Technological Opportunity Analysis: Assistive Technology for Blind and Visually Impaired People

Jumi Hwang, Kyung Hee Kim, Jong Gyu Hwang, Sungchan Jun, Jiwon Yu and Chulung Lee
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Jumi Hwang: Department of Industrial Management Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Kyung Hee Kim: New Transportation Innovation Research Center, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Gyeonggi 16105, Korea
Jong Gyu Hwang: New Transportation Innovation Research Center, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Gyeonggi 16105, Korea
Sungchan Jun: Department of Industrial Management Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Jiwon Yu: Department of Industrial Management Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
Chulung Lee: Department of Industrial Management Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: As life expectancy increases, the number of people who suffer from blind and visual impairment due to presbyopia is gradually increasing. Assistive device systems have been used to overcome various physical, social, infrastructure, and accessibility barriers. As technology has advanced, the scope of assistive technologies has been expanded. Therefore, we explored technological opportunities in assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired to establish a strategy for the technology competition in the near future. Firstly, the patent vacuum is detected by generating the patent map based on generative topographic mapping (GTM). Secondly, social network analysis is applied to identify the relationship between patent vacuums and occupied grid points in the patent map. Finally, the technology activity index and technology impact index are considered at quantitative and qualitative levels. Consequently, it was identified that wearable devices, including the road situation signal acquisition module and data acquisition process control module, could be occupied in the future. This study can provide practical ideas for research and development (R&D) in the field of assistive devices for the blind and visually impaired. In addition, this study can be an ample source for decision/policy makers to project new contents.

Keywords: patent analysis; technological opportunity discovery; vacant technology; blind and visual impairment; assistive technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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