Hiromitsu Sakai
Director,
Yamanashi Prefecture Association for the Welfare of the Visually Impaired

I am visually impaired, with eyesight of 0.01 and severe tunnel vision. I go out walking each day together with my guide dog, Max. I came across Panda Navi at the event which was held for us to experience it in December last year. I knew about the existence of encoded tactile paving, but I thought that it would be expensive to introduce, and probably not easy to install in a rural area like Yamanashi Prefecture.

However, with Panda Navi, developed by Mr. Shibata, guidance appropriate to each place can be given simply by fitting black rings to tactile paving. Furthermore, the guidance changes depending on the direction in which you face the tile, so it is easy to know in which direction you are facing, in which direction you need to go, and even if there is danger in any direction. Many of the participants in this trial event were extremely impressed by the fact that appropriate guidance is given for each direction.

Another thing which surprised me and made me feel that Panda Navi has potential for the future is that no special skills are needed to fit black rings to warning tiles or to register these blocks and set up the guidance, so this can be done easily and cheaply. This is very helpful in terms of cost, and has made installation much more possible for local governments even in rural areas.

I think that there are two issues going forward. One is probably how to obtain permission to install Panda Navi from the people in charge of building stations, roads, and so on. I think that we will need to begin by installing it on a trial basis inside just a few particular facilities, then use this to call attention to its usefulness and safety, informing society about it over and over.

The other issue is about who will install it, and according to what rules. These rules need to standardize guidance sentences about the user’s current location and for each direction to a certain extent, to ensure that misunderstandings are not caused by expressing the guidance in different ways in each place.     

If the above rules could only be decided upon, the question of who will install it might become a simple one. I have heard that anyone can install it if training is given in how to fix the rings and operate the tablet. A new type of volunteer, Panda Navi installation volunteers, may come into being. Moreover, these issues around installation may turn into strengths instead. As Mr. Shibata has written, if Panda Navi can become something which is also useful to sighted people, and which can be used globally, installation will probably move further ahead. This is precisely Panda Navi’s true strength. It may bring about a revolution for tactile paving, which will no longer be perceived by some people as annoying bumps.

The trial event held in Kofu City