Samhwa Paint Develops New Smart Paint for Braille Blocks

Samhwa Paint Industrial announced on the 4th that it has newly developed a ‘Smart Paint for Braille Blocks for the Visually Impaired’ in collaboration with Tagfree, a developer of walking guidance systems for the visually impaired.

The ‘Smart Paint for Braille Blocks’ is a special paint developed for the visually impaired, which conveys walking path information embedded in the paint to visually impaired individuals.

Appearance of the 'Smart Paint for Braille Blocks for the Visually Impaired' developed by Samhwa Paint Industrial and Tagfree. (Photo by Samhwa Paint Industrial)

The principle is that a sensor attached to smart shoes for the visually impaired recognizes the special material in the paint and transmits walking path information to a mobile app, which then delivers it via voice. The sensor was developed using Tagfree’s patented technology.

Existing braille blocks could only provide two types of information: ‘go’ and ‘stop,’ and the installation of raised braille blocks was essential, causing inconvenience to wheelchair users, stroller users, and pedestrians.

However, Samhwa Paint’s smart paint offers more than 15 types of information, including go, stop, elevator, escalator, stairs, restroom, bus stop, and curved path, allowing visually impaired individuals to more easily recognize surrounding environmental information.

Samhwa Paint’s ‘Smart Paint’ can be applied relatively faster compared to sidewalk construction, reducing social costs such as pedestrian inconvenience and installation expenses. It only requires painting over braille blocks and sidewalks. In particular, it is highly versatile as the same effect can be achieved by painting on regular flat blocks instead of braille blocks, helping to improve mobility rights and accessibility for the visually impaired.

Tagfree, in collaboration with Samhwa Paint, showcased the ‘Walking Guidance System for the Visually Impaired’ using smart paint at the international assistive devices exhibition for the visually impaired, ‘SightCity 2024,’ held in Frankfurt, Germany, from May 15 to May 17. It received great responses from industry insiders and visitors.

A representative from Samhwa Paint said, “After two years of joint research with Tagfree, we developed walking guidance paint for the visually impaired,” adding, “If smart paint is applied nationwide, it is expected to greatly contribute to the welfare of the visually impaired and increase sales.”