[Artbeyondsightmuseums] Mixed lot - design and sports

[fnugg at online.no]

Hi,

A bit of a mix and a bit more sort of off subject. Hope you will excuse
this but found the articles interesting. Design ideas and sports. Especially
liked the article about sports - think it is perhaps also in a way a 
tool for learning
to decipher images.

Regards,

Lisa


HaptoRender: Project to create 3D printed street maps for the blind
HaptoRender is an OpenStreetmap project that will produce static maps, 
repeatable 3D print-outs, focusing on small areas for the blind and 
visually impaired. 
http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/623-HaptoRender-Project-to-create-3D-printed-street-maps-for-the-blind.html

link

plan.b Concept Digital Map For The Visually Impaired
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2010/12/plan-b-concept-digital-map-for-the-visually-impaired/

http://www.designwoo.com/2010/12/plan-b-digital-map-to-guide-visually-impaired-in-crowded-city-lanes/
link

a bit off subject but an interesting measuring tool that might be handy 
for visually impaired
Rules of Thumb: Ingenious Hand-Held Digital Tape Measure

http://www.designwoo.com/2010/09/rules-of-thumb-ingenious-hand-held-digital-tape-measure/


excerpt

Papa Sangre: The sonic iPhone horror game you've been looking for

Pictures are better in sound

in a dimly lit basement, half a dozen blindfolded players are edging 
cautiously around the room, crunching over tortilla chips scattered on 
the floor and occasionally dinging tiny bells suspended from the 
ceiling. Two of them seem to collide briefly, there's a whisper and then 
a bloodcurdling scream as one of them 'dies'.

This isn't a scene from Silence of the Lambs but a Mexican game called 
Sangre y Patatas -- or 'blood and potatoes' -- now part of the genesis 
of a powerful and inventive new mobile game played entirely through sound.

Papa Sangre, which was released through the iTunes App Store store 
today, is described as "the first binaural real-time, 3D audio engine 
implemented on a handheld device". Too often the silent partner in film 
and gaming, Papa Sangre's ambitious horror game shows how sound has the 
highest fidelity of any gaming experience -- the fidelity of your own 
imagination. ....
...

Perhaps inevitably, the game took three times longer than the team had 
planned but gathered a wealth of new insights during the project. "We 
realised that pictures are far better in sound than in graphics," said 
Bennun. "Stuff that takes place in your head is far more profound and 
personal than it is in visual graphics -- it enables the ultimate first 
person game because you are in the moment in a way you aren't with 
visual graphics. Your senses map exactly into the game play."

Somethin' Else also worked with the RNIB and a team of visually impaired 
testers. While they didn't set out to specifically design a game for the 
visually impaired, a game that was mechanically accessible for all 
players was an objective. "One of them described the game as 'a sighted 
person's idea of what a sound game should be like', though I'm not sure 
I entirely agree with that." said Bennun. "We set out to make a horror 
game before anything else. But blind people perceive the dark in a 
different way, perhaps one that isn't inherently terrifying for a horror 
game."

Visually impaired players picked up the game far faster than sighted 
players, he said. "Sighted players typically start a new game by running 
around straight away and exploring. In Papa Sangre, they weren't able to 
do that because you can't skip levels -- you have to learn how to play. 
Blind players started playing in a much more considered fashion which is 
the only way you can play the game. Every step counts."

How to sonify players' behaviour

Nick Ryan, Papa Sangre's sound designer, said storytelling techniques 
had to be simplified for the game. "In radio there are things you can't 
tell without exposition or things you can't achieve without pictures," 
he said. "We discovered lots of techniques to sonify the space, but 
found that what we thought would sound like a river didn't sounds like 
that at all, so ended up simplifying the space massively.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2010/dec/20/papa-sangre-game-audio

gagets

Ok again a bit off subject but interesting design ideas
12 gadgets that make life easy for the visually impaired
http://www.designwoo.com/2010/12/12-gadgets-that-make-life-easy-for-the-visually-impaired/
Ten Innovative Designs To Help The Sight Impaired

http://www.designwoo.com/2009/09/ten-innovative-designs-to-help-the-sight-impaired/

