Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Engineering students designing tactile maps (self.Blind)
submitted 5.194536747685185y ago by DarkPhoenix369
Good evening r/blind.
This is my first post on this subreddit so i hope I follow the rules which I've read on the sidebar.
I am a mechanical engineering student about to start his last semester in college. One of the last courses that we have to take is called Senior Design in which we're placed with a team of engineers to design and manufacture prototypes involving any aspect of engineering.
The project that my team chose was designing and manufacturing tactile maps for the blind and visually impaired students of our campus. We have researched tactile graphics and had the chance to interview 2 visually impaired students with the help of our Student Accessibility Services office.
We are trying to reach out to other blind and visually impaired people across the nation to attempt to gather insight from them and what they think can be beneficial to the design of our project.
I've written this (unfortunately long) post to see if there were any people who could help us gather information here or if anyone knows of an online forum or discussion board that can help us.
We basically just want to know general information like if you've used a tactile map before or if you would rather use a speaker, cell phone, or smart pen as an audio component etc.
We thank you for your time and hope to hear back from a few of you!
This is my first post on this subreddit so i hope I follow the rules which I've read on the sidebar.
I am a mechanical engineering student about to start his last semester in college. One of the last courses that we have to take is called Senior Design in which we're placed with a team of engineers to design and manufacture prototypes involving any aspect of engineering.
The project that my team chose was designing and manufacturing tactile maps for the blind and visually impaired students of our campus. We have researched tactile graphics and had the chance to interview 2 visually impaired students with the help of our Student Accessibility Services office.
We are trying to reach out to other blind and visually impaired people across the nation to attempt to gather insight from them and what they think can be beneficial to the design of our project.
I've written this (unfortunately long) post to see if there were any people who could help us gather information here or if anyone knows of an online forum or discussion board that can help us.
We basically just want to know general information like if you've used a tactile map before or if you would rather use a speaker, cell phone, or smart pen as an audio component etc.
We thank you for your time and hope to hear back from a few of you!
KillerLag 2 points 5y ago
Not a blind person, but I've made plenty of tactile maps for clients before.
I've never found smart pens to be too useful (in this case, the Pen Friend), because of the need to add the dots and record each individual message. It was usually easier to add braille labels.
Most of the time, I was there with the map to explain what they are feeling and what it represents in the real world. From the sounds of it, you want to make a more automated experience, right?
I've never found smart pens to be too useful (in this case, the Pen Friend), because of the need to add the dots and record each individual message. It was usually easier to add braille labels.
Most of the time, I was there with the map to explain what they are feeling and what it represents in the real world. From the sounds of it, you want to make a more automated experience, right?
DarkPhoenix369 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
Thanks for the reply.
Essentially yes we would like to make it a more automated experience since we want to be able to leave these maps behind so that students who come in after we leave can utilize them.
For example a few of the ideas we had was using QR codes to record audio that could be played back through their phone or using Arduinos to record the audio for permanently installed (possibly 3D printed) maps around campus.
Essentially yes we would like to make it a more automated experience since we want to be able to leave these maps behind so that students who come in after we leave can utilize them.
For example a few of the ideas we had was using QR codes to record audio that could be played back through their phone or using Arduinos to record the audio for permanently installed (possibly 3D printed) maps around campus.
KillerLag 1 points 5y ago
Would there be a single QR code to describe the map? Or multiple QR codes over the map? How would you ensure the description matches up to what they are touching at that moment?
DarkPhoenix369 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
There would be one QR code assigned to each section of the map. We can't have the whole campus on a single map because that would be too much detail.
The audio descriptions would be general at best we wanted to look into haptic feedback of some sort to ensure that what part of the map they're touching is what they want to know but with our time and budget it will probably have to fall onto another team after us.
The audio descriptions would be general at best we wanted to look into haptic feedback of some sort to ensure that what part of the map they're touching is what they want to know but with our time and budget it will probably have to fall onto another team after us.
KillerLag 1 points 5y ago
One of the difficulties of a QR code is relaying that information to someone so they 1) know there is a code in the first place 2) know where to locate the code and 3) can successfully get a picture of the code. As an example, my office has QR codes to explain what different rooms are. If a person is interested, they can find them in holders near doors and elevators, with a bump dot to indicate exactly where they are. But because some of them are at lower angles, some are more difficult to get a clear shot than others (especially the ones in dimmer areas).
Do you have a legend to explain what different parts of the map represent? Roads vs footpaths?
Do you have a legend to explain what different parts of the map represent? Roads vs footpaths?
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