[accessibleimage] Re: articles- mixed bag

Lisa,
Thanks for the article on the blind photography project. It's VERY 
similar to something I was trying to do last year!

Barry

Lisa Yayla wrote:

>Hi,
>Sending a mixed bag of articles.  
>The subjects included are 
>-an artist who is completely color blind and the aid that
>helps him differentiate color 
>-an article about a blind photographer 
>-article about a blind sculptor 
>-an article about rapid prototyping technology research 
>-have included an article about comic books because it
>mentions blind young boys love for them (have not included
>text but link) 
>-a reminder about the 1st international haptics conference
>and call for papers, 
>-an article about the Helen Keller International Award show
>in Scotland bi-annual competition to encourage art on the 
>subject of deaf blindness 
>-an article about the Art Of The Eye II" exhibit, kids and
>art class (link from Art Beyond Sight list) -article about a
>car rally - I'm interested in finding out how the maps are
>made, anyone have an idea? 
>-an article that is I guess off subject but thought it would
>be of interest, about fortune telling as an occupation in
>Korea for blind
>-and an article about a project about color and sound (from
>Art Beyond Sight list)
>-and a link to an article about students developing a more
>accessible downtown .
>Links follow, with text of articles following link list.
>Good reading and best wishes,
>Lisa
>
>
>Eyes opened to sound of socks
>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&targetRule=10&xml=/health/2005/01/12/hcolor12.xml
>
>Loss of Sight Focuses His Artistic Vision
>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-blind6jan06,1,3332144.story?coll=la-news-state&ctrack=1&cset=true
>
>Eyesight not required for artistic vision Sculptor's
>imagination 'as fertile as ever' after she became blind
>
>http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/irving/stories/010905dnirveyes.5aadf.html
>  
>
>Penn State senior's digital photos may aid blind
>http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_291602.html
>
>comic-book collector's paradise
>http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4746~2645411,00.html
>
>
>http://www.worldhaptics.com/
>
>Once more, this time with feeling 
>http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=60852005
>
>"Art Of The Eye II" exhibit returns to The Gallery At Joel's
>http://www.easterneronline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/17/41edd7ff13f78
>
>School for Blind students express themselves through art
>http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/10698871.htm
>
>CAR RALLY 
>http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=113547
>
>Lacking vision, but seeing the future
>http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200501/13/200501132123394579900091009101.html
>
>
>http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509358/
>Blind Engineering Student 'Reads' Color as Sound
>
>Sylvania: Safety committee hears presentation from robotics
>team
>http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050106/NEWS18/501060349/-1/NEWS
>  
> 
>Articles
>
>Penn State senior's digital photos may aid blind
>By Larry Seben
>VND correspondent
>Monday, January 10, 2005 
>
>If necessity is the mother of invention, then Jason Donnell
>of Sarver must be a close relative. 
>The 22-year-old senior in electrical engineering at Penn
>State the Behrend College in Erie has become the primary
>inventor of a process that might eventually enable the blind
>to "see" digital photographs. It was not something Donnell
>set out to do but, like many inventions, came about through
>a long set of circumstances. 
>
>"About a year ago, I was looking at trying to get an
>internship and was going through the Career Development
>Center at school," said Donnell. "They send out a lot of
>emails about a lot of different things, and there was one
>for a 10-week program called Research Experience for
>Undergraduates." 
>
>"I had been applying for just about everything, so I thought
>I would take a stab at it," said Donnell. 
>
>  
>The application process itself proved to be a major
>challenge, including writing multiple papers, numerous
>letters of reference, a resume and transcripts. 
>
>"I applied in early February, and didn't hear anything from
>them for a long time. Then in late April, I got word that I
>was among the 10 students selected from around the country,"
>said Donnell. "I was still in the dark about exactly what I
>was going to be doing." 
>
>The 10-week program was to be held at the Milwaukee School
>of Engineering (MSOE) starting on June 6. Donnell drove the
>600 hundred miles and spent the first week getting
>acquainted with the other students and their advisors. At
>the end of that week, his advisor, Dr. Larry Fennigkoh, a
>MSOE professor, gave him his research assignment. 
>
>"My project was called 'Photographs for the Blind,' and it
>was something really different," said Donnell. 
>
>While the blind have Braille for reading and specially made
>maps with raised lines, there is nothing of the sort for
>pictures and images. 
>
>"It was really kind of controversial too, because there were
>a lot of people saying why do the blind need to 'see' a
>photograph, when they don't know what a tree ever looked
>like," said Donnell. "But there were others who say that a
>lot of blind people were not born blind, and they would know
>what things look like, and would like to see pictures of
>their kids." 
>
>The project would involve using a process called rapid
>prototyping, a state-of-the-art system that takes computer
>aided design programs and actually produces a three
>dimensional product. The process, Donnell said, was largely
>funded by major corporations like Milwaukee-based Harley
>Davidson. 
>
>"With a Word document, you output to a printer," explained
>Donnell. "With rapid prototyping, the output is to a machine
>that uses a special type of paper, wax or plastic. So, for
>example, if Harley Davidson has something they want to
>include on a bike, but is not too sure about, they can input
>the information and it will produce an exact sized copy of
>the item." 
>
>Donnell said one of the most promising future uses for rapid
>prototyping will be the ability to take an MRI image of a
>damaged knee or similar body part, and be able to produce an
>individualized replica for replacement. 
>
>For Donnell, the big challenge was to figure out a system
>that would raise a digital photograph into a three
>dimensional piece so that a blind person could run there
>fingers over it and 'read' the image. While existing
>computer aided design programs worked with three dimensional
>objects, there was nothing that would take a two dimensional
>photograph and make it three dimensions. 
>
>"I dilly dallied around for about four weeks working with
>different ideas, and I thought there would be a program out
>there I could use," said Donnell. "I didn't realize there
>was really nothing available and that I was going to have to
>write a program. There were really a lot of issues to deal
>with. I had opened up a can of worms." 
>
>Fortunately for Donnell, another student in the program
>discovered some help did exist, though crude and untried. 
>
>"Josh Mueller, a senior computer science major at MSOE found
>this program that had been put on the Internet that we could
>partially use," said Donnell. "Ironically, it had been
>developed by a professor at Carnegie Mellon right here in
>Pittsburgh." 
>
>The program itself had been something that was partially
>developed but was full of bugs. It only dealt with portions
>of the process Donnell was working on, so he was faced with
>filling in the holes and trying to get the bugs out. 
>
>"It covered about two thirds of what I needed, so I wrote
>the processing part myself," said Donnell. "Josh is a really
>brilliant guy, and he helped with parts of it as well." 
>
>After a lot of hours of writing and re-writing, Donnell had
>his program. But because of the short time frame of the
>project, he was only able to produce and test three
>examples. 
>
>"The tests on a simple picture of a playing card were pretty
>good," said Donnell. "But the pictures of a tree and of a
>ghost town were very tough and showed the need for more
>work." 
>
>Donnell said he came up with an idea to add an embedded
>circuit powered by a miniature battery, enabling the picture
>to essentially "talk" to the reader. Unfortunately, the ten
>week project was virtually over and such ideas would have to
>wait. 
>
>"The program is something that MSOE is very interested in
>pursuing," said Donnell. "They are trying to get a
>development grant from the National Health Foundation." 
>
>As primary inventor, MSOE has asked Donnell to make a
>presentation before the National Institute of Health in
>Virginia in an effort to secure funding for further
>development. 
>
>If successful in getting money, Donnell said he would like
>to continue working on the project, but would only do so
>from school in Erie or home in Pittsburgh. 
>
>"I really don't want to move to Milwaukee," said Donnell.
>"My home and my roots are here, and I would like to stay
>here, so I will probably have limited involvement going
>forward." 
>
>
>
>Eyes opened to sound of socks
>(Filed: 12/01/2005) 
>
>Red or green? Facts about colour blindness
>
>A bizarre invention has changed the life of a colour-blind
>artist. Bryony Gordon reports
>
>Neil Harbisson is, quite literally, a man who has always
>viewed life in black and white. The 22-year-old Spaniard,
>who moved to Totnes in south Devon in 2003, was born with
>achromatopsia, a rare condition that affects only one person
>in 33,000 and causes monochromatism, or complete colour
>blindness. 
> 
>Neil Harbisson: I now see my art as composing music on
>canvas 
>
>But last year, he was able to see - or, more accurately,
>hear - colours for the first time. Harbisson has been fitted
>with a machine that turns colours into soundwaves, with a
>different sound representing each hue. The Eye-Borg, as it
>is known, features a head-mounted digital camera that reads
>the colours in front of Harbisson and converts them, via a
>laptop he carries in a backpack, into sound. 
>
>A scale of musical tones represents the spectrum of colours
>- light hues are high-pitched, while darker colours sound
>bolder. It is, in a way, forced synaesthesia; its creator,
>23-year-old digital multimedia expert Adam Montandon,
>describes the invention as "like hearing a colour wheel".
