LG Digital Talking Library for the Blind in Seoul

The LG Sangnam Library located in Wonseo-dong, central Seoul is a high tech audio library for the blind. The library uses computing technology like radio frequency identification chips so that people with visual impairment can access the library’s digital talking books through mobile phones, Internet or fixed-line telephones.

A user visiting the library can browse for books using a mobile phone with a special embedded chip. A computer network will identify the user and he/she can listen to streamed audio versions from the book or download content to their handset.

This special phone does not require a connection but works on Bluetooth that picks up signals and connects to the main computer when a user comes within the radius of a particular book. According to Seon Gyeong-sik, senior researcher at LG Electronics, this technology has done away with mobile phone key manipulation for the blind and has made authorization processes easier.

Source: LG