As life expectancy increases, the number of people who suffer from blind and visual impairment due to presbyopia is gradually increasing. Assistive device systems have been used to overcome various physical, social, infrastructure, and accessibility barriers. As technology has advanced, the scope of assistive technologies has been expanded. Therefore, we explored technological opportunities in assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired to establish a strategy for the technology competition in the near future. Firstly, the patent vacuum is detected by generating the patent map based on generative topographic mapping (GTM). Secondly, social network analysis is applied to identify the relationship between patent vacuums and occupied grid points in the patent map. Finally, the technology activity index and technology impact index are considered at quantitative and qualitative levels. Consequently, it was identified that wearable devices, including the road situation signal acquisition module and data acquisition process control module, could be occupied in the future. This study can provide practical ideas for research and development (R&D) in the field of assistive devices for the blind and visually impaired. In addition, this study can be an ample source for decision/policy makers to project new contents.

With the development of the online platforms and the Internet of Things (IoT), various transportation services have been provided, and the lifestyle of the general public has changed significantly. However, the speed of development of technologies and services for the mobility handicapped has been relatively slow. Accordingly, in this paper, the smart mobility patent data for the mobility handicapped is subdivided through clustering to derive the mobility handicapped-related vacant technologies, and the prospect of the vacant technology is verified. For each cluster, a technology level map is generated in consideration of the technology growth level and the scope of authority of the vacant technology derived through the generative topographic map (GTM) patent map, and the level of the vacant technology is checked in terms of quantity and quality. Both indicators perform time series analyses on superior technology to predict technology trends and determine the technology’s promisingness. Unlike the precedent studies that focused only on quantitative analysis methods, this paper identified the usefulness of the technology through clustering and various verification processes and materialized it as a vacant technology that is applicable to actual R&D. Accordingly, through this empirical paper, it is possible to understand the current level of vacant technology in smart mobility for the mobility handicapped and establish an R&D strategy to prevent monopoly in technology in the future market and maintain competitiveness. It can also be utilized for new technology development in consideration of convergence with currently developed technology.