Blind Maps / Markus Schmeiduch (AT), Andrew Spitz (FR), Ruben van der Vleuten (NL)
For people with good vision, taking a walk through a big city is something taken completely for granted. But orientation becomes infinitely more difficult if ones eyesight is no longer a reliable means of processing impressions from ones surroundings. BlindMaps is a research project devoted to precisely this problem: How to enable visually impaired people to get oriented and navigate in urban spaces with which they’re unfamiliar? And BlindMaps has come up with a way to help: Inputting the routing query verbally; utilizing touch-sensitive haptic technology; and an interface featuring a perforated, Braille-like screen with tiny protruding bumps whose changes or movements enable the user to navigate in real time.
credit: Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz, Ruben van der Vleuten
Blind Maps / Markus Schmeiduch (AT), Andrew Spitz (FR), Ruben van der Vleuten (NL)
For people with good vision, taking a walk through a big city is something taken completely for granted. But orientation becomes infinitely more difficult if ones eyesight is no longer a reliable means of processing impressions from ones surroundings. BlindMaps is a research project devoted to precisely this problem: How to enable visually impaired people to get oriented and navigate in urban spaces with which they’re unfamiliar? And BlindMaps has come up with a way to help: Inputting the routing query verbally; utilizing touch-sensitive haptic technology; and an interface featuring a perforated, Braille-like screen with tiny protruding bumps whose changes or movements enable the user to navigate in real time.
credit: Markus Schmeiduch, Andrew Spitz, Ruben van der Vleuten