[Nfbf-l] Minneapolis Model Builder Designs Bridge

[Lappland]

Minneapolis Model Builder Designs Bridge
>> Model to Help the Blind Visualize Stillwater Lift Bridge
>>
>>
>> Minneapolis Model Builder Designs Bridge Model to Help the
>> Blind Visualize Stillwater Lift Bridge
>>
>>  NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Minneapolis, MN, United States,
>> 01/29/2009 - Model of the Stillwater
>> Lift Bridge uses unconventional materials to help low vision
>> individuals better understand the
>> project.
>>
>>  Minneapolis architectural model builder, Feyereisen Studios,
>> recently completed a project for the
>> Stillwater Lift Bridge. Unlike most architectural models, the
>> model of the Stillwater Lift Bridge
>> was designed so that the visually impaired could feel and
>> better visualize the model.
>>
>> The idea to build a physical model of the Stillwater Lift
>> Bridge was undertaken in an effort to
>> enlist the assistance of the disabled community to make it
>> easier for everyone to visualize and
>> clearly understand the project.
>>
>> Throughout the five-week building phase, a number of blind
>> and visually impaired individuals visited
>> Feyereisen Studios to provide insight and advice on how to
>> best represent the bridge's features, in
>> order for the visually impaired to gain a better
>> understanding of what they were feeling when they
>> touched the model.
>>
>> The architectural model builders utilized various
>> unconventional materials, including magnets to
>> make breakaway lamp posts, sandpaper to indicate detectable
>> warnings, raised crosswalk markings to
>> indicate the crosswalk, fuzzy grass, and everything on the
>> model was labeled with both a large text
>> size and Braille for low vision people to understand the
>> plans for the bridge.
>>
>> "This project really helped me better understand the issues
>> of the blind," said Robert Feyereisen,
>> Feyereisen Studios. "Providing citizens with the ability to
>> actually 'see' and 'feel' all the
>> aspects of the project three dimensionally, provides a
>> greater understanding of the project that
>> seems to make people more comfortable in offering their
>> support for the project."
>>
>> The model of the Stillwater Lift Bridge will be available for
>> viewing at an open house at the
>> Washington County Government Center, 14949 62nd Street North,
>> Suite 560 in Stillwater, on Thursday,
>> February 5, 2009 from 5 to 7 pm.
>>
>> For more information about Feyereisen Studios and their work
>> on the Stillwater Lift Bridge, call
>> 612-910-7268.
-- 
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