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Multilingual disaster information system: information delivery using graphic text for mobile phones

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Abstract

A multilingual disaster information system (MLDI) has been developed to overcome the language barrier during times of natural disaster. MLDI is a web-based system that includes templates in nine languages so that translated texts can be made available immediately. Mobile phone e-mail with graphic text is a useful tool for delivering multilingual disaster information. The visibility of graphic text on mobile phones was measured and found to be equivalent to the built-in font. However, visibility deteriorates as the character size becomes smaller, especially, on displays with poor resolution. This article also discusses the necessity of multilingual information and measures for a safe and barrier-free society.

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Acknowledgements

The Multilingual Disaster Information System (MLDI) was developed by the members of the Multilingual Disaster Information System Consortium. We thank Mr. Tetsushi Okuyama at Shimadzu Business Systems Corporation in Japan (SBS 2004a) for his useful instructions about weather information and its delivery to mobile phones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Culture, Nagoya Bunri University, 365, Maeda, Inazawa, Aichi, 492-8520, Japan

    Satoshi Hasegawa

  2. Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Kumi Sato

  3. Graduate School of Industry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Shouwa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan

    Shohei Matsunuma

  4. Information Technology Center, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Masaru Miyao

  5. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Kohei Okamoto

Authors
  1. Satoshi Hasegawa
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  2. Kumi Sato
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  3. Shohei Matsunuma
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  4. Masaru Miyao
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  5. Kohei Okamoto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satoshi Hasegawa.

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Hasegawa, S., Sato, K., Matsunuma, S. et al. Multilingual disaster information system: information delivery using graphic text for mobile phones. AI & Soc 19, 265–278 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-005-0316-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-005-0316-7

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