[accessibleimage] Fw: Blind people to 'see' colour by touch

Hello:

     I thought you might find the following of interest.

Regards,

Robert Jaquiss

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leon Gilbert" <lwg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind News Mailing List" <blindnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 7:53 PM
Subject: Blind people to 'see' colour by touch


> Blind people to 'see' colour by touch
> Heather Catchpole
> ABC Science Online
> Wednesday, 14 April  2004
>
> Using a computer to translate colourful images into tactile graphics may
help blind people 'see' pictures
> Blind people may be able to 'see' images created by a computer program
that translates colour images into textured graphics,
> according to a Polish researcher.
>
> The research was published on the physics website arXiv, which is owned
and operated by Cornell University in Ithaca, New
> York.
>
> The computer program by Artur Rataj, from the Institute of Theoretical and
Applied Computer Science at the Polish Academy of
> Sciences, is said to be the first to put colour into tactile graphics,
images that blind people can 'read' by touch.
>
> There are several ways of translating images for blind people in the same
way writing is translated into braille.
>
> One way uses braille dots spaced closely together. Another uses
vacuum-treated plastic wrapped over 3-D sculptures of the
> image. But the vacuum-treated plastic method is expensive and
time-consuming.
>
> Images can also be made into tactile graphics, which use raised lines and
dashes to represent a picture. Using fingers,
> visually impaired or blind people can get a feel for the details of
images. Until now, these had been in black and white.
>
> Now in colour
>
> But a computer could assign different textures to colours, Rataj said. His
program detects the edge of objects in the image
> and then assigns a primary colour to different parts of the image.
>
> Each colour is represented by rows of dashes at different angles. For
example, yellow is represented by rows of vertical dots
> and blue by rows of horizontal dots. Colour is simplified so there is only
one blue, not shades of light or dark blue.
>
> Combination colours, like orange, are made by using dashes angled at a
direction halfway between red and yellow. The
> intensity of the colour depends on the density of the raised dashes. More
dashes mean brighter colours.
>
> Identifying the colours in an image may help people recognise the image,
Rataj said, who is testing his method with blind
> people.
>
> Australian Tim Connell is managing director of the Sydney-based company
Quantum Technology, which supplies a printer that
> translates images into tactile graphics.
>
> Connell told ABC Science Online that although Rataj's work had some value,
it was easy to add too much complexity to a
> graphic.
>
> "Too much information means it's difficult to understand the picture," he
said. "Less is more."
>
> He also said that people who have been blind for life found colour
meaningless.
>
> "If colour adds meaning it's important. Otherwise it's simply aesthetic
and not practical."
>
> Connell said that colour textures had been used before in tactile graphics
but not by computers. He said using a computer
> "adds some value but is not a solution" to producing tactile graphics.
>
> "As Rataj admits, human translators still make a better picture."
>
> thelab@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> ©2004 ABC
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
> Printer at MyInks.com.  Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
> http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
> http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/86xolB/TM
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
> To view an archive of BlindNews messages go to:
> http://www.snowbeast.net/blind/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BlindNews/
>
> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>      BlindNews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>      http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>

Other related posts: