A first outline of SEDUCE 2013
Tuesday, Sept-3, 2013
20:00
Informal get-together in a typical Viennese Café,
Wednesday, Sept-4, 2013
09:30 Registration
10:00 Welcome and Keynote
12:30 Lunch
13:00 Presentations
16:15 Transfer to the new terminal3 of the Vienna Airport
17:00 Giuded tour at the airport and
investigation of the barrierefree design relaunch
19:00 Dinner
22:00 transfer back to downtown Vienna
Thursday, Sept-5, 2013
09:30 Continued presentations
18:00 Closing and Farewell
20:00
Informal get-together in a typical Viennese Café,
Wednesday, Sept-4, 2013
09:30 Registration
10:00 Welcome and Keynote
12:30 Lunch
13:00 Presentations
16:15 Transfer to the new terminal3 of the Vienna Airport
17:00 Giuded tour at the airport and
investigation of the barrierefree design relaunch
19:00 Dinner
22:00 transfer back to downtown Vienna
Thursday, Sept-5, 2013
09:30 Continued presentations
18:00 Closing and Farewell
Visual Impairment and Design
RESEARCH METHODS AS A TOOL FOR DESIGNER´S DECISIONS
Marta Wieckowska - Unversity of Applied Arts Katovice / Poland
Research methods as a tool for designer’s decisions
Certain design problems make it necessary for visual communication designers to objectively verify their decisions. Especially it is important to understand the possibilities and requirements of users, of every user in fact. The experience gives us a lot of information but sometimes it is not enough. We can imagine how our design is understood by others but we never can be absolutely sure. As many different kind of users we include in the research, the result will be more inclusive. In the structure of the department of design in Academy of Fine Art in Katowice we can find the Institute of Visual Research and Interaction. Why such a place is a part of the design department? We want to make students aware of the importance of researches in the design process. The intuition and experience are very important but well prepared researches can give us many unexpected information. The question is: how can we get to know the other people needs, possibilities, way of thinking? We prepare the research with special conditions, observe the reaction and than analyze it. This presentation aims to describe the research approach and research techniques which facilitate making of objective design decisions, which allow the adaptation of the physical properties of a visual communication message, or its component parts, to the requirements which the object in question has to meet.
THE VISIBILITY OF BLINDNESS
Boris Novachi Bojic - University for Applied Arts / Austria
Social engineering is considered largely as a subject reserved for the experts in the field of sociology. Researching the impact of industrial design and technology on our society may provide ideas relevant for both sociology and design Evaluation of the production of auxiliary means for the blind and the way those affect the social position of the blind population might re-discover the overlooked helpful guides and bring up new ideas as well, e.g. the purchase procedure of blind people reveals some interesting collisions between different law statutes, such as accessibility, hygiene, furnishing and space organisation of the selling stores. While having the capabilities of blind - on one side, with all the hi-tech auxiliary means they can use, and the stores with their spatial and technological solutions - on the other side, the solutions still indicate a grave social dissociation of the blind. One of the most challenging aims herewith would be an attempt to locate the average need of the blind and of the seeing population, whether it might result in creating smart technological solutions or simplifying the existing systems for the benefit of both. The auxiliary means for blind are often regarded as a matter of luxury.
VISIBLY INCOMPATIBLE
Stefan Egger - IIID / Austria
Maria Grundner - Österreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation(ÖAR) / Austria
Discussing difficulties in applying standards meant to improve accessibility. In recent work performed within a research project exploring possibilities to initiate mobile information services by NFC (Near Field communication) and QR (Quick Response) codes, various problems were encountered. Descriptive information of services to be fitted on stationary interaction-beacons proofed incompatible to standards for barrier-free accessibility, including issues of height and tactile information versus legibility.
Marta Wieckowska - Unversity of Applied Arts Katovice / Poland
Research methods as a tool for designer’s decisions
Certain design problems make it necessary for visual communication designers to objectively verify their decisions. Especially it is important to understand the possibilities and requirements of users, of every user in fact. The experience gives us a lot of information but sometimes it is not enough. We can imagine how our design is understood by others but we never can be absolutely sure. As many different kind of users we include in the research, the result will be more inclusive. In the structure of the department of design in Academy of Fine Art in Katowice we can find the Institute of Visual Research and Interaction. Why such a place is a part of the design department? We want to make students aware of the importance of researches in the design process. The intuition and experience are very important but well prepared researches can give us many unexpected information. The question is: how can we get to know the other people needs, possibilities, way of thinking? We prepare the research with special conditions, observe the reaction and than analyze it. This presentation aims to describe the research approach and research techniques which facilitate making of objective design decisions, which allow the adaptation of the physical properties of a visual communication message, or its component parts, to the requirements which the object in question has to meet.
THE VISIBILITY OF BLINDNESS
Boris Novachi Bojic - University for Applied Arts / Austria
Social engineering is considered largely as a subject reserved for the experts in the field of sociology. Researching the impact of industrial design and technology on our society may provide ideas relevant for both sociology and design Evaluation of the production of auxiliary means for the blind and the way those affect the social position of the blind population might re-discover the overlooked helpful guides and bring up new ideas as well, e.g. the purchase procedure of blind people reveals some interesting collisions between different law statutes, such as accessibility, hygiene, furnishing and space organisation of the selling stores. While having the capabilities of blind - on one side, with all the hi-tech auxiliary means they can use, and the stores with their spatial and technological solutions - on the other side, the solutions still indicate a grave social dissociation of the blind. One of the most challenging aims herewith would be an attempt to locate the average need of the blind and of the seeing population, whether it might result in creating smart technological solutions or simplifying the existing systems for the benefit of both. The auxiliary means for blind are often regarded as a matter of luxury.
