Abstract
The number of the persons above 65 years old has reached 26% of the population in Japan. Consequently, the number of persons with hearing and/or visual impairments has increased very rapidly. It is important to support communication or sound information compensation for these persons. From this background, the research committee on “Oto barrier-free” of the Acoustical Society of Japan has started in 2006. The “Oto barrier-free” committee intends to resolve problems related to improving accessibility in daily life for persons with disabilities or elderly people. The research fields are very diverse and include speech communication, electro- acoustics, noise and vibration, architectural acoustics, and laws for disabled persons. The research activities for persons with hearing impairments or elderly people aim to improve their listening environment in indoor spaces, such as homes for the aged or station buildings, by testing the use of sound absorbing materials and hearing assistive devices. The research assists or complements the use of aids such as voice guidance devices for persons with a visual impairment, and will be useful for foreigners visiting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games in 2020 too.
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