天体観測 / 視覚障がい / 天文教育 / 恒星 / 星検出 / 音声変換

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was carried out in order to develop the astronomical observation system for the visually impaired person. This system consists of the lens with 16 mm focal length, and the 1 inch color CCD. Once the CCD captures the image of the night sky, then the stars are automatically detected in order to measure the brightness and color of each star. The brightness of the star is estimated by the amount of the pixel value of the CCD. On the other hand, the color of star is determined from the combination of the R (red), G (green), and B (blue) of the CCD image. These information are output as sound, which reflects the brightness and color of the star as the loudness and the frequency, respectively. Finally, this system demonstrates its usefulness in understanding of the diversity of the brightness and color of the stars and the geometrical position of the stars in the sky.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現代社会において，教育のボーダーレス化・バリアフリー化は重要なキーワードである．しかしながら，視覚に障がいのある人々にとって，ほぼ100%を視覚情報として取得する「天体観測」には大きなハードルが存在する．本研究の意義は，天体(主に星)が発する光の明るさ・色を，音量・音階といった音声情報に変換することで，視覚に障がいのある人でも天文・宇宙に対する関心を高め，教育のバリアフリー化を促進する点にある．