VISIBLY INCOMPATIBLE
Stefan Egger - IIID / Austria
Maria Grundner - Österreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation(ÖAR) / Austria
Discussing difficulties in applying standards meant to improve accessibility. In recent work performed within a research project exploring possibilities to initiate mobile information services by NFC (Near Field communication) and QR (Quick Response) codes, various problems were encountered. Descriptive information of services to be fitted on stationary interaction-beacons proofed incompatible to standards for barrier-free accessibility, including issues of height and tactile information versus legibility.
Mobility and Discovery
THE INCLUSIVE DESIGN PROJECT OF THE FUKUOKA CITY TUBE NANKUMA LINE
Toshimitsu Sadamura- Japan Sign Design Association / Japan
The Nanakuma Line of Fukuoka City Subway is a new tube that opened in February 2005. SDA was commissioned to develop complete designs for stations, facilities, trains, signs and rail yards. The design project began in 1995, and during the first year they conducted a thorough survey of different users. The research showed that there were two kinds of barriers that prevented users from using the tube system: Barriers relating to mobility (physically-challenged, elderly people, pregnant women, people with children and those who carry baggage) , and barriers relating to information (people with visual and hearing disabilities, mentally disabled, the elderly, and foreign people). In this project it was developed a variety of designs and systems to produce a tube system that is accessible to everyone. The project included the ollowing six design maxims: 1. Inclusive design of traffic lines, 2. Inclusive design of facilities, 3. Inclusive design of walkway areas, 4. Offering information by means of symbolized space, 5. Offering information to identify stations, 6. Inclusive design of signs.
MAKING THE CITY ACCESSIBLE FOR THE VISUAL IMPAIRED
Kirti Trivedi - Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay / India
Compared to the sighted, the information available to the visually impaired, when navigating through the city on their own, is almost negligible. Sound cues at traffic signals, floor guides to help them to the metro platforms and bus stops, driver name and taxi number in braille on the taxi doors, floor numbers in braille on the elevator controls, are some of the universal practices adopted to facilitate the movement of the visually impaired. Area maps, landmark information, bus schedules, museum exhibit captions, room numbers in hotels, hospitals and public buildings all remain inaccessible. Except for the white cane, very little exists by way of hardware solutions the visually impaired can carry with them; and they have to rely on personally constructed sound maps in their mind to navigate. A solution based on the optical reading pen technology is being developed at the Industrial Design Centre in IIT Bombay, which aims to address many of these problems. Using the technology a system of providing optically readable information labels throughout the city is being proposed. Besides working on the formats, locations and standards for consistency of access for the visually impaired; the project is also working on issues related to multi-lingual information needs; and the incorporation of optically readable labels in existing situations, such as hotel and hospital rooms, bus and train stations, airports, exhibitions and museum displays, monuments information, and on all locality maps and information boards. The solution is made feasible, affordable and implementable by reduced flash memory prices for higher memory modules, and the simplicity of providing labels. It is proposed to explain the whole solution, and also demonstrate it through a physical display of the prototype at Space-X.
ISOTI – THE TACTILE ISOTYPE
Wolfgang Nowak/Behindertenvertrauensperson, University of Vienna / Austria
The tactile guidance system being installed in the course of the renovation of the University of Vienna is inspired by Otto Neurath. Developed by Nowak and Ertl it´s name is ISOTI which means Information System Of Tactile Indicators. It translates the principles of Neurath´s picture language into tactile indicators which are easily and quickly ascertainable. It shall enable blind and visually impaired persons to find their way to all spots in the university on their own. I will also show by pictures that this indoor system is especially useful for listed buildings and is up to aesthetic standards. The system itself contains no barriers to other kinds of disabilities.
ACOUSTIC SIGNS FOR THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONS IN JAPAN
Yasuo Yokota - Sign Design Association / Japan
We, The Japan Sign Design Association (JSDA), started our activities in 1965, as the only public interest Incorporated Association authorized by the government, aiming at the improvement and spread of good sign design. Through our activities, we recognize annually excellent sign design work for the year and make studies on improved sign design. Above all, we have emphasized the study of acoustic signs for impaired people. We formed a committee in 1996, to conduct an attitude survey, made experimental sounds, studied and made suggestions for the standardization of acoustic signs. In Japan, the Road Traffic Act concerning barrier-free access was inaugurated in 2000 for the aged and physically disabled, which contained preparatory guidelines for sound and acoustic transmission to aid the impaired. However, the proper evaluation has not been provided so far. In these guidelines, location is indicated. Five places are selected and the standard acoustic sign for each: 1) a ticket barrier at the station: “ping pong” or similar acoustic sign. 2) an escalator: “an up escalator” or “a down escalator”. 3) a lavatory: “right(or left) is for men” or “left (or right) is for women”. 4) at the steps of a platform: the chirp of birds. 5) a gate of subway: “ping pong” or similar acoustic sign. We are going to provide a case study recording research concerning the above five points by The Foundation for Promoting Personal Mobility and
Ecological Transportation.
MAPPING AN INTEGRATED USER EXPERIENCE: WAYFINDING & ORIENTATION
Thomas McCue - Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design / USA
for the Visually Impaired
People with vision impairments are getting increasingly better options for wayfinding and orientation. This does not necessarily translate into a good user experience. While a broad range of environmental and context-aware technologies provide means of wayfinding and orientation, the vision impaired user needs to be able to cognitively process the information. Processing this information while in motion, and potentially in unfamiliar surroundings can be a frustrating and anxiety inducing experience. There is substantial research identifying the issues and considerations regarding cognitive maps, and models of spatial awareness. The is an absence, however, of an effective implementation that integrates technology systems, cognitive maps and model, consistent communications frameworks, and user interface. To create an effective and meaningful user experience, designers must considers the following tasks: planning and preparation, orientation at scale, immediate orientation (at rest and in motion), and comprehending system communication. This proposal sets out to create a roadmap for designing a system that leverages existing technology and understanding of user needs into an integrated and easy to use experience.
AMAUROMAP(1) - INTERACTIVE ONLINE CITY MAP FOR VIP
Julia Neuschmid, Wolfgang Wasserburger, Manfred Schrenk
CEIT ALANOVA gemeinnützige GmbH, Institute of Urbanism, Transport, Environment and Information Society / Austria
Today cities can be exploited easily and in a comfortable way from home with interactive online maps. However, this is not the case for blind and visually impaired people who do not have access to digital city maps so far. AmauroMap tries to make this access possible via a textual spatial description and a user specified cartographic design. Especially blind and visually impaired people need to prepare in advance for routes that are new for them. The project is not about linear navigation from A to B, moreover it is about the creation of holistic cognitive maps. The challenge is to describe the elements of the map (streets, intersections, blocks, parks, squares, points of interest, etc.) in a detailed way that respects the requirements of the target group. Therefore, a key element of the project is an empirical study about the orientation of blind and visually impaired people in the urban space. The technical innovation is the automatic derivement of the spatial information from digital vector maps which makes it possible to use the system on a large area. The output will be a large-font textual description of the visual map that can be accessed either by reading, a braille display or a screenreader. In addition the idea is to redesign the visual basic map to support the requirements of visually impaired people. The first prototype will be finished in October 2010. The aim is to continue the project on long term and in cooperation with further partners.
(1) The name “AmauroMap” is derived from ”amaurosis“ which is the ancient Greek term for blindness or extremely impaired vision.
SOCIAL INCLUSION BY BARRIER-FREE TICKET VENDING MACHINES
Karin Siebenhandl - Danube University Krems / Austria
Ullrike Mayer - ÖBB Austrian Railways / Austria
Subjective access barriers to public transport are often the result of insufficient knowledge of how to use the electronic systems (ticket machines) which are becoming increasingly common at railway stations as well as the result of the complexity of these systems (fare structures). The hardware and software components used in self-service machines can raise additional barriers for people with restricted mobility or people who have a low affinity for technology. Although ticket machines offer a number of advantages for rail companies and passengers (reduced waiting times, no restrictions on opening hours), they also raise an important question: To what extent does the enforced use and the design of these machines restrict the mobility of certain groups of people?
The presentation will focus on this question by presenting first outcomes of the Innomat2 project, which is to design a future machine generation by combining a high level of user friendliness with the complexity of the fare structure.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTS IN VIENNA FOR VIP
Roland Krapta - Wiener Linien / Austria
THE RATP NAVIGO VENDING MACHINE
Giuseppe Attoma / Attoma Design Paris
Toshimitsu Sadamura- Japan Sign Design Association / Japan
The Nanakuma Line of Fukuoka City Subway is a new tube that opened in February 2005. SDA was commissioned to develop complete designs for stations, facilities, trains, signs and rail yards. The design project began in 1995, and during the first year they conducted a thorough survey of different users. The research showed that there were two kinds of barriers that prevented users from using the tube system: Barriers relating to mobility (physically-challenged, elderly people, pregnant women, people with children and those who carry baggage) , and barriers relating to information (people with visual and hearing disabilities, mentally disabled, the elderly, and foreign people). In this project it was developed a variety of designs and systems to produce a tube system that is accessible to everyone. The project included the ollowing six design maxims: 1. Inclusive design of traffic lines, 2. Inclusive design of facilities, 3. Inclusive design of walkway areas, 4. Offering information by means of symbolized space, 5. Offering information to identify stations, 6. Inclusive design of signs.
MAKING THE CITY ACCESSIBLE FOR THE VISUAL IMPAIRED
Kirti Trivedi - Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Bombay / India
Compared to the sighted, the information available to the visually impaired, when navigating through the city on their own, is almost negligible. Sound cues at traffic signals, floor guides to help them to the metro platforms and bus stops, driver name and taxi number in braille on the taxi doors, floor numbers in braille on the elevator controls, are some of the universal practices adopted to facilitate the movement of the visually impaired. Area maps, landmark information, bus schedules, museum exhibit captions, room numbers in hotels, hospitals and public buildings all remain inaccessible. Except for the white cane, very little exists by way of hardware solutions the visually impaired can carry with them; and they have to rely on personally constructed sound maps in their mind to navigate. A solution based on the optical reading pen technology is being developed at the Industrial Design Centre in IIT Bombay, which aims to address many of these problems. Using the technology a system of providing optically readable information labels throughout the city is being proposed. Besides working on the formats, locations and standards for consistency of access for the visually impaired; the project is also working on issues related to multi-lingual information needs; and the incorporation of optically readable labels in existing situations, such as hotel and hospital rooms, bus and train stations, airports, exhibitions and museum displays, monuments information, and on all locality maps and information boards. The solution is made feasible, affordable and implementable by reduced flash memory prices for higher memory modules, and the simplicity of providing labels. It is proposed to explain the whole solution, and also demonstrate it through a physical display of the prototype at Space-X.
ISOTI – THE TACTILE ISOTYPE
Wolfgang Nowak/Behindertenvertrauensperson, University of Vienna / Austria
The tactile guidance system being installed in the course of the renovation of the University of Vienna is inspired by Otto Neurath. Developed by Nowak and Ertl it´s name is ISOTI which means Information System Of Tactile Indicators. It translates the principles of Neurath´s picture language into tactile indicators which are easily and quickly ascertainable. It shall enable blind and visually impaired persons to find their way to all spots in the university on their own. I will also show by pictures that this indoor system is especially useful for listed buildings and is up to aesthetic standards. The system itself contains no barriers to other kinds of disabilities.
ACOUSTIC SIGNS FOR THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONS IN JAPAN
Yasuo Yokota - Sign Design Association / Japan
We, The Japan Sign Design Association (JSDA), started our activities in 1965, as the only public interest Incorporated Association authorized by the government, aiming at the improvement and spread of good sign design. Through our activities, we recognize annually excellent sign design work for the year and make studies on improved sign design. Above all, we have emphasized the study of acoustic signs for impaired people. We formed a committee in 1996, to conduct an attitude survey, made experimental sounds, studied and made suggestions for the standardization of acoustic signs. In Japan, the Road Traffic Act concerning barrier-free access was inaugurated in 2000 for the aged and physically disabled, which contained preparatory guidelines for sound and acoustic transmission to aid the impaired. However, the proper evaluation has not been provided so far. In these guidelines, location is indicated. Five places are selected and the standard acoustic sign for each: 1) a ticket barrier at the station: “ping pong” or similar acoustic sign. 2) an escalator: “an up escalator” or “a down escalator”. 3) a lavatory: “right(or left) is for men” or “left (or right) is for women”. 4) at the steps of a platform: the chirp of birds. 5) a gate of subway: “ping pong” or similar acoustic sign. We are going to provide a case study recording research concerning the above five points by The Foundation for Promoting Personal Mobility and
Ecological Transportation.
MAPPING AN INTEGRATED USER EXPERIENCE: WAYFINDING & ORIENTATION
Thomas McCue - Illinois Institute of Technology Institute of Design / USA
for the Visually Impaired
People with vision impairments are getting increasingly better options for wayfinding and orientation. This does not necessarily translate into a good user experience. While a broad range of environmental and context-aware technologies provide means of wayfinding and orientation, the vision impaired user needs to be able to cognitively process the information. Processing this information while in motion, and potentially in unfamiliar surroundings can be a frustrating and anxiety inducing experience. There is substantial research identifying the issues and considerations regarding cognitive maps, and models of spatial awareness. The is an absence, however, of an effective implementation that integrates technology systems, cognitive maps and model, consistent communications frameworks, and user interface. To create an effective and meaningful user experience, designers must considers the following tasks: planning and preparation, orientation at scale, immediate orientation (at rest and in motion), and comprehending system communication. This proposal sets out to create a roadmap for designing a system that leverages existing technology and understanding of user needs into an integrated and easy to use experience.
AMAUROMAP(1) - INTERACTIVE ONLINE CITY MAP FOR VIP
Julia Neuschmid, Wolfgang Wasserburger, Manfred Schrenk
CEIT ALANOVA gemeinnützige GmbH, Institute of Urbanism, Transport, Environment and Information Society / Austria
Today cities can be exploited easily and in a comfortable way from home with interactive online maps. However, this is not the case for blind and visually impaired people who do not have access to digital city maps so far. AmauroMap tries to make this access possible via a textual spatial description and a user specified cartographic design. Especially blind and visually impaired people need to prepare in advance for routes that are new for them. The project is not about linear navigation from A to B, moreover it is about the creation of holistic cognitive maps. The challenge is to describe the elements of the map (streets, intersections, blocks, parks, squares, points of interest, etc.) in a detailed way that respects the requirements of the target group. Therefore, a key element of the project is an empirical study about the orientation of blind and visually impaired people in the urban space. The technical innovation is the automatic derivement of the spatial information from digital vector maps which makes it possible to use the system on a large area. The output will be a large-font textual description of the visual map that can be accessed either by reading, a braille display or a screenreader. In addition the idea is to redesign the visual basic map to support the requirements of visually impaired people. The first prototype will be finished in October 2010. The aim is to continue the project on long term and in cooperation with further partners.
(1) The name “AmauroMap” is derived from ”amaurosis“ which is the ancient Greek term for blindness or extremely impaired vision.
SOCIAL INCLUSION BY BARRIER-FREE TICKET VENDING MACHINES
Karin Siebenhandl - Danube University Krems / Austria
Ullrike Mayer - ÖBB Austrian Railways / Austria
Subjective access barriers to public transport are often the result of insufficient knowledge of how to use the electronic systems (ticket machines) which are becoming increasingly common at railway stations as well as the result of the complexity of these systems (fare structures). The hardware and software components used in self-service machines can raise additional barriers for people with restricted mobility or people who have a low affinity for technology. Although ticket machines offer a number of advantages for rail companies and passengers (reduced waiting times, no restrictions on opening hours), they also raise an important question: To what extent does the enforced use and the design of these machines restrict the mobility of certain groups of people?
The presentation will focus on this question by presenting first outcomes of the Innomat2 project, which is to design a future machine generation by combining a high level of user friendliness with the complexity of the fare structure.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTS IN VIENNA FOR VIP
Roland Krapta - Wiener Linien / Austria
THE RATP NAVIGO VENDING MACHINE
Giuseppe Attoma / Attoma Design Paris
Devices, Tools and Capabilities
WAYS4ALL - A TACTILE GUIDANCE SYSTEM BASED ON PASSIVES RFID TAGS.,
Martijn Kiers - FH-JOANNEUM / Austria
Imagine a world without barriers, where all people and particularly people with special needs can enjoy daily life without running into obstacles or problems which undermine their self-determination. This is a dream which could come true within the next years. The project “Ways4all” is using passive RFID tags to indentify indoor routes, barriers and means of public transport for visually impaired and blind people. The basis for this project is the tactile guidance system. At all strategic spots inside the building (entrance, platforms, intersections) a passive RFID-tag will be placed into the tactile guidance system. Those RFID-tags send their unique code trough an RFID-Reader to the user’s smartphone. The smartphone reads the code and sends it on to an RFID-database server where all the tags together with some additional information are saved as location points. For the routing new navigation software, the so-called GerweiMethod, which is based on a standard routing algorithm, has been developed. Before leaving the user has to enter his/her destination on the smartphone, by which the server (Gerwei-Method) calculates the optimal route based on the location, the moving direction and the user profile.The smartphone receives real-time routing information (including additional information, like real-time interruptions, delays and platform changes) from the database server. On the smartphone the routing information will be sent in an acoustic way to the blind person (for example through a Bluetooth headset). This way, the blind person gets his/her indoor route instructions from the system.
BRAILLE PHONE
Sumit Dagar - National Institute of Design, India / Currently in Finland
This presentation will be on a concept phone that uses Braille as primary mode of interaction. The phone explores usage of tactile interfaces as a medium of interaction between blind users and phone. The phone is an innovative concept, which provides an interaction framework that incorporates interface design and information architecture to successfully communicate with a visually impaired user. The presentation will: Introduce to the concept, Describe the extensive design process, The relevance and importance of such devices which are “designed for all”, The future possibilities. The concept was developed a few months ago and since then it has been presented at various platforms. One of the posters developed for the phone is attached to elaborate the concept visually.
NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR MOBILITY IN BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS
Peter Barker/Sign Design Society / UK
A new Wayfinding and Signage system has been developed by Guide Dogs and the University of Reading.
The unique features are the low cost to the Service Provider in terms on capital, installation maintenance and running cost. The system allows easy addition or change of information as circumstances alter. The user will have an affordable, light weight unit with long battery life.
The system can work in both external and internal environments. The user receiver can also use GPS, be used as a mobile phone ora MP3 player and FM radio.
Examples of installations will be presented.
Martijn Kiers - FH-JOANNEUM / Austria
Imagine a world without barriers, where all people and particularly people with special needs can enjoy daily life without running into obstacles or problems which undermine their self-determination. This is a dream which could come true within the next years. The project “Ways4all” is using passive RFID tags to indentify indoor routes, barriers and means of public transport for visually impaired and blind people. The basis for this project is the tactile guidance system. At all strategic spots inside the building (entrance, platforms, intersections) a passive RFID-tag will be placed into the tactile guidance system. Those RFID-tags send their unique code trough an RFID-Reader to the user’s smartphone. The smartphone reads the code and sends it on to an RFID-database server where all the tags together with some additional information are saved as location points. For the routing new navigation software, the so-called GerweiMethod, which is based on a standard routing algorithm, has been developed. Before leaving the user has to enter his/her destination on the smartphone, by which the server (Gerwei-Method) calculates the optimal route based on the location, the moving direction and the user profile.The smartphone receives real-time routing information (including additional information, like real-time interruptions, delays and platform changes) from the database server. On the smartphone the routing information will be sent in an acoustic way to the blind person (for example through a Bluetooth headset). This way, the blind person gets his/her indoor route instructions from the system.
BRAILLE PHONE
Sumit Dagar - National Institute of Design, India / Currently in Finland
This presentation will be on a concept phone that uses Braille as primary mode of interaction. The phone explores usage of tactile interfaces as a medium of interaction between blind users and phone. The phone is an innovative concept, which provides an interaction framework that incorporates interface design and information architecture to successfully communicate with a visually impaired user. The presentation will: Introduce to the concept, Describe the extensive design process, The relevance and importance of such devices which are “designed for all”, The future possibilities. The concept was developed a few months ago and since then it has been presented at various platforms. One of the posters developed for the phone is attached to elaborate the concept visually.
NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR MOBILITY IN BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS
Peter Barker/Sign Design Society / UK
A new Wayfinding and Signage system has been developed by Guide Dogs and the University of Reading.
The unique features are the low cost to the Service Provider in terms on capital, installation maintenance and running cost. The system allows easy addition or change of information as circumstances alter. The user will have an affordable, light weight unit with long battery life.
The system can work in both external and internal environments. The user receiver can also use GPS, be used as a mobile phone ora MP3 player and FM radio.
Examples of installations will be presented.
Education and Transfer
THE GAME TACTILONARY: a study about production and reception of communicational drawings by visually impaired people
Dannyelle Valente/CRICC - Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne / France
Our presentation will focus on the game Tactilonary, developed as research protocol for a Phd study on the adaptation tactile of graphic visual contents for visually impaired people. Nowadays the production of tactile pictures and relief drawings allows blind people to access cultural and educational contents when they were inaccessible before. For the adaption of these devices, a research about the efficacy of the proposed tactile products must be associated with some questions like how to adapt these contents from a visual perceptual context to a perceptual context based on sounds and tactile sensations. The Tactilonary is a game where the communication is construct by draw similar to the game Pictionary and adapted to the use of blind people. It is composed of one Dycem kit of drawing relief, one sound timer and braille cards. Designed to be played by groups of blind people, this game allow us to discern the generalities in the comments of different participants about each object and perceptual cues that are fundamentally selected to represent different objects categories. The graphic and verbal data from this research protocol allows us to know how to structure these graphic forms better designed to the perceptual peculiarities of blind people and give some guide lines to illustrated book designers or other graphic contents.
TYPOGRAPHY FOR CHILDREN WITH A VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
Ann Bessemans and Bert Wiellems - Leiden University & Hasselt University (PHL University College) / Belgium
The PhD of Ann Bessemans (Leiden University, University of Hasselt) is a first attempt at bridging the gap between the font designers and the cognitive scientists studying the legibility of letter characters. The ultimate purpose of this PhD is to design a font that can reduce the reading problems of children with low vision. It?s proven that the reading process of children with low vision is disturbed due to a reduction in visual input. Due to the reduced visual input of low vision children not only the reading process itself is disturbed but also the process of learning to read is disturbed and this may lead to cognitive problems necessitating in some cases a transfer from regular to special education. This reduction should be demonstrated in an empirical and scientifically justified way using real fonts instead of artificially created fonts. In this project letter characters will be used that are designed based on both the scientific and typographic knowledge existing on the legibility of letter characters. The children with a visual impairment that will be studied in this project are also free from cognitive problems in order to study the
effects of the letter characters itself (and not the effects of cognitive impairments on legibility). They will be tested during their process of learning to read (5-10 years). The research results, the data on the influence of the tested fonts on the reading behaviour of children with low vision, will be used for designing a new font.
GALLERY PAINTINGS FOR BLIND AND VIP
Andreas Reichinger - Zentrum für Virtual Reality and Visualisierung Forschungs-GmbH / Austria
We want to present the outcome of an ongoning project in cooperation with the “KHM - Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna” where we transfer paintings into tactile representations suitable to be used for guided tours. This should help making two-dimensional art originally intended for sighted people accessible for blind and visually impaired people. The main focus of this project is to find ways to utilize the computer as much as possible to help the artist in the transfer process and rapid prototyping devices to ease the production. We experiment with four forms: tactile diagrams on swell paper, laser-cutted layered depth diagrams, 3D-plotted reliefs and experimental tactile representation of color. We will present the state of the art in tactile image creation, review general design guidelines, outline our computeraided creation process, present the results on selected paintings, and give an outlook to future research towards further automatization of the design process. The project is funded by “KulturKontakt Austria im Auftrag des BMUKK”.
HOW DO PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT ORIENT IN VISUAL DOMINATED SURROUNDINGS?,
Yvonne Eriksson - Information Design, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Malardalen University / Sweden
As pointed out already by Dennis Diderot in the late 18th century, sight is a very efficient and elegant sense. It is possible to see from long distance and in very close up views. By looking we can quickly get an idea of an environment or a specific milieu. Through pictures on Internet, non-fiction books, story books for children or magazines we get information about e.g. different parts of the world or fashion. However, the sight is used to orient ourselves in many different ways, socially and geographically. It is possible to perceive space entirely from vision, but it could be apprehended from haptic experience as well as hearing. For sighted people hearing and haptic understanding support the visual impression while people with visual impairment barely have to depend on them. The paper will address questions about how people with visual impairment learn to use touch for a better understanding of the environment per see. In the paper I will address theories about tactile and multimodal reading processes that are involved in tactile decoding, and how they relate to visual perception and visual literacy.
POINT BY POINT
Fabienne Meyer - Hochschule der Künste Bern / Switzerland
There are several educational materials for learning Braille, especially for children. Unfortunately there are few that deal specifically with the sense of touch in preschool children. There are even less teaching materials that combine this with a focus on blind and sighted participating in the learning process together. This research project explores the design principles of blind teaching aids. It is hoped the research will serve to raise awareness of the touch sense in blind and visually impaired children of preschool age, and at the same time involve sighted participants in the learning process. Being new ground, there is almost no existing theories or practises in the design field to base our visualisations on. Through this process it is hoped that the children will become motivated for Braille-learning in a playful manner. Their fingers become sensitised to shapes, materials and surfaces. Through these exercises and educational materials the children will have the opportunity to interact with sighted participants, so both can discover the exciting world of reading and writing in Braille together. In this way, an increase in motivation for the learning process is developed in the blind child, while at the same time sighted people are introduced to Braille. This provides opportunity for individuals to gain experience and understanding in the (alternative) writing system of their children, siblings or friends.
Dannyelle Valente/CRICC - Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne / France
Our presentation will focus on the game Tactilonary, developed as research protocol for a Phd study on the adaptation tactile of graphic visual contents for visually impaired people. Nowadays the production of tactile pictures and relief drawings allows blind people to access cultural and educational contents when they were inaccessible before. For the adaption of these devices, a research about the efficacy of the proposed tactile products must be associated with some questions like how to adapt these contents from a visual perceptual context to a perceptual context based on sounds and tactile sensations. The Tactilonary is a game where the communication is construct by draw similar to the game Pictionary and adapted to the use of blind people. It is composed of one Dycem kit of drawing relief, one sound timer and braille cards. Designed to be played by groups of blind people, this game allow us to discern the generalities in the comments of different participants about each object and perceptual cues that are fundamentally selected to represent different objects categories. The graphic and verbal data from this research protocol allows us to know how to structure these graphic forms better designed to the perceptual peculiarities of blind people and give some guide lines to illustrated book designers or other graphic contents.
TYPOGRAPHY FOR CHILDREN WITH A VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
Ann Bessemans and Bert Wiellems - Leiden University & Hasselt University (PHL University College) / Belgium
The PhD of Ann Bessemans (Leiden University, University of Hasselt) is a first attempt at bridging the gap between the font designers and the cognitive scientists studying the legibility of letter characters. The ultimate purpose of this PhD is to design a font that can reduce the reading problems of children with low vision. It?s proven that the reading process of children with low vision is disturbed due to a reduction in visual input. Due to the reduced visual input of low vision children not only the reading process itself is disturbed but also the process of learning to read is disturbed and this may lead to cognitive problems necessitating in some cases a transfer from regular to special education. This reduction should be demonstrated in an empirical and scientifically justified way using real fonts instead of artificially created fonts. In this project letter characters will be used that are designed based on both the scientific and typographic knowledge existing on the legibility of letter characters. The children with a visual impairment that will be studied in this project are also free from cognitive problems in order to study the
effects of the letter characters itself (and not the effects of cognitive impairments on legibility). They will be tested during their process of learning to read (5-10 years). The research results, the data on the influence of the tested fonts on the reading behaviour of children with low vision, will be used for designing a new font.
GALLERY PAINTINGS FOR BLIND AND VIP
Andreas Reichinger - Zentrum für Virtual Reality and Visualisierung Forschungs-GmbH / Austria
We want to present the outcome of an ongoning project in cooperation with the “KHM - Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna” where we transfer paintings into tactile representations suitable to be used for guided tours. This should help making two-dimensional art originally intended for sighted people accessible for blind and visually impaired people. The main focus of this project is to find ways to utilize the computer as much as possible to help the artist in the transfer process and rapid prototyping devices to ease the production. We experiment with four forms: tactile diagrams on swell paper, laser-cutted layered depth diagrams, 3D-plotted reliefs and experimental tactile representation of color. We will present the state of the art in tactile image creation, review general design guidelines, outline our computeraided creation process, present the results on selected paintings, and give an outlook to future research towards further automatization of the design process. The project is funded by “KulturKontakt Austria im Auftrag des BMUKK”.
HOW DO PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT ORIENT IN VISUAL DOMINATED SURROUNDINGS?,
Yvonne Eriksson - Information Design, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Malardalen University / Sweden
As pointed out already by Dennis Diderot in the late 18th century, sight is a very efficient and elegant sense. It is possible to see from long distance and in very close up views. By looking we can quickly get an idea of an environment or a specific milieu. Through pictures on Internet, non-fiction books, story books for children or magazines we get information about e.g. different parts of the world or fashion. However, the sight is used to orient ourselves in many different ways, socially and geographically. It is possible to perceive space entirely from vision, but it could be apprehended from haptic experience as well as hearing. For sighted people hearing and haptic understanding support the visual impression while people with visual impairment barely have to depend on them. The paper will address questions about how people with visual impairment learn to use touch for a better understanding of the environment per see. In the paper I will address theories about tactile and multimodal reading processes that are involved in tactile decoding, and how they relate to visual perception and visual literacy.
POINT BY POINT
Fabienne Meyer - Hochschule der Künste Bern / Switzerland
There are several educational materials for learning Braille, especially for children. Unfortunately there are few that deal specifically with the sense of touch in preschool children. There are even less teaching materials that combine this with a focus on blind and sighted participating in the learning process together. This research project explores the design principles of blind teaching aids. It is hoped the research will serve to raise awareness of the touch sense in blind and visually impaired children of preschool age, and at the same time involve sighted participants in the learning process. Being new ground, there is almost no existing theories or practises in the design field to base our visualisations on. Through this process it is hoped that the children will become motivated for Braille-learning in a playful manner. Their fingers become sensitised to shapes, materials and surfaces. Through these exercises and educational materials the children will have the opportunity to interact with sighted participants, so both can discover the exciting world of reading and writing in Braille together. In this way, an increase in motivation for the learning process is developed in the blind child, while at the same time sighted people are introduced to Braille. This provides opportunity for individuals to gain experience and understanding in the (alternative) writing system of their children, siblings or friends.
Design and Perception
THE COMMUNICATION SUPPORT BOARDS APPLICATION FOR THE TOKYO INT. AIRPORT /HANEDA.
Hitomi Hagino - i-Design / Japan
The communication support board is a unique tool which supports the communications among people who have hearing disabilities, people who can’t understand the language, children and elderly people. The board has an important role of making the “Chance” for communication while pointing at the pictorial symbols displayed on the board. We have distributed the general purpose communication board which was developed for public transportation in the summer of 2008 and revised version in the spring of 2009 among whole country. This time we would like to give a presentation on airport specialized communication support board promptly designed for Tokyo International Airport / Haneda new International Terminal which will be completed in October 2010. We focus on its purpose for people who have hearing disabilities and for foreigners’ communication as well as people who can’t utter any sounds. We hold the workshop involving them to develop its design successfully. In this project tactile maps are also designed to assist people who have visually impairment. I would like to inform their activities, too.
SICHTWEISEN, A MAGAZINE FOR VIP
Gabriele Frisch - Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs / Austria
Sabine Peter - Egger & Lerch / Austria
Magazines for visually impaired persons are usually offered as a large print version, a format that is not particularly attractive for sighted persons. sichtweisen is the first medium of an association for blind and visually impaired persons that was specifically designed for both user groups. A. Design development process of the magazine sichtweisen. 1) Guidelines of the Hilfsgemeinschaft for the media-agency Egger & Lerch: a unique print version for sighted and visually impaired persons that is well readable and visually attractive. 2) Tests of the layout with members of the Hilfsgemeinschaft with severe visual impairments: How do readers using optical reading devices orient themselves? 3) Optimization of the design. B.Presentation of the phases which lead to the production of a visually impaired user friendly publication: Font size, font type, font weight, font colour and background, text properties and photos, line thicknesses, paper, etc.
Kit 4 VIP
Cora Akdogan, Katharina Hölzl - IIID / Austria
Daniele Marano - Hilfsgemeinschaft / Austria
The example of an on-the-fly kit, offered in various designs, consisting of severeal elements like big numbers, stair-marking-strips, toilette-symbols, stickers to indicate glass-barriers and coffee-cup-coasters emonstrates how an environment can be made barrierefree and accessible in an appealing and attractive style for normal and partially sighted people. Meeting the basic requirements of readability and orientation for partilly sighted, the approach goes further by targeting on an aesthetic execution, as a language of beauty .
NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON´T -
A comparison of different standards for glass manifestations and their effect on design
Veronika Egger/IsDesign GmbH / Austria
Glass manifestations are a constant source of conflict between the requirements of visually impaired people and architectural integrity. However, they are a necessary feature in order to enable VIPs the safe and independent use of an environment.
The very nature of glass under varying lighting and contrast-conditions makes it particularly difficult to create design guidelines, as can be seen by the way standards documents struggle with the definition of minimum requirements for colour and contrast values, application areas and density.
Solutions as demanded by some disability organisations are simply unacceptable for designers and property owners and will only be applied under duress. In order to allow for beautiful and commercially acceptable solutions the discussion must be opened up and various design approaches must be tested. This talk will look at a variety of current solutions and possible ways towards developing standards.
COLOUR SND LUMINANCE CONTRAST IN BUILDING INTERIORS
A representative of RNIB / UK
A review of the main techniques for achieving a truly inclusive environment.
Examples of good layout, decorative finish, colour contrast, lighting and
signage.
Fully illustrated with images.
PLANIMETRIC DESIGN
Stefan Hampl / Sigmund Freud University Vienna Paris (SFU)
"Seeing seeing" - as opposed to mere visual recognition - can be considered a key competence for understanding the inherent laws of the visual. Lines, shapes, colors, contrasts etc. are the building blocks of a planimetric perspective that aims at grasping the specific logic of visual communication. As practical examples will demonstrate, visual logic cannot easily be reduced or transformed into the terms of language and text. Therefore the presented method of image interpretation (documentary method), takes this problem as the starting point for a new empirical perspective on the visual - with promising results for the improvement of visual information design (not only for the visually impaired).
Diana Frank - Information Designer / Germany
Hitomi Hagino - i-Design / Japan
The communication support board is a unique tool which supports the communications among people who have hearing disabilities, people who can’t understand the language, children and elderly people. The board has an important role of making the “Chance” for communication while pointing at the pictorial symbols displayed on the board. We have distributed the general purpose communication board which was developed for public transportation in the summer of 2008 and revised version in the spring of 2009 among whole country. This time we would like to give a presentation on airport specialized communication support board promptly designed for Tokyo International Airport / Haneda new International Terminal which will be completed in October 2010. We focus on its purpose for people who have hearing disabilities and for foreigners’ communication as well as people who can’t utter any sounds. We hold the workshop involving them to develop its design successfully. In this project tactile maps are also designed to assist people who have visually impairment. I would like to inform their activities, too.
SICHTWEISEN, A MAGAZINE FOR VIP
Gabriele Frisch - Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs / Austria
Sabine Peter - Egger & Lerch / Austria
Magazines for visually impaired persons are usually offered as a large print version, a format that is not particularly attractive for sighted persons. sichtweisen is the first medium of an association for blind and visually impaired persons that was specifically designed for both user groups. A. Design development process of the magazine sichtweisen. 1) Guidelines of the Hilfsgemeinschaft for the media-agency Egger & Lerch: a unique print version for sighted and visually impaired persons that is well readable and visually attractive. 2) Tests of the layout with members of the Hilfsgemeinschaft with severe visual impairments: How do readers using optical reading devices orient themselves? 3) Optimization of the design. B.Presentation of the phases which lead to the production of a visually impaired user friendly publication: Font size, font type, font weight, font colour and background, text properties and photos, line thicknesses, paper, etc.
Kit 4 VIP
Cora Akdogan, Katharina Hölzl - IIID / Austria
Daniele Marano - Hilfsgemeinschaft / Austria
The example of an on-the-fly kit, offered in various designs, consisting of severeal elements like big numbers, stair-marking-strips, toilette-symbols, stickers to indicate glass-barriers and coffee-cup-coasters emonstrates how an environment can be made barrierefree and accessible in an appealing and attractive style for normal and partially sighted people. Meeting the basic requirements of readability and orientation for partilly sighted, the approach goes further by targeting on an aesthetic execution, as a language of beauty .
NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON´T -
A comparison of different standards for glass manifestations and their effect on design
Veronika Egger/IsDesign GmbH / Austria
Glass manifestations are a constant source of conflict between the requirements of visually impaired people and architectural integrity. However, they are a necessary feature in order to enable VIPs the safe and independent use of an environment.
The very nature of glass under varying lighting and contrast-conditions makes it particularly difficult to create design guidelines, as can be seen by the way standards documents struggle with the definition of minimum requirements for colour and contrast values, application areas and density.
Solutions as demanded by some disability organisations are simply unacceptable for designers and property owners and will only be applied under duress. In order to allow for beautiful and commercially acceptable solutions the discussion must be opened up and various design approaches must be tested. This talk will look at a variety of current solutions and possible ways towards developing standards.
COLOUR SND LUMINANCE CONTRAST IN BUILDING INTERIORS
A representative of RNIB / UK
A review of the main techniques for achieving a truly inclusive environment.
Examples of good layout, decorative finish, colour contrast, lighting and
signage.
Fully illustrated with images.
PLANIMETRIC DESIGN
Stefan Hampl / Sigmund Freud University Vienna Paris (SFU)
"Seeing seeing" - as opposed to mere visual recognition - can be considered a key competence for understanding the inherent laws of the visual. Lines, shapes, colors, contrasts etc. are the building blocks of a planimetric perspective that aims at grasping the specific logic of visual communication. As practical examples will demonstrate, visual logic cannot easily be reduced or transformed into the terms of language and text. Therefore the presented method of image interpretation (documentary method), takes this problem as the starting point for a new empirical perspective on the visual - with promising results for the improvement of visual information design (not only for the visually impaired).
Diana Frank - Information Designer / Germany
