[accessibleimage] art, haptics, photography

Hi,

Links to articles about art, photography and haptic devices.

Best regards,

Lisa

excerpt
Touching art: Special Portsmouth exhibit designed for blind, low-vision people 


Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cunningham/Democrat photo Rick Burns of Berwick, Maine, is among the artists showing at a newly opened exhibition dedicated to helping the blind have access to art. His piece "Programmed" will be among those to be experienced through touch at New Hampshire Art Association's Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery on State Street in Portsmouth.
PORTSMOUTH — It's not often that you walk into a gallery and are actually encouraged to touch the art.
On Wednesday the New Hampshire Art Association's Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery on State Street opened a new "Art Beyond Sight" exhibit that features all two- and three-dimensional artwork designed to be experienced by the blind and those with low vision.
For the first time the art association collaborated with the New Hampshire Association for the Blind to present a show that is open to all, but intended to allow those without sight to experience art at its 136 State St. gallery.
The show is the brainchild of exhibit co-chairs Judy Brenner and Valerie Sobel of the New Hampshire Art Association. It opened on Wednesday with all of the work being textured paintings, etchings and sculpture.
The juried show features works from artists all over New England and may be experienced through touch and through identification cards written in braille on the gallery's walls. 

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090402/GJCOMMUNITY_01/704029720/-1/FOSNEWS


article
ART BEYOND SIGHT held in conjunction with the N.H. Association for the Blind, juried exhibit that allows those who are blind, low vision and the public to use multi-sensory means to experience art, through April 30, reception April 3, 5-8 p.m. in conjunction with Art 'Round Town gallery walk, New Hampshire Art Association, Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, 136 State St., Portsmouth. Gallery hours: Wed.-Sat.: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun.: noon- 5 p.m. 431-4230. 

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090402-ENTERTAIN-904020304




article


New downtown gallery, boutique opening today

Legally blind artist offering session to help others succeed

PALLADIUM-ITEM

A new gallery and boutique is opening on Richmond's Main Street today.
The ribbon-cutting and grand opening for the Blind Ambition Gallery and Boutique will be at 1 p.m. today at 817 E. Main St.
The gallery will offer support and opportunities for people with disabilities who create art.
Richmond artist Joyce Acton is leading the gallery. Acton, who is legally blind, began painting in 2002 while attending a program for the adult blind in Jacksonville, Fla., where she won a scholarship.
After moving to Richmond, she demonstrated her talent at the Independent Living Center as part of the organization's celebration of March as Disability Awareness Month.
Since then, she has since participated in area art shows and helped other artisans who have disabilities.
On April 9, the gallery will offer a workshop discussion targeting techniques to market artwork, types of adaptive equipment available and overcoming challenges in the creation of art by individuals with disabilities.
The workshop will be 12:30-1:30 p.m. April 9 at the gallery, with sponsorship by VSAI Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Artists with Disabilities-UCLA-Los Angeles. 

For more information about the gallery or the workshop, call (765) 939-6200.
http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090402/NEWS01/904020320&template=printart


excerpt


Art is Blind
UCD's New Avant-Garde Photographer Proves That You Don't Need Eyes to Really See 
By: Kindra Weisbrod
Posted: 4/1/09
Once in awhile, genius strikes in the hallowed halls of CU-Denver. In the giant mass of potential lies the isolated motivation to strive through adversity and meet goals with earnest determination.
Matthew Doyle is one of the few undergraduates who choose boozeless studying over wild parties; instead of going out and dancing with hot women, Doyle has been feverishly applying for scholarships and grants to aid in his project.
Finally, after weeks of anticipation, the 19-year-old Visual Arts major got his wish; the Aspiring Photographer Association's envelope was in his hand-and with it the funds to reveal his talent to the world.
For months, Doyle worked on something that could potentially change the face of photography everywhere. With the much-needed funds in his pocket, Doyle single-handedly took to the streets of downtown Denver, finding people and places that reflected his perception on his hometown's culture.
As a result, his cutting-edge photography immediately gained momentum within the visual arts department. 

http://www.ucdadvocate.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=7a368cdd-783d-486b-b8e1-932573be4e0d



exceprt
The touch of technology
Akihiro Sato’s “morpheotron” might sound like it belongs in a video game or a manga published in his native Japan, but please get the image of 100 foot tall warrior robots out of your head. The sophisticated mechatronic device actually “displays” shapes through the dual senses of touch and body position.
“You can program it to display any shape,” explained Sato, who just earned his Master’s degree in Engineering. “In the morpheotron, your finger rests on an incline plate that rocks back and forth as the platform it’s on moves up and down. As your finger is pushed in these multiple planes, you feel the programmed shape.” 


http://reporter.mcgill.ca/2009/04/the-touch-of-technology/



excerpt
Picking up a good vibration
The project was inspired by Professor Charlotte Reed’s work on the Tadoma technique, which can improve communication for deaf-blind people. The method involves a practitioner holding their hands to someone’s face while they are talking, allowing them to feel the vibrations on their face and neck. Professor Reed said: “We were inspired by seeing what deaf-blind people could accomplish just using the sense of touch alone.”
In the future, the acoustic processing software may be developed for use in existing smart phones ensuring that the price of the technology remains low. “Tactile devices can be several orders of magnitude cheaper than cochlear implants,” said Ted Moallem, a graduate student working on the project. 
http://www.labnews.co.uk/laboratory_article.php/4357/2/picking-up-a-good-vibration


excerpt


Vibrating Touchscreen Devices Could Get Braille Tweak for Blind Users
We've written a lot about touchscreen [0] technology, both existing and near future, but there's an inescapable limitation if you're a user with impaired or zero vision: touchscreens accept your touch, but usually respond solely with visual information. Now Finnish scientists have devised a way to remedy that, and it's a darn clever re-interpretation of Braille. 

http://www.fastcompany.com/node/1252257/print

Other related posts: