[MD-AtLarge] A Potpourri of Announcements

[nfbmd]

Hello all,
 
Please read and participate.  I have no further information about these
three announcements, so please contact the people indicated.
 
Number 1.  Ever Lee Hairston will be speaking via conference call at the TLC
Chapter on Thursday, March 16 at 7:15 pm.  Ever Lee is a very inspirational
speaker.  If you wish to listen, call 712-432-1212, and use access code:
996-766-718.
 
Number 2.  CCTV is looking for a good home.  If you are interested in
getting a CCTV please call Ken Canterberry at 410-780-0442 or Gloria at
443-801-9140.  They were made by Optalec.  There are two of them and they
are in very good condition.  
 
 
Number 3.  From Liang He, a 2nd-year PhD in Computer Science at University
of Maryland: We are working on a two-month project for course INST704
(Inclusive Design in HCI). To help us with the design of our proposed
technology, we are trying to ask one participant with visual impairment to
involve in our participatory design studies. We may need to meet the
participant at least three times throughout the development of our project.
We can give $3 per study as compensation. A brief description of the project
follows. 
 
Our idea for the project is to design and develop a shape changing interface
on the back of phone that could render/simulate tactile texture of iconic
and graphical information on mobile for visually impaired people. We are
going to investigate what content visually impaired people are expecting and
how they interact with that information.
 
Possible applications could be: 
*  a wireframe of a webpage to indicate where all interactive controls are
located (e.g., where are the buttons, the links, or the video player, etc.);

*  braille for text;
*  simulation of prompt notifications (e.g., social media notification, call
alert, etc.);
*  tactile images for photo album or image-based social media app like
Instagram;
*  tactile music player control;
*  ...
Of course, these could be extracted from the interview with the participant.
 
Plus, the interface may also be response to user input like press to trigger
some events. For example, in the tactile wireframe of a webpage, after the
user identify the button, s/he could press that button area on our interface
and the corresponding event should be activated.
 
To give you a more clear sense of what we are going to do, I attach a link
<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CVWU56I?psc=1>  of an inspiring toy for
reference. Imagine that pin art board is sort of like our potential
interface on the back of the mobile phone.
 
For technical details, Haptic Edge Display
<http://tmg-trackr.media.mit.edu/publishedmedia/Papers/614-Haptic%20Edge%20D
isplay%20for/Published/PDF>  may be a good reference.
 
If interested contact Liang He,   edigahe at gmail.com
<mailto:edigahe at gmail.com> .
 
 
 
Sharon Maneki, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
410-715-9596
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
 
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