[accessibleimage] The Guiding Wind

Campus wind chimes guide visually impaired.

January 23, 2006.
SF State Campus Headlines - San Francisco,CA,USA.

Student Toshiro Yamamoto found the answer to his problem blowing in the
wind.

While the delicate music of wind chimes heard throughout the campus
since
early December may be an aural treat for the ears, they also serve as a
navigation tool for persons with visual impairments like Yamamoto.

The senior majoring in kinesiology uses a cane and counts intersections
to
find his way between campus and his Sunset District home. "But on the
way
home one day, I was distracted, lost count and turned down the wrong
street," Yamamoto said. "I wound up trying to get into someone else's
house!"

Shortly thereafter, he noticed the sound of wind chimes hung from a
neighbor's house and has since relied on them to verify the location of
his
own home.

"These chimes have been a 'guiding light' to me," said Yamamoto, who has
been blind in one eye since the age of 12 and is rapidly losing sight in
the
other. Wondering if wind chimes might be helpful on campus to others,
Yamamoto met with Phil Evans, manager of campus grounds; Geoff Brown, a
coordinator of the Disability Programs and Resource Center; and Ricardo
Gomes, chair and associate professor of design and industry, to discuss
the
possibility.

The pilot program consists of chimes hung from a light pole near the
library, where students who are blind or have other impairments use
adaptive
computer equipment. Chimes at the east entrance to Burk Hall, across
from
the student center, are a reminder that the steep, wide staircase
leading
down into the building is nearby. More sets were hung near the
humanities
and student services buildings.

This is not the first time SFSU has explored offering audible clues to
visually impaired persons. In 1990, Evans collaborated with design and
industry faculty members Brian Donnelly and Robert Natata on a study
funded
by the National Endowment for the Arts. The project, entitled
"Accessible
Landscapes, Designing for Inclusion," explored such multipurpose campus
enhancements as talking maps and furniture that would accommodate
wheelchair
users. Not long after, design and industry students constructed two
examples
of accessible outdoor study tables on the Fine Arts building patio. The
project also spawned a book and an accessible landscapes Web site, which
are
routinely consulted by designers worldwide.

"The wind chimes will provide a multi-dimensional experience for
everyone,"
Evans said.

While the chimes were an easy innovation to implement, the pilot program
has
revealed a few kinks that need to be hammered out. The weight and design
of
the test chimes doesn't guarantee regular ringing in campus winds, and
the
sounds of each set are too similar for users to make a distinction about
which location they represent. Evans hopes to find engineering and
industrial design classes that could take on these refinements as class
projects.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto hopes the project makes it past the pilot stage.

"Perhaps someone will have a problem with the chimes ... maybe some will
find them annoying," Yamamoto said. "But I think that the benefits far
outweigh any negative effects."

Anyone with comments regarding the wind chimes on campus should contact
Geoff Brown at (415) 338-2377 or
gbrown@xxxxxxxxx

Source URL:
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2006/spring/8.htm





Lisa Yayla
Huseby Kompetansesenter 
Oslo Norway
lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx

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