[TAGS] Introducint Myself and Expressing Interest in Tactile Graphics

[jerrykuns at gmail.com]

Et Al,

The verbal description and Don's comments on the Orange County facility were delightful and useful. I was easily able to construct a cognitive, spacial map of the surroundings and floor plan. I believe I could have navigated to any chosen points in the environment.

Have you checked out TMAPS from the MAD Lab at the SF Lighthouse. One can call or write in an address request and have a tactile map created in a number of scales from 1-1,000 to 1-15,000 perspective with street labels. The higher resolution is great from rural maps.

How about the "overthere" app. It reminds me somewhat of Talking Signs, and you can truly point with your phone toward the source of the signal. Then, there is the MicroSoft SoundScape with the source of the location in stereo so if one turns toward a sound on the left, it becomes equally present in both ears--given normal hearing. . AHHH! The advantages of modern tech!

Things are happening to further cognitive, auditory, and tactile map access but we must not loose track of the fact that people need to learn "the language of lines" before they can effectively understand maps or other geocentric information.

Go dynamic, multi-line, tactile-graphic, displays.

I am rarely happier than when I have a beer in one hand and a tactile map in the other. Well, unless it be an exquisit glass of fine wine...

Jerry "Jose Can You See, blind guided walking tours of San Francisco" Kuns

On May 15, 2018 2:22 PM, Donald Winiecki via TAGS <tags at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Tina, I too am curious about the sorts of things you mentioned in your message.
>
> To your question about contextualization, another member of my NFB chapter told me about some verbal descriptions she received for the Rosen Center in Orlando before NFB Convention last year.  I am including these descriptions immediately below.  Following those descriptions I make some observations and comments about them that could help in researching how to better prepare a user to take advantage of tactile graphics and maps.
>
> The descriptions are prefaced with five capital letter D’s.  My observations and comments are prefaced with five capital letter O’s. 
>
> Before that, I want to apologize because this is a very long E-mail message.  I think it is all relevant to this thread, but I acknowledge that it may be TLDR (too long, didn’t read).  Now, on to the description and observations.
>
> DDDDD
>
> NAVIGATING THE HOTEL:
>
> Looking down from an airplane flying high above the Rosen Centre hotel you would see a long tall structure oriented in a mostly east-west direction. It would appear to be very slightly V-shaped. Extending from the point of the ‘V’ you would see a long low structure oriented in a mostly north-south direction. Toward the south end of the low structure you would see a covered bridge about the length of a football field extending toward the west and connecting into the West Building of the Orange County Convention Center, a second very large low structure with a mostly east-west orientation. Your pilot might quibble a bit with you about your notions of north-south and east-west. If so, just tell the pilot that they will do quite nicely for navigation from the hotel lobby to the Exhibit Hall, even though they might end you up on the wrong continent if you were flying across the Atlantic. So, put away your compass and enjoy the convention.
>
> Back on the ground as you enter the hotel through the revolving doors at the main entrance you will be facing south. You will be at about the center of the 24-story east-west wing of the hotel. The main hotel elevators will be directly ahead of you in a U-shaped elevator lobby. Slightly to your right (west) of the opening into the elevator lobby is the entrance to the long two-story north-south wing of the hotel. Turning slightly to your left (east) takes you to the hotel check-in desk, which is located on the south wall of the east-west wing. Opposite the hotel check-in desk on the north wall of the east-west wing is the bell stand and the concierge desk.
>
> All of the sleeping rooms are located in the 24-story east-west wing. The first three elevators on each side of the U-shaped elevator lobby serve floors 2 through 15. The last two elevators on each side serve floors 2 and 16 through 24. A short passageway on the west side of the elevator lobby between the third and fourth elevators serves as a shortcut between the elevator lobby and the north-south wing. It also serves as a convenient landmark to separate the low-floor elevators and the high-floor elevators. When you exit the elevator lobby on the sleeping room floors, the rooms ending in numbers 1 through 32 are east of the elevator lobby, and the sleeping rooms ending in numbers 33 through 64 are west of the elevator lobby.
>
> West of the main entrance along the north wall of the east-west wing is Smooth Java, a full service coffee bar featuring Starbucks coffee. Beyond the coffee bar across the end of the wing is the entrance to the Spa and Fitness Center. Just before the entrance to the Spa and Fitness Center is a door on the north wall to the outside. This door will be the most convenient way to reach one of the two dog relief areas at the hotel. The hotel gift shop is located on the south wall just before the Spa and Fitness Center.
>
> All of the hotel meeting rooms, restaurants, and other food and beverage areas are located in the two-story north-south wing. (There are a few meetings which will take place in hotel hospitality suites, which are located on the second floor of the east-west wing.)
>
> OOOO
>
> And now, my observations.
>
> I think there are two main characteristics in the above descriptions that make them useful — the use of (a) Cardinal directions as ‘place setting,’ and (b) body syntonic directions as ‘stage setting.’
>
> When I say ‘place setting’ I am referring to things that orient to the overall location. North, South, East and West allow for big-picture directions and points of reference that are actually outside of the actual place being described.  When I say ‘stage setting’ I am referring to placement of things with respect to the observer’s first-person point of reference (this is also what is signified in a ‘body syntonic’ reference system — describing the world with respect to the observer’s position in space — to one’s right or left, or front or back, etc.).  Body syntonic directions are actually inside the space being described.  With both, we can say something like, “... you will find the coffee shop to your right when you walk in the doors at the west end of the lobby...”
>
> Using both seems to allow the writer to first provide an overall orientation of the geometry of the building or the site relative to the larger world-context, and then after situating the reader in that space using body syntonic references to describe what will be encountered when someone moves from a starting point in the space.  Mixing ‘place setting’ and ‘stage setting’ directions produces descriptions that orient the reader with the place and then allow him or her to imagine walking or flying through the place while identifying things as one metaphorically passes-by those things.
>
> I am taking this kind of clunky approach to these descriptions because in my day job I am a professor in the Boise State University, College of Engineering.  My main teaching assignment focuses on issues of inclusion, diversity and social justice in engineering education and engineering work.  It goes without saying that we should assert that individuals with disabilities must be part of those conversations on inclusion, diversity and social justice in education and the rest of the world.  Providing useful written and graphical content to blind and visually impaired learners, professionals and members of the public is an issue of inclusion, diversity and social justice.
>
> It is also the case that I am a certified Braille transcriber and operate a small non-profit company to provide service to organizations so that they in turn can provide better services to blind and visually impaired readers.  I am currently working with a transit system to improve accessibility of its bus stations.  Members of my local NFB chapter who use that system have told me that navigation around the stations is cumbersome at best and want tactile maps of the places.  At the same time some members tell me that they have difficulty using maps of such places.  
>
> So I am mixing both my day job and my side hustle, to conduct research on how to better present tactile maps and descriptions to blind and visually-impaired users, and then use what I learn in my non-profit.  I will be running several small research projects to identify major features of maps and descriptions and then test different ways of presenting tactile features and descriptions.  The same can be done for STEM content in my day job.
>
> I can report bits of that research here, though most of it will end up reported in places like the Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research (JBIR).  This journal is available at the URL below:
>
> http://www.nfb-jbir.org/index.php/JBIR
>
> If you have made it this far, as Tina says, I hope we can continue to have these conversations here!
>
> _don
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Don Winiecki
> Handid Media • a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
> dwiniecki at handid.org
> http://handid.org
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ipa
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Don Winiecki, Ed.D., Ph.D.
> *Professor of Ethics & Morality in Professional Practice*
> Boise State University, College of Engineering
> 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho 83725-2070 USA
> E-mail: dwiniecki at boisestate.edu
> WWW: http://ipt.boisestate.edu
> Telephone: (+01) 208 426 1899
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ipa
>
> On May 16, 2018, at 5:22 AM, Tina Hansen via TAGS <tags at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> My name is Tina Hansen, and I’m pleased to become a part of the discussion on tactile graphics.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Since I’ve been working on this Mount Everest project for our state’s BELL program, I’ve really gotten interested in this whole thing on tactile art and tactile graphics.
>>
>>  
>>
>> I’m interested in discussing issues related to how to present tactile graphics effectively to a blind/visually impaired person, whether it be a student or anyone.
>>
>>  
>>
>> One thing this project has helped me realize is the challenge when a blind person is faced with a tactile graphic. How is the individual able to make sense of the graphic? I know that I needed to order a set of world maps produced by the American Printing House for the Blind. This map set is excellent, but there are some isues. The key it supplies is valuable, but there is no real context.
>>
>>  
>>
>> I am blind myself, and I do have some understanding of geography, but I do recognize that this map set’s major limitation is the lack of real context commentary. I understand that APH has a map of the US that seems to have come up with a solution to this issue, and I’d love to see more of this kind of solution that combines the Braille map with audio so the blind person doesn’t need to depend on a live commentator.
>>
>>  
>>
>> I’ve also gotten interested in the potential of 3-d technology and 3-d printing. My team and I have been experimenting with using audio tools to annotate 3-d models, since we have one of Mount Everest.
>>
>>  
>>
>> I recognize that there is no one perfect solution to presenting or interpreting tactile graphics, but my hope is that we can engage in dialog and work on how to address the issues relating to tactile art and graphics. Thanks.
>>
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