[Artbeyondsightmuseums] ClickAndGo maps, Hubble, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Espoo, 3D

Thu Sep 3 13:01:48 UTC 2015

Smriti Irani ups NTSE Scholarships to 2000
 From this year, we will give 2000 scholarships,” Smriti Irani said. She 
also released a Tactile Map Book on Braille for upper primary students 
and appreciated NCERT’s efforts for this work.
http://www.niticentral.com/2015/09/03/smriti-irani-ups-ntse-scholarships-2000-332066.html

This Tactile Map of Burning Man Is Awesome, No Matter Your Level of Sight
Smartphones, apps, and text readers have radically improved access and 
navigation for the blind, as CityLabhas shown before 
<http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2015/08/improving-blind-peoples-digital-lives/402044/>.
But what happens when GPS and WiFi signals are glitchy, like in Nevada’s 
Black Rock Desert? Or what if you’re headed somewhere that, with or 
without sight, is a little intimidating—say, a temporary metropolis 
<http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/08/theyre-making-a-musical-out-of-burning-man/402661/> 
laid out like a clock around a humanoid pyre, populated by naked people 
on vision-quests?
Blind Burning Man attendees, there’s a tactile map for you
http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/08/this-tactile-map-of-burning-man-is-awesome-no-matter-your-level-of-sight/402595/

A tactile map of Black Rock City! Radical Inclusion has never been this 
radical.
https://www.facebook.com/BurningMan/posts/10152625469787168

Open books, open minds: Emporia Public Library Book Sale
“There are many reasons — one of them for me is what reading a tactile 
book means for children,” Laurent said. “There’s all kinds of research 
that shows that holding a physical thing, going from left to right, 
physically turning the pages and following with their eyes and sometimes 
with their fingers develops a part of the brain that reading digitally 
does not.”
http://www.emporiagazette.com/education/article_21678561-77a6-58df-890f-c7d1506b3f8a.html

"Little Black Puppy" tactile story book for blind kids

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:512340

*"Children have a right to attend the town's artistic and cultural 
institutions, both with family and school, in order to discover and 
experience what the area offers them.”*
**
*mentions that she has made a tactile book - *
*https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/25/130127/Arts--Culture/Visual-Art/th-principle-of-the-Charter-of-Children%25E2%2580%2599s-Rights-t.aspx&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTAwOTU2ODk1NzAxMDE1MjY3MzMyGjdjMTA0NzEwNDBiODQ1ZGU6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNFKYu00XHnbROxomostddF1GS4SDg*
**
*Bitlab*
***Smart Liquid May Pave Way For Tactile Tablet Touch Screens For The Blind*
*http://www.techtimes.com/articles/70982/20150723/smart-liquid-may-pave-way-for-tactile-tablet-touch-screens-for-the-blind.htm*
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*Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Helen Keller Exhibit *
**
The Scientific Study panels include a tactile model of the human eye, a 
relief picture of the eye, and natural specimens that can be explored by 
touch. It also includes an APH Light Box which was invented for low 
vision students. It helps develop awareness of light, color, and visual 
discrimination.
In the Mathematics area, guests can use an abacus to add and subtract. 
With stationary pins and rubber bands, geometric shapes can be 
constructed. A Talking Scientific Calculator provides a prime example of 
how technology plays an important role in helping blind and low vision 
students learn mathematics today.
Textured relief maps, a relief globe, a Talking Tablet, and a modern 
geography puzzle round out the Geography section.
“The Kalamazoo Valley Museum works hard to find ways to make the museum 
experience accessible to everyone,” said Bill McElhone, Kalamazoo Valley 
Museum Director. “We’re pleased to host this exhibit because it brings 
our discussion on diversity to a new level.”
http://comvoicesonline.com/20169/education/kalamazoo-valley-museums-helen-keller-exhibit/

3-D printing technology could benefit the blind

Deirdre An, Correspondent technicianonline.com

A team of NC State researchers created a tactile map for blind people 
depicting the roundabout at Stinson Drive and Pullen Road adjacent to 
the Bell Tower.

The map was created by Bastian Schroeder, assistant director for highway 
programs at the NC State Institute for Transportation Research, and 
research assistant Jeffrey Chang using Hunt Library’s 3-D printer in 
Makerspace, an area on the fourth floor of Hunt with two 3-D printers 
and a laser cutter.

Japan Prepares to Make 3D Printed Topographic Maps Available for the Blind
http://3dprint.com/16574/japan-3d-printed-maps-blind/

Scientists Provide 3D Prints of Hubble Telescope Images to Visually Impaired

Just as the Hubble has deepened our understanding of the universe, it 
has sparked many new ideas and theories—including this new one by 
astronomers Carol Christian and Antonella Nota of the Space Telescope 
Science Institute <http://www.stsci.edu/>who received a Hubble education 
and public outreach grant that allowed them to buy a 3D printer last year.
In experimenting with 3D printing to enlighten the visually impaired 
with the sights of the Hubble Telescope in the form of textured 3D 
prints, the scientists enlisted the help of more than 100 volunteers of 
all ages from the National Federation of the Blind 
<http://https//www.nfb.org/>. Volunteers gladly submitted to testing 
different designs and giving their thoughts to the scientists, who then 
made changes and revisions accordingly. “We found we were able to create 
mental models for these people,” said Dr. Carol Christian. “They would 
say, ‘I can see it, I can see it,’ and then they would describe what 
they were seeing in their head.”
http://3dprint.com/16692/3d-print-hubble-blind/

ClickAndGo Wayfinding is partnered with InTouch Graphics 
<http://www.intouchgraphics.com/>, providing tactile maps that include 
both low vision and tactile features. Any individual, whether they have 
20/20 vision, low vision or no vision, can use them effectively. 
Information for individuals who are mobility impaired can also be 
included, allowing users to easily identify and plan wheelchair 
accessible routes.http://www.clickandgomaps.com/clickandgo-tactile-maps/

Maps That You Can Hear and Touch
Scientists and architects are pioneering a new cartography for blind users.
  http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/01/making-better-maps-for-the-blind/384495/

  Public Works: Maps for the Blind

A San Francisco group is creating tactile and audio maps of transit 
stations. What measures has the TTC taken to accommodate the visually 
impaired?
http://torontoist.com/2015/02/public-works-maps-for-the-blind/

Students honored: tasked with 3D tactile map for visually impaired 
<http://www.pcccourier.com/2015/02/04/students-honored-tasked-with-3d-tactile-map-for-visually-impaired/>
http://www.pcccourier.com/2015/02/04/students-honored-tasked-with-3d-tactile-map-for-visually-impaired/

Espoo, Finland: Versoteq Installs 3D Printed, Full Color Mall Maps
http://3dprint.com/60092/versoteq-3d-printed-mall-map/

UCM students develop 3D map to assist blind
http://www.dailystarjournal.com/people/community/article_8cdd0df7-298d-53be-85fe-4bc77abf27c8.html

Windsor-based company provides unique products for visually impaired
 From textbooks to maps to menus Rebecca Blaevoet and her husband 
provide highly customizable products for the visually impaired that are 
available in few other places around the world.
Tactile Visions Graphics is one of three producers in the world that 
Blaevoet knows of that does this — and it’s located at 400 Erie Street 
E. right here in Windsor.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/windsor-based-company-provides-unique-products-for-visually-impaired

Talking with …  A scientist for the blind
*Joshua Miele*
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/75139/talking-with-a-scientist-for-the-blind

The Valley of the Temples in Sicily now accessible to the blind
http://www.west-info.eu/the-valley-of-the-temples-in-sicily-now-accessible-to-the-blind/

Metrolink launches new route map designed for colour-blind passengers
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/metrolink-launches-new-route-map-9938362acca