>
>Harbisson has worn the Eye-Borg for every waking moment
>since last March, when he became the first person to be
>fitted with one. It even features in his passport
>photograph. Previously, it was as difficult for him to
>comprehend being surrounded by colour as it is for us to
>understand what it would be like to live in a black and
>white world. 
>
>"I always felt I was missing out during conversations," he
>says. "People do not realise how often they use colour when
>they are talking."
>
>Simple acts, such as eating breakfast, were difficult, too.
>"If a foodstuff was not in its traditional shape, I couldn't
>distinguish it," he says. "I used to get jam mixed up with
>tomato sauce, and orange juice confused with apple juice. I
>had to ask people what a particular food was, or smell it,
>and when I was young, lots of people thought that was
>slightly odd behaviour."
>
>At school, he was teased by classmates, who thought he was
>just being lazy every time he asked one of them to pass the
>red paint in an art class, or pick out a blue pen from his
>pencil case. He dressed exclusively in black and white.
>"What was the point in wearing something I couldn't
>appreciate?" he asks.
>
>When we meet, Harbisson is wearing a bright orange jumper.
>Red socks poke out from under his jeans. These, he says,
>were the first colourful clothes he bought. 
>   
>"I walked past them in a shop, and thought, 'I like the
>sound of those socks, I'll buy them'," he smiles.
>
>The most dramatic impact of the Eye-Borg has been on his
>work. Remarkably, Harbisson chose to study art when he moved
>to Devon. Until he was fitted with Montandon's invention,
>his canvases were daubed with only black, white and
>charcoals. Now, he has a palette of brightly coloured
>paints, and his work is full of bold and vibrant tones. 
>
>"I now see my art as composing music on canvas," says
>Harbisson, who also now "hears colours" when listening to
>music - he recently went to a concert where the female
>performer sang shades of yellow and, he says, the whirr of
>his Hoover is red. "Before, I was slightly afraid of my art.
>But now, it's completely different. I am having so much fun
>with it, painting masses of objects that all have sounds."
>
>His favourite new painting features only a blue sky and a
>garden full of green grass. It is the simplest, most
>childish creation of all, and yet, for Harbisson, it
>illustrates the enormous improvement the Eye-Borg has made
>to his life. 
>
>It has also helped him to appreciate other people's art.
>"Without the Eye-Borg, it was very hard for me to understand
>an artist's use of colour," he says. "If I looked at a
>painting, it seemed to be missing a layer. Now, I have that
>layer." 
>
>He has started to enjoy the paintings of Joan Miró, whose
>work in clear colour tones had always confused him. And on a
>visit to his home town of Barcelona, he was delighted by the
>work of Gaudi. "I walk around the city and listen to his
>architecture and it is amazing."
>
>Before he was fitted with the Eye-Borg, he says he "hated
>the very existence of colour". But now, he has a favourite
>shade - red, a tone that sounds as bold as it looks -
>although he is not very fond of brown or the so-called
>"middle-range" shades of blue, green and turquoise that,
>interestingly, many people who aren't colour-blind find
>confusing.
>
>The most dramatic moment came when he realised that colour
>was everywhere, even in corners of rooms. "My friends had
>always pointed at the middle of a wall and said, 'That's
>blue', and I never realised that the blue extended right to
>both ends of the wall."
>
>He is very excited about the possibilities that the
>invention holds for other visually impaired people. "One
>day, blind people could paint through sound, and perhaps
>even the deaf could compose music using colour."
>
>In the meantime, he intends to wear the Eye-Borg all day,
>every day. "The Eye-Borg is amazing. Nothing is missing any
>more and I have grown in confidence. Now, I want to
>experience colour as much as possible."
>
>Red or green? Facts about colour blindness 
>
>What is achromatopsia?
>
>Achromatopsia is a hereditary vision disorder that stops the
>cones - the receptor cells - in the retina from functioning.
>This results in total colour blindness combined with
>hypersensitivity to bright light and poor visual acuity.
>
>How common is the condition?
>
>In most parts of the world, it is extremely rare. Yet on the
>Pacific island of Pingelap, there is a high incidence of it.
>This is because a typhoon wiped out 90 per cent of the
>island's inhabitants in 1775. One survivor had the recessive
>gene that caused achromatopsia, and passed it on to his
>ancestors. Today, six per cent of Pingelap's population are
>completely colour-blind.
>
>What are the other types of colour blindness?
