This is a sponsored story, created and edited exclusively by Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Tokyo Updates website. To your left is the north exit.” Hold your smartphone over the braille blocks at your feet, and get an audio explanation of your surroundings. This “coded braille block” system is being introduced at 21 locations across Japan, including the Setagaya City Hall in Tokyo.
Here, we take a look at this initiative by W&M systems LLC, a company that aims to create a society where everyone, including those with visual impairments, can enjoy getting around and exploring freely. Braille blocks are a form of barrier-free infrastructure that originated in Okayama Prefecture, located in western Japan, in 1967. The system combines guided braille blocks, with their four raised lines, and alert braille blocks, with their raised dots, to help people with visual impairments get around safely on foot.
It was Hiroyasu Takayama, CEO of W&M systems, who saw the new potential in this familiar piece of infrastructure. The inspiration came from a pen-shaped sensor developed by lead engineer Kazuya Chiba while he was searching for ways to communicate with his mother, who was living with a rare disease. When the pen was touched to paper printed with special codes, it would play recorded messages such as “I’m hot” or “I’d like some water.” This mechanism proved to be a key source of inspiration.
Looking back, Takayama recalls: “I thought maybe we could apply the same mechanism — playing audio when a sensor touches something — to help those with visual impairments get around on foot. From there, we began a long process of trial and error.” The initial idea was to turn the white canes used by those with visual impairments into touch pens themselves. A sensor would be attached to the tip of the cane, and audio guidance would be played when the user touched it to the braille blocks.
While they succeeded in using the sensor to read information, the dust and dirt that accumulated on outdoor braille blocks rendered it unusable within a day. The sensors attached to the tips of the canes were also prone to breaking or flying off, making the system impractical for everyday use. No matter how convenient or groundbreaking a system may be, it won’t work if it’s not easy to use.” They next turned their attention to the raised bumps on the braille blocks themselves.
By adding markings to the 25 bumps (arranged in a 5x5 grid) on the alert braille blocks, they created a code that could be read in the same way as a QR code. By varying which bumps were marked in black, the system could generate over 30 million unique codes. The prototype developed to bring the concept to life was a cumbersome setup that required users to attach a microcamera to their white cane, connect it by cable to a computer and battery worn on the body, and wear earphones.
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