A Prototype System to Support the KJ Method by Cooperation between Visually-Impaired Persons and Sighted Persons

The KJ method is an idea generation method and widely used in Japan. In this study, we developed a prototype system which can assist visually-impaired persons to perform the KJ method with sighted persons. Visual operations such as seeing the cards are indispensable for performing the KJ method, which means visually-impaired persons are impossible to participate in the KJ method because of their handicap. We propose that visually-impaired person perform the KJ method with 3 special devices. Those are table- type display, Braille PDA and tactile graphic display. This system can convert visual information to tactile or auditory information; therefore visually-impaired persons have the possibilities to perform the KJ method. We also propose that visually-impaired persons perform the KJ method through the internet; therefore they can access the system at home. We did an evaluation experiment with 4 subjects. One of them is a visually-impaired person. Moreover, we recorded the whole experiment and interviewed the subjects.