>
>The most common type is red-green colour blindness. In one
>form, red is indistinct to sufferers; in the second form,
>those affected are unable to tell the difference between
>reds, greens, browns and oranges. Red-green colour blindness
>affects more men than women, because the gene that causes it
>is carried on the X chromosome and a woman's second X
>chromosome masks the effects of this gene. Females can,
>however, pass the gene on to offspring.
>
>Are all types of colour blindness hereditary?
>
>Most colour-blind people are born with the condition. There
>are, however, factors that can cause it to develop. These
>include head trauma, illnesses such as diabetes and multiple
>sclerosis, and some drugs, including chloroquine, an
>anti-malarial medication. 
>
>
>Reminder
>First Joint  EUROHAPTICS CONFERENCE   and SYMPOSIUM ON
>HAPTIC INTERFACES  FOR VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT AND TELEOPERATOR
>SYSTEMS
>Pisa, Italy 
>March 18-20, 2005
>                                            
> In cooperation with IEEE Computer Society
> vgtc - IEEE Visualization & Graphics Technical Committee 
>                                            
> NOTICE: Posters and Hands-On Demo deadline still open 
>
>Although the deadline for paper submissions is closed, it is
>still possible to submit Posters and
> Hands-On Demos by January 22, 2005.
>
>"WorldHaptics" 
>
>After a series of x successful conferences and events
>separately organized in the U.S. and Europe, the Symposium
>on Haptic
>Interfaces for Virtual Environments and Teleoperator Systems
>and the EuroHaptics Conference will be held jointly for the
>first
>time in 2005 in Pisa, Italy. 
>
>This is a great chance to create a truly global community in
>haptics, capable of answering the challenges, and grab the
>opportunities, offered by the growing demand of better
>interfaces to remote and virtual environments. 
>
>Call for papers
>
>The Call for Participation can be downloaded here .
>The WHC PostCard can be downloaded here 
>
>Notes
>
>As in the recent past, the Haptics Symposium will be closely
>linked to the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference. In 2005, IEEE
>VR
>will be held in Bonn, on March 13-16. There are direct
>connection flights from Bonn to Pisa, by which attendees to
>IEEE VR
>can reach the WHC venue conveniently on March 17. 
> 
>
>Important dates
>
>November 15, 2004: Deadline for Long and Short Manuscript
>Submission 
>December 19, 2005: Notification of Acceptance 
>January 9, 2005: Final Manuscript Submission 
>January 15, 2005: Deadline for Poster and Hands-On Demo
>Submission 
> February 15, 2005: Notification of Acceptance for Posters
>and Demos 
>February 15, 2005: Arrangement of Industrial Exhibits
>(please contact the organizers directly) 
>
>Conference Topics 
>
>Haptic interfaces are devices that allow human-machine
>interaction through force and touch. The conference will
>address all
>aspects related to such interaction - from the basic
>scientific underpinnings, to the technological developments,
>to the different
>realizations and applications.
>
>Accordingly, papers will be accepted in three main areas:
>
>     Science of Haptic Perception 
>     Technology of Haptic Interfaces 
>     Applications of Haptic Interfaces and Teleoperation
>Systems 
> 
>
>Antonio Bicchi & Massimo Bergamasco
>WorldHaptics General Chairs
>email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>
>
>
> Once more, this time with feeling 
>
> ANDREW EATON 
>
> AS A RULE, one doesnâEUR^(TM)t touch things in art galleries. Art
>is pricey, precious stuff,  and can easily be damaged.
>ItâEUR^(TM)s always refreshing, then, to visit a show that 
>encourages you to touch. 
>
> There is usually, after all, no other way for blind people
>to experience visual art,  which is one of the ideas at the
>heart of this yearâEUR^(TM)s Helen Keller International Award
>show, Sense ScotlandâEUR^(TM)s bi-annual competition to encourage
>art on the  subject of deaf-blindness. 
>
>Lindsay Mitchell, Sense ScotlandâEUR^(TM)s arts manager, seems
>delighted, saying this makes for a more inclusive show:
>"WeâEUR^(TM)re moving much more towards a  competition where
>artists ask how the work might be accessible to someone with
>visual impairment." 
>
>For example, Colin HarkinsonâEUR^(TM)s Sound and Vision: The 20th
>Century Obsession,is a sculpture of a car steering wheel and
>wing-mirror, with a loud, tootable horn.