and again a bit off subject but sounds interesting
UNCONSTRAINED WALKING PLANE TO VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SPATIAL LEARNING 
BY VISUALLY IMPAIRED - Ubiquitous Computing and Communication Journal
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/68244794/UNCONSTRAINED-WALKING-PLANE-TO-VIRTUAL-ENVIRONMENT-FOR-SPATIAL-LEARNING-BY-VISUALLY-IMPAIRED---Ubiquitous-Computing-and-Communication-Journal


abstract


An outdoor navigation aid system for the visually impaired
Abstract

In order to provide contextual cues for the visually impaired to 
navigate safely in outdoor dynamic situations, an outdoor navigation aid 
system, AudioGuide, is developed based on a PDA in this paper. It 
leverages technological advances in computer vision, global positioning 
system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS), and auditory 
displays. The camera embedded in the PDA captures dynamic environmental 
information; landmark information along the route queried from a map 
database built on eSuperMap is provided with the help of the GPS. 
Furthermore, the route is selected based on the user's familiarity, 
safety, and distance and thus is optimized for the user. Sonification 
and auditory icons are utilized to provide intuitive navigational 
information and natural interactions with the user. Initial usability 
evaluation shows the feasibility and potential of the AudioGuide for the 
visually impaired people.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fiel5%2F5668971%2F5674145%2F05674377.pdf%3Farnumber%3D5674377&authDecision=-203


excerpt
Car rally for the visually challenged in Jaipur
Jaipur:  Those who are visually challenged cannot drive but, they can 
certainly help you to get to your destination. That is exactly what a 
car rally for the visually challenged helped demonstrate in Jaipur.

Those with sight were behind the wheels and their navigators were the 
ones without sight who followed a route map in braille and asked their 
drivers to repose blind faith in them while they got them to the 
finishing line.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/car-rally-for-the-visually-challenged-in-jaipur-79751
Visually impaired people compete in car rally

http://contactlenses.co.uk/contactlensesnews/article42209/visually-impaired-people-compete-in-car-rally.html?catid=2&pageNo=1


excerpt
Seeing it through
A few adjustments and a little time help visually impaired people reach 
their athletic goals

Like most 12-year-olds, Chris Nusbaum packs a lot into the day. He plays 
piano, sings in the school choir and this winter is taking ski lessons. 
In the summer, the Taneytown, Md., seventh-grader goes to sports camp 
and practices archery, rock wall climbing, swimming, judo and canoeing.

Born blind due to a retinal disorder, Chris admits that swimming in an 
Olympic-size pool for the first time was scary when he couldn't touch 
the bottom. "But when I do anything new, I always convince myself to 
forget the doubts and try it. I remind myself that there's a first time 
for everything."

Chris attends public school and each summer goes to Camp Abilities in 
Brockport, N.Y., where hundreds of visually impaired kids get a chance 
to learn and excel at sports, many for the first time.

"Just because you're blind doesn't mean you can't do sports," says 
Chris. "The motto of the camp is 'A loss of sight, never a loss of 
vision,' and to me that means that just because you're blind, you 
shouldn't lose sight of your dreams."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-health-0119-fitness-workouts-for-b20110119,0,1037145,print.story

*Jaipur: * Those who are visually challenged cannot drive but, they can 
certainly help you to get to your destination. That is exactly what a 
car rally for the visually challenged helped demonstrate in Jaipur.

Those with sight were behind the wheels and their navigators were the 
ones without sight who followed a route map in braille and asked their 
drivers to repose blind faith in them while they got them to the 
finishing line.


Read more at: 
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/car-rally-for-the-visually-challenged-in-jaipur-79751?cp
*Jaipur: * Those who are visually challenged cannot drive but, they can 
certainly help you to get to your destination. That is exactly what a 
car rally for the visually challenged helped demonstrate in Jaipur.

Those with sight were behind the wheels and their navigators were the 
ones without sight who followed a route map in braille and asked their 
drivers to repose blind faith in them while they got them to the 
finishing line.


Read more at: 
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/car-rally-for-the-visually-challenged-in-jaipur-79751?cp