New Smart Tech Helps Visually Impaired South Koreans Increase Mobility

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA - South Korea’s second largest city is using new, inclusive technology to bring down barriers to mobility for people who are blind.

Park Hyoung-bae glides his long, white cane along a strip of raised yellow blocks that form a trail through an underground metro station. The tactile paving leads blind commuters from the street all the way to the train platform. But Park, who is walking arm in arm with his mother, says the tiles still don’t make him feel comfortable enough to travel far from his home on his own. Information boards, maps and other signage direct travelers to exits, restrooms and other station amenities, but all of these visual indicators are inaccessible for the 32-year-old.