[NFBMT] eclipse

[d m gina]

Very interesting.
I bet Jim will take it on.

Original message:
> This might interest many of you.
> Ted



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Greater-Baltimore [mailto:greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On Behalf Of Jerry Price via Greater-Baltimore
> Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2017 5:25 AM

> Some of you may find this to be of interest:
> http://eclipsesoundscapes.org/


> On August 21, 2017, millions of people will view a total solar eclipse 
> as it passes through the United States. However, for the visually 
> impaired, or others who are unable to see the eclipse with their own 
> eyes, the Eclipse Soundscapes Project delivers a multisensory 
> experience of this exciting celestial event.
> The project, from NASA’s Heliophysics Education Consortium, will 
> include audio descriptions of the eclipse in real time, recordings of 
> the changing environmental sounds during the eclipse, and an 
> interactive “rumble map” app that will allow users to visualize the 
> eclipse through touch.

> PROJECT ORIGINS

> The idea for Eclipse Soundscapes came from Dr. Henry “Trae” Winter, a 
> solar astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian CfA with a penchant for 
> scientific engagement projects. Winter noticed a deficit in 
> accessibility while building a solar wall exhibits for museums. He 
> observed that some “accessible” exhibits merely included the item’s 
> name in braille, while other exhibits — including his own — had no 
> accessibility component at all. Winter began to brainstorm an 
> astrophysics project that would use a multisensory approach to engage a 
> larger percentage of the population, including the visually impaired community.
> The “Great American Eclipse” of August 2017 seemed like the perfect 
> opportunity.

> HEAR TOTALITY

> For individuals who cannot see, hearing is an ideal way to experience 
> the eclipse, since soundscapes change dramatically as the Moon passes 
> between the Earth and Sun. Due to the change in light, nocturnal 
> animals stir into action, while diurnal animals settle. As the Sun’s 
> light re-emerges, it often triggers a “false dawn chorus.”

> Eclipse Soundscapes is working with organizations such as the National 
> Park Service (NPS), Science Friday, and Brigham Young University, 
> Idaho, to record these auditory fluctuations. Many of these recordings 
> will use microphone arrays that simulate human hearing, creating a 
> sensation of 3D sound for listeners.

> Of course, these recordings will not be available until after the 
> eclipse, but visually impaired individuals can enjoy the August 21 
> event with the Eclipse Soundscapes app, which will include a narration 
> of the eclipse’s progression in real time using specialized imagery 
> description techniques developed by WGBH’s National Center for 
> Accessible Media (NCAM). Eclipse Soundscapes’ app will geolocate the 
> user and start the narration to align with the planetary movements as 
> they occur.

> TOUCH THE SUN

> The Eclipse Soundscapes’ app also features an interactive “rumble map,” 
> which uses a smartphone’s touch screen and vibrational feedback to 
> demonstrate the physical qualities of an eclipse. The rumble map 
> displays photos of the eclipse at various stages. When users touch the 
> image, the app reads the greyscale value of a pixel underneath their 
> finger, and vibrates the phone with a strength relative to the 
> brightness of the section. As users move their fingers around the Sun, 
> their smartphone will vibrate more. As they move their fingers into the 
> dark spaces blocked by the Moon, the vibration will diminish and disappear.

> BEYOND AUGUST

> With these tools, the Eclipse Soundscapes team hopes to provide 
> visually impaired individuals with a variety of resources to explore 
> the eclipse on their own — and maybe even learn something that their 
> sighted peers could not through visuals alone.

> Although the August 21 eclipse will only last for a few hours from 
> beginning to end, the information collected through the Eclipse 
> Soundscapes app will live on as an open source primary documentation of 
> this historic event, and as a model for making science accessible for 
> all. The team aims to continue their efforts for upcoming total solar 
> eclipses, including one in Chile in 2019, and another that will visit 
> the central United States in April 2024.

> Footer

> Thanks to our partners
> Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
> H.E.C.
> National Park Service

> Contact us:
> info at eclipsesoundscapes.org
> Eclipse Soundscapes Project
> c/o Henry "Trae" Winter, MS 58
> Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
> 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
> Phone:
> 617.496.7941
>  Fax:
> 617.495.7356

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--Dar
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