[Art_beyond_sight_educators] sculpture, china, geography, stroke dialing and androids

[Lisa Yayla]

Hi,

A mix of links to articles. One particularly interesting about stroke 
dialing on an screen leads to thoughts about possibilities
of other types of impute to a screen - shapes etc - might be useful for vi.

Regards,
Lisa


Metalwork sculpture leaps into life at RNC in Hereford

A FUTURISTIC painting of a running man has made the leap from paper to 
reality.

Herefordshire artist Walenty Pytel has overcome memory loss to produce 
Futuristic Runner.

The piece was commissioned by the RNC (Royal National College for the 
Blind) and is based on a painting by former student Sarah Withers.

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/4433949.Metalwork_sculpture_leaps_into_life_at_RNC_in_Hereford/

article


Armed with a camera, the blind capture their world

It's an almost counterintuitive question: Can the physically disabled 
become artists? The answer depends, to a certain extent, on how one 
defines art. As the expression of one's personal interpretation of the 
world around him, art can be created by just about anyone. And, after 
all, if Beethoven could produce musical masterpieces without hearing 
them, surely the visually impaired staff of Beijing One Plus One 
Cultural Exchange Center can become photographers.

And so they did. One Plus One, an organization run by people with 
disabilities that aims to provide media outlets and support for the 
disabled, teamed up in May with the international group PhotoVoice to 
train eight of its staff to use photography as a way to communicate 
their experiences of the world around them


http://www.china.org.cn/culture/2009-06/11/content_17928906.htm


article

Braille Literacy: Insights from a Michigan Home School
...she received permission from Milton Bradley to adapt the Twister 
board, using fabrics which were the same color as the areas on the board 
but had rich texture like velvet, felt, thick corduroy and terrycloth.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/105637


article



Artist who lost her sight but not her vision

lthough she always dabbled in drawing it remained a hobby, a creative 
outlet she simply enjoyed. Ironically, it was only after she began to 
lose her vision nine years ago that she recognized her penchant for 
drawing as a gift.

“When I realized that I would no longer be able to work at a desk job I 
found myself needing something to keep me going. A friend suggested that 
I take an art course just to keep my spirits up,” said Suzanne, now age 43.

Suzanne, who has had juvenile diabetes since age seven, developed a 
complication of the disease called diabetic retinopathy and two years 
after her diagnosis, was declared legally blind.

“When I started to lose my vision I was a little scared about what I 
would do with my life but I also saw it as an opportunity to re-invent 
myself, to try something new,” she says.

Initially, Suzanne began experimenting with classes in different art 
techniques, ranging from sculpture to painting, but it was acrylic 
painting that seemed to suit her developing style the most.


http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17080&Itemid=86


artcle

http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2009/090611/full/nj7248-877a.html
Blinded in 1984, geographer Reginald Golledge was this year named 
Faculty Research Lecturer by the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Q&A

How did you begin on your career path?

In the 1960s, I discovered that a theoretical and quantitative 
revolution was transforming the previously descriptive field of 
geography, so I decided to research how people acquire spatial knowledge.

How did sudden blindness affect your career?

I was completely lost. I had no idea how I was going to teach without 
access to notes, prepared lectures or overheads. Figuring out how to 
continue my research was even more difficult. One day, two psychologists 
— Jack Loomis and Roberta Klatzky, both then at the University of 
California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) — asked if they could help. Roberta 
suggested I find ways to build on my previous mental-map research. They 
agreed to meet with me weekly and we began 25 years of intense 
collaboration, which took my research in a new direction towards 
dissecting spatial cognition. In the process, I became more competent 
and was able to continue my academic life while helping other blind 
people around the world.

What is your greatest scientific achievement?

I pioneered a behavioural approach to human geography to study how 
humans find their way in the world. More than anything else, I think I 
opened the field's eyes to the fact that the geography you carry in your 
mind, your mental map and the way you process spatial information, are 
just as important as recording the facts of human existence on the 
surface of Earth. In addition to an objective reality, there is also 
subjective reality — what is stored in your mind's mental model of the 
world.

What has given you the most career satisfaction?

I've been developing a personal guidance system for blind travellers 
that allows them to be completely independent of guides or guide dogs. 
Our prototype got a great deal of recognition, and now companies in many 
countries are producing these guidance systems. They're similar to 
vehicle-guidance systems, which use GPS and spatial databases or 
electronic maps.

Do you have any advice for disabled people who want to be scientists?

Disabled people can make long-term career plans, but it takes a strong 
commitment to their work. ......



site


Fair Use Lab

Mark Willis Re-Imagines Accessibility Through Free Culture



http://fairuselab.net/



article
Android Might 'See' an Eyes-Free Interface
Stroke dialing article
and youtube video
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Android-Might-039-See-039-an-Eyes-Free-Interface-113647.shtml