Development of a hand robot that signs tactile Japanese finger alphabets for independent information access for the deafblind.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26350691
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
• Principal Investigator: Mori Koichi 国立障害者リハビリテーションセンター(研究所), 研究所 感覚機能系障害研究部, 研究部長 (60157857)
• Research Collaborator: SEKI Tatsuya
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 福祉・介護用ロボット / 盲ろう者 / 触指文字 / 自立支援 / 制御工学 / 情報獲得 / 意思伝達装置 / 触手話

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The deafblind persons who have suffered visual impairment after hearing impairment or both after adulthood experience relative difficulty in learning Braille, so that the means of information acquisition tend to be limited to tactile sign language or finger spelling and the like. However, since these means are dependent on human assistance including tactile sign language interpreters, it is difficult to acquire information independently, which is a major cause of deterioration of quality of life (QOL). The aim of this research was to enablethose deafblind people who cannot use Braille, independent information acquisition with a signing robot hand. A hand and arm robot that mimicked a human right hand and arm with multiple degrees-of-freedom was developed that can produce tactile finger letter signs sequentially as output from a text entered at the console or from a text file.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション医学