> Grace NewmanâEUR^(TM)s The Conversation consists of seven hands
>suspended on poles, apparently communicating with each other
>by gestures. Add your own hand andyou become part of the
>conversation, and part of the art. Hands, in fact, are
>everywhere this year, whether talking in sign language or
>just acting as a simple, potent symbol - as in Indian artist
>Safiya F UmmuâEUR^(TM)s painting My Hand, a hand where a head
>should be. 
>
>Some history: the Helen Keller award began in 1933 as an
>essay competition,  after the famous American campaigner
>visited Scotland, and has been an art award since 1992.
>Anyone can enter, as long as the art is on the subject of
>deaf-blindness; this year over 200 entries were sent from
>across the world. To create a level playing field, the
>judging panel - including, this year, sculptor Kenny Hunter
>- arenâEUR^(TM)t told which artists are deaf or blind, both or
>neither. 
>
> This presents challenges, both for the judges and the
>organisers. This year,ironically, one piece didnâEUR^(TM)t make
>the short-list because the judges felt it
>didnâEUR^(TM)tspecifically represent the deaf-blind experience -
>yet it was made by a deaf-blind artist. Meanwhile, an award
>which prides itself on accessibility - all
>work sent is in the show, even if this means drastic
>variations in quality - now risks growing beyond Sense
>ScotlandâEUR^(TM)s budget and control. "It would be lovely to 
>think we could fill an enormous venue but we have to think
>about the practicalities," warns Mitchell. A victim of its
>own success, an award which is partly
>about combating discrimination may soon have to discriminate
>to survive. 
>
>The Helen Keller International Award is at the Collins
>Gallery, Glasgow, until 12 February.
>
>
>
>"Art Of The Eye II" exhibit returns to The Gallery At Joel's
>
>by Brandon Hansen
>January 17, 2005 
>
>Art of the Eye II, an exhibit of works by the visually
>impaired, will be on display at the Gallery at Joel's in
>Spokane Feb. 4 through Feb. 25.
>
>The exhibit is free to the public.
>
>Art of the Eye II is the second collection by artists who
>are blind or have visual impairments. The exhibit educates
>the public about vision as it relates to the artist's
>perception and how vision plays inspirationally in the
>creative process.
>
>Art of the Eye II contains 42 mixed media works, created by
>10 of the artists from the original exhibit, Art of the Eye.
>
>Delta Gamma Alumni Chair of the Spokane Chapter, Michelle
>Hagan, said she has been working on the exhibit for 18
>months.
>
>"The goal of our chapter is to help the public redefine
>sight," Hagan said. "And in doing so, change the perception
>that seeing to be an artist, to create, its not important to
>have sight. Some of our artists have partial sight, some are
>completely blind."
>
>Hagan said a fundraising goal has been set at $20,000 with
>$16,500 already raised. The proceeds go to a program helping
>sight-impaired individuals in northern Idaho.
>
>"We had to raise $5,000 to bring it here, and we're doing a
>special event for children at Woodridge Elementary School,"
>Hagan said.
>
>On President's Day, Woodridge Elementary School children
>will travel to The Gallery At Joel's and interact with a
>seeing eye dog, she said.
>
>Art of the Eye was conceived by Scott Nelson, a sculptor
>with retinitis pigmentosa, in January 1986.
>
>Hagan said that Nelson will use the "Delmonico Technique,"
>which allows people to experience art without focusing on
>sight.
>
>"They put themselves in the place of the artist," Hagan
>said.
>
>The collection was purchased in 1990 by the George Gund
>Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio and presented as a gift to the
>Delta Gamma Foundation because of Delta Gamma's history of
>service and strong commitment to sight preservation and to
>assisting those who are visually impaired or blind.
>
>Art of the Eye II was developed in 1997 by the Delta Gamma
>Foundation using 10 previous Art of the Eye creators.
>
>Art of the Eye II is a project, which utilizes the
>international network of Delta Gamma alumni and collegians
>and accomplishes goals in all three areas of the Delta Gamma
>Foundation: Awareness, Service and Fundraising.
>
>The Delta Gamma Foundation promotes the Art of the Eye
>exhibits for numerous reasons including recognizing that
>vision exists beyond the physical capability to see,
>educating and sensitizing Delta Gammas and the general
>public regarding the nature of visual impairment,
>demonstrating through the exhibits the talents and abilities
>of persons who are visually impaired, increasing member and
>public awareness of the aims of the Delta Gamma Foundation,
>and inspiring greater effort to "do good."
>
>Both exhibits increase knowledge of the Delta Gamma
>Foundation's mission and provide the opportunity to share in