Category Archives: blind
senseAbility – Mediale Praktiken des Sehens und Hörens (#BookReview, german)
Wer Hören und Sehen als zwangsläufig natürlich gegebene Fähigkeiten interpretiert, geht unweigerlich auch davon aus, dass als „unnatürlich“ gilt, wer nichts hört oder sieht. Was aber, wenn wir beides als Praktiken begreifen, die sich eher als Effekte technologisch bedingter Handlungszusammenhänge ergeben? … Continue reading
Posted in accessible, alternative communication, augmentative communication, blind, cyborg, deaf, disability studies, Health, implants, Literature, senses
Tagged beate ochsner, blind, book, buch, cochlea, disability, disability studies, gehörlos, hören, hörgerät, implantat, karin harrasser, kulturwissenschaft, mediale praktiken, medienwissenschaft, michael schillmeier, review, rezension, robert stock, sehen, senseability, siegfried saerberg
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Fingerreader – Wearable Interface to support reading
The Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT Media Lab is currently working on the “FingerReader”, a wearable device that can scan an read out loud printed texts. Like in the earlier mentioned “Eye Ring Project”, it could be worn like a … Continue reading
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Three new movies about Blindness
Three Films at this year’s Berlinale focused on the challenge of making the Not-Seeing become visible. The brasilian movie “The way he looks”: The norwegian movie “Blind”: And the chinese Movie “Blind Massage”: A german article about all three can … Continue reading
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TV Spots by the Norwegian associaton of the Blind
Lovely approach by the Norwegian Association of the Blind to focus on self interest, not social good, in their campaign encouraging companies to hire the blind. Four short TV Commercials from 2011:
Posted in advertisement, blind, movie
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Design with the blind in mind
How should a city for the blind be designed? No,…how should a city in general be designed? Architect Chris Downey takes us on a trip from the perspective of a man who recently lost his sight and relates his non-visual … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, blind
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Teaching through Touch
A Project at Vanderbilt University on how technology can be used to teach math skills to the visually impaired…
Posted in accessible, blind, tactile communication
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Touching new ways of commincation for 2012 and beyond….
Dear friends Liebe Freunde Caras amigos A healthy, successful and happy 2012 to all of you (especially those we haven’t met this year)! Euch allen (insbesondere denen, die wir in diesem Jahr leider nicht treffen konnten) sowie einen sicheren Rutsch … Continue reading
Blind Loves / Slepe Lasky (Trailer)
Documentary filmmaker Juraj Lehotsky upends many people’s assumptions and expectations of the handicapped in the film Slepe Lasky (aka Blind Loves), which introduces viewers to four very different people with one thing in common — they all lack the ability … Continue reading
How A Blind Man Plays Video Games
Our fellow Matthias Loewe, just pointed our attention towards this mechanical engineering student and Gamer Terry Garret, who can play a perfect run in Abe’s Exoddus. Which is pretty awesome, considering Garrett is blind! A report and interview can be read … Continue reading
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Mixed Feelings (Documentary)
Thanks to our new team member Ulli, for pointing our attention to this intersting Documentary on the evolving convergence of technology and the humany body, especialy in “health” context: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/video/embed/286
Posted in augmentative communication, blind, Film, implants, research, Transhumanity
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WiiCane
[WiiCane] The Wiicane by Touch Graphics uses Wii motion tracking technology to provide real-time feedback as users walk up and down a 30′ long indoor course. It is promoted as a ” system for promoting proper use of the long cane … Continue reading
Posted in blind, tactile communication
Vibes, Rings and Visors
Korean Designers Kim Min-hee, Kwang-seok Jeong and Hyun-joong Kim come up with a concept for a clock, called “vibering”. The idea behind it: The clock and the corresponding rings “hear” noise and might warn (e.g. deaf) people who wear them. [vibering] So … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, design project, Film, movie
‘Speech Is Blind’ – Jacques Derrida On ‘Echo And Narcissus’
In this video document, Derrida discusses the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, linking ideas such as Echo’s repeating of Narcissus’ last words (in whatever he spoke), to the non-transparency, the ‘blindness’ that he feels characterizes all speech … however, … Continue reading
Posted in art, blind, philosophie
Derrida: Memories of the Blind.
»Ich schreibe, ohne es zu sehen. Ich bin gekommen. Ich wollte Ihnen die Hand küssen. Es ist das erste Mal, das ich im Dunkeln schreibe, ohne zu wissen, ob ich Buchstaben bilde. Überall, wo nichts auf dem Blatt stehet, sollen … Continue reading
Posted in art, blind, Literature, philodhopir, philosophie
Experience research live at 4010
Next Week (April 21, 2010 at 7 p.m.) we will present some insights from our research process of the project speechless. Entrance is free; refreshments will be provided We are looking forward to seeing you there! Presentation “Speechless – Researching … Continue reading
Reading Chart
Flipside of our latest flyer for a workshop on interaction and visual impairment… [Designabilities // Tom Bieling]
sensory typo
A 2007 edition of ALPHABET magazine presented graphic design approaches to tactile visual styles. Varied custom braille typefaces included beveled typography for a sensory experience. via network osaka
Seeing beyond Sight – Photographs by blind teenagers.
Seing the world through blind person’s eyes?! Tony Deifell presents his photography project with blind teenagers on his website. There is also a video about the project
Posted in blind, photography
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“Pictograms” for the Blind?
[Elevator Buttons – Braille subtitled; Foto: Tom Bieling] Taking the elevator this morning again, i was asking myself: Are there any kind of “non-visual” pictograms or icons for blind people? For me as a non-blind person my life is often … Continue reading
Posted in blind, design research, visual communication
I can not see my opponent, but i smell his fear!
Paralympics-Campaign for the “Behinderten- und Rehabilitations-Sportverband Hamburg” (Agency: Red Rabbit)
Posted in advertisement, blind
One Day blind in Berlin
Check out our video from our Self Experience “One Day blind in Berlin” (we reported from it in november here!): How do blind people navigate in public areas? How do sighted people react on a blind person? How does it … Continue reading
Posted in blind, Capability Simulation, design research, Experience Disability, Film, movie, senses
Dancer in the Dark
Selma (Björk), who is becoming blind, has “seen it all” in Von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark”:
Posted in blind, movie, music, performance, pop culture
THISABILITY vs. DISABILITY
What a pity, that we missed last year’s electronic art exhibion thisAbility vs. Disability – Looking at Disability through Creative Senses in Seoul. The exhibition presented ten interactive electronic art installations examining themes of human capability through creative transition of … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, design project, embodiment, exhibition, Experience Disability, interaction, multimodality
Brussels: Pedestrians support
We just came back from NEXTDOOR in Brussels, where we presented some thoughts from our StreetLab at the design department of SINT LUKAS university. During our walk through the city we noticed many helping tools for blind pedestrians. Here’s only some impressions… … Continue reading
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SNIFF the dog (Sarah Johansson)
On last year’s IDC, Sarah Johansson presented SNIFF, an interactive, RFID-detecting soft toy for visually impaired children. Every time an RFID-enabled object comes close to Sniff’s nose, the toy gives feedback through sound and vibration. Johansson: “By focusing on non-visual … Continue reading
Posted in blind, playful interaction, tangible interaction, toy
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Human Echolocation
Daniel Kish is specialist in blind Orientation & Mobility, as he is an expert on echolocation.
Posted in blind, echolocation
Braille Interpreter
A majority of blind people (e.g. elderly) can not read braille. Designer Hyung Jin Lim promoted his idea for a braille interpreter… via yanko
Posted in blind, design project
Selfexperience Day
Last week, we went out on the street trying to find our way and find out more about being blind in public. We called it our selfexperience day, on which we explored orientation and navigation in Berlin with a white … Continue reading
2007_Tact
A great number of blind people use watches whose glass can be lifted so that blind people can know what time it is from the position of the needles, their fingertips slipping over the dial. But once the needles are … Continue reading
Posted in blind, design project, social design, tactile communication
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We are in the “week of the sighted”
From the 8th to the 15th of october, “the week of sight” takes place for the 8th time in Germany. This week ends on the 15th with the “day of the white stick”. Eight organisations want to inform nationwide about … Continue reading
Posted in blind, Calendar, people
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What is DAISY?
DAISY means “Digital Accessible Information System” it characterise standards and technologies that are developed from all blind libraries in the world in cooperation with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) for the new digital audio book generation. … Continue reading
Posted in blind, illiteracy, Literature, people
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Initiative Braille!
Due to Louis Braille (04.01.1809 – 06.01.1852) 200th birthday, the “german central library for blind”, in Leipzig (DZB Leipzig) in cooperation with the “german blind- and visually impared alliance” (DBSV) came up with the “Initiative Braille!”. Posters, postcards and a … Continue reading
Posted in advertisement, blind, education, tactile communication
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“Future Aids”
Here we found helping aids for blind people to cope with everyday life to become a more independent. Some of them we saw in the exibition yesterday “Sechs Richtige, Louis Braille und die Blindenschrift” (Museum of communication, Berlin). braillebookstore.com
Posted in blind, research, tactile communication
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Seeing with Sound
A computer based camera tracking system, that converts images into sound…
Posted in blind, neuroscience, senses
Bionic Vision
Blind woman, who now calls herself the “robo-chick”, has a lot of cables connected to her body and is able to “see” with her brain…
Posted in blind, neuroscience
How To Cope With Sight Loss
UK documentary about helping devices for blind or visually impaired people: Watch the clip: How To Cope With Sight Loss (14:45 min) via videojug.com
Posted in augmentative communication, blind
Assistive Vision Technology for the Blind: Recognizing Objects in the Grocery Store
Google Tech Talk about a handheld device to help blind and visually impaired people to locate items in a grocery store: here is the link to the video! <embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.de/googleplayer.swf?docid=6060251287873854625&hl=de&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>
Posted in augmentative communication, blind
“A blind person’s interactions with technology”
We found an interesting Article about “A blind Persons Interactions with Technology” in the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) by Kristen Shinohara and Josh Teneberg from the University of Washington. The study is an in-deapth exploratory and descriptive case study … Continue reading
Posted in blind, report, research, social design, tactile communication, virtual reality
Easee – Concept for a navigation system for the Blind
Students at Hochschule Darmstadt have been devoloping a concept for helping the Blind to navigate: Mit dem Stock über Stein – Ein Navigationssystem für Blinde from Yvonne Lenger on Vimeo.
Posted in blind
Sense Parcour (Workshop Review)
In our Sense-Parcour-Workshop (17 august 09), we discussed and experienced the “sense” with kids and teenagers, that actually don’t have visual or accustical impairment. What is it like, when you can suddenly not hear or feel any more? How about … Continue reading
Lorming – Tactile Signs
[Graphic of the lormhand icluding the touchpoints for the letters. picture/source: taubblindenwerk.de] By using their tactile – kinesthetic sense (= through Movement and Touch) blind and deafblind people can train to exchange information with their partners of communication with the … Continue reading
Multimodal Communication System
In the framework of our research, we have been doing several workshops with people with different abilities/disabilities (The latest one was with deaf people on august 13, the next one will be with hearing and sighted people on august 25). … Continue reading
Blind Massage
[Foto: T. Bieling] A little bit bored I zapped through the TV today. For a couple of minutes some stupid documentary about massaging got my attention. At least for one aspect: It said, that when giving a massage with covered … Continue reading
Posted in blind, multimodality, senses
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Sighted Guide
To get a better idea about how blind navigation functions and how blind navigation systems or -interfaces should work, we are also interested in how sighted people people get trained to guide blind people. Certain patterns have been developed through … Continue reading
mobile/audio city guide + tactile map for the blind
Short TV documentary about a project from marburg university. [language: german]
Posted in blind
Navigating blind
Blind Hiker Erik Weihenmeyer tells us about Hiking by Feel, Hiking by Sound and Hiking by Technology:
Posted in blind
helping tool for blind navigation
Found these two clips about a location based audio-tool…
Posted in blind
Sharpen your senses! Review of our Co-Design Workshop with Kids from Neukölln(Berlin)
Our yesterday’s kids-workshop on navigation and (mobile) communication by different senses (see post below!) was awesome: We had a full day outdoor workshop with kids between the age of 3 to 12 years. It was difficult to count them, but we guess during … Continue reading
Sharpen your senses – Workshop with Kids
Less than two weeks before we start the StreetLab, we and our colleagues take part at this nice open-air festival in Berlin called PLATZSPIELE, where we provide several workshops with kids (28.7., 30.7., 2.8, 4.8.). On thursday july 30, we … Continue reading
Dialog in the Dark
After Dortmund on Tuesday (Dialog im Stillen), we went to the “Dialog im Dunkeln” (Dialog in the Dark) exhibition in Hamburg today. Interesting experience and fruitfull discussions – we’ll post some of our impressions here pretty soon.
Posted in blind, exhibition
Unsicht BAR
We are excited to visit the unsicht-Bar (german wordplay between “invisible” and “Bar”) in Berlin tonight, a restaurant where you sit, eat and drink in completely darkness.
Posted in blind
Disappearing Pictures
The latest SZ Magazin (of Süddeutsche Zeitung) portraits a whoman, that suffers of diabetic retinopathy and therefore is has been becoming blind. The article hauntingly points out a person’s fear of losing sight. The protagonist in this article describes her wish … Continue reading
Posted in blind
Tangible Photography
The korean designers Son Seunghee, Lee Sukyung and Kim Hyunsoo came up with an idea for a camera for samsung, that has been awarded with the 2008 red dot best concept (category: life science). The concept is based on the polaroid … Continue reading
Posted in blind, design project
Clackastigmat 6.0
The Berlin based photographer Oliver Möst uses his visual impairment (short-sighted) as an actual visual power and transfers it to a special technique of photography: He reconstructed his AGFA CLACK, by attaching his own eyglass lens (strength: 6 dipotrine), wich … Continue reading
Posted in blind, photography, visual communication
Don’t disturb the one who’s working
The Norwegian Association of the Blind aims to make people aware not to disturb guide dogs… [Advertiser: Norwegian Association of the Blind; Agency: Try, Oslo; Copywriter: Oystein Halvorsen; Art Director: Karin Lund]
Posted in advertisement, blind, Film
StreetLab features workshops for deaf and blind kids (amongst others).
[StreetLab; Berlin] (German): Neukölln (Berlin) wird vom 10. – 30. August zum Zukunftslabor für mobile Kommunikation – Kinder und Jugendliche gestalten die Zukunft der mobilen Kommunikation gemeinsam mit Design-Forscherinnen und Forschern der Technischen Universität Berlin Ort: Wildenbruchstrasse 88. Im Rahmen der … Continue reading
StreetLab – free summer workshops for young kids on communication and design
StreetLab, a summer project of the Design Research Lab, offers free workshops for and with youg kids and teeanagers from 10th to 28th of august in Neukölln (Berlin). The workshops will contain creative examinations around the topic fields communication, perception, (social) … Continue reading
Sound as Sight – Sight as Sound ||| Sound as Vibration – Vibration as Sound
[sound as sight – sight as sound] [sound as vibration – vibration as sound] In the bsd project on designing adaptive environments, the project team base some of their architectural planning thoughts on language and sound communicated at multiple scales. These scales … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, design study, reciprocal learning, research, visual communication
E-Braille-Book
d-Vision (Israel) comes up with this USB fed Ebook for the blind or visually impaired. As the company claimes, it will “allow scrolling through text and switching between different files stored in it’s memory, as on any flash memory stick.”
Posted in blind, design project
Camera outta sight
So far, we have only found articles, that seem to copy the blog-entry on yankodesign aobut this samsung project for a camera for the blind. So let’s hear, how yanko cites the samsung designer Chueh Lee: “Touch Sight is a revolutionary … Continue reading
Posted in blind, design project
Braille Watch (by David Chavez)
Usually digital clock devices operate with sound to communicate the time, thus inhibiting the user from checking their watch unnoticed. Chavez’s braille watch instead displays a real-time readout in Braille, to be scaned with the fingers to check the time. more info: dexinger
Posted in blind, design project
Seeing in the dark.
A blind man shocks researchers with what he sees…. …and Seed Mag wrote an article about it!
Deep brain stimulation – Restoring sight to the blind.
John Pezari brings us the award winning idea of restoring images through brain stimulation: Check this article about it on scienceblog! Or find deeper info in his paper: Pezaris, J. S. & Reid, R. C. (2007). Demonstration of artificial visual … Continue reading
Posted in blind, neuroscience, research
Echolocation – Seeing with sound!
Here’s the first 10 minutes of a documentary called Extraordinary People: The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes. It’s about Ben Underwood, a blind teenager from Sacramento who uses echolocation. Believe it or not – this documentary called “Extraordinary People” portraits … Continue reading
Posted in blind, neuroscience, research
Blind people are better at finding their way…
…at least, that is what Madelaine Fortin of the Université de Montréal and her colleagues claim: Together with 19 blind participants and 19 sighted controls for their study they have been researching on blind and sighted spatial orientation. Here you … Continue reading
Posted in blind, neuroscience, research
Concept: B-Touch – Mobile Touch Phone for the Blind
In their design study the conceptioners of the B-Touch claim to develop a feature of a touchscreen display that caters for Braille, thanks to blind touchscreen technology and a combination of voice systems as well as programs to make it fully … Continue reading
Posted in blind, design project, design study
Disability Culture
(Picture from Bruce Conner’s video for Devo’s “Mongoloid”) ———————————————————————- “Yes, the doctor told me, boy, you don’t need no pills. Just a handful of nickels, the juke box will cure your ills.” Carl Perkins, disabled rockabilly pioneer ———————————————————————- As in … Continue reading
Posted in art, blind, deaf, disability studies, music, pop culture
Braille Tatoos
Nothing wrong with a bit of fun. That is why we also want to share Klara Jirkova’s (UdK, Berlin) idea of the Braille Tatoos with you. And here is, how Jirkova describes the realization: “implants creating embossed text in braille … Continue reading
Posted in art, blind, design project
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Braille as a concept of multiperspective use, far beyond it’s intention.
Talking about cross-functional concepts, in context of bodily impairment, the Braille system is already a good example: Developed by Louis Braille in 1821, the orginal task was to develop an existing system to enable Napoleon’s soldiers to reliably read documents in the dark without opening … Continue reading
Posted in blind, reciprocal learning, research
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Touch Messenger
Samsung’s “Touch Messenger”, a mobile handset featuring a Braille touch pad, features 12 Braille buttons which enable the user to read and write messages. The Touch Messenger comes with a 3 x 4 button grid keypad and a lower Braille screen that can be … Continue reading
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“Seeing Shoes” and special glasses.
From Hong Kong Polytechnic University comes a set of shoes and glasses that have an embedded computer, which can locate objects within close range through echo-location followed by a vibrating warning signal that is sent to the one wearing those shoes and glasses. … Continue reading
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X-Watch
Damian Kozlik (Poland) comes up with “X – watch”, as a universal and integrating L.E.D. timepiece. It can be used by sighted and blind people. The dial is compounded of Leds. The mechanism of the watch (IC board) is placed under … Continue reading
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Diaspon
As one of five rather poetic projects for blind people, italian designer sovrappensiero presents this one. Diaspon is supposed to “translate” sunlight into sound. How and if that works, he does not really tell. We still find it worth it, to show … Continue reading
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Hearwear – Design concepts for hearing aids.
We unfortunately missed this exhibition of RNID, UK’s charity for deaf people and design magazine Blueprint at Victoria & Albert Museum. Some of the futuristic hearing aids, that were shown at the exhibition called Hearwear, are still shown here. The concept products on … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, design project, exhibition
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Tactile Photography
We somehow still like this project of James Patten, that he presented with in collaboration with Mariliana Arvelo as part of a project about the deafblind community in Boston in 2005. Patten and Arvelo created tactile photographic prints, produced through a CNC … Continue reading
Posted in art, blind, design project, exhibition
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Universal Design in Museums
Rebecca McGinnis, Access Coordinator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), on art education for the blind and inclusive design in general. “Universal design is not a kind of ‘one size fits all’-approach”…
Voice Stick for the Blind
The Voice Stick scans and then reads out the words. This concept seems like a good thought, although we are not sure about how a blind does know the orientation the paper, book or newspaper. What about portraits? What about languages? … Continue reading
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Interview (Die ZEIT): What do you see? What do you hear?
In the the german newspaper DIE ZEIT, we found the inspiring article “Was siehst Du? Was hörst Du?” (engl.: “What do you see? What do you hear?”). A blind woman and a deaf man meet each other for a double-interview … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, Literature, reciprocal learning
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Amphibia – Font for both blind and seeing people.
(Foto: DesignHelps, Merz&Solitude 2007) Amphibia / Schriftentwurf / 2006 “Amphibia” is a font, meant to be read from both blind and seeing people. Although (at least for the seeing people) it seems not very usefull for body text, the concept is still … Continue reading
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Book: Design meets disability
We have not read this recent publication of Graham Pullin all through, yet. But if it is as interesting, as the table of content promises, we will give a review on it, soon. In advannce, here is what the publisher … Continue reading
Posted in blind, deaf, Literature
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Mygo – guided by cane.
In 2007, design student Sebastian Ritzler developed a concept for a cane full of features called Mygo. It contains a sensor-camera combo to measure the ground below it and give the user real time feedback via a wireless headset. The cane also … Continue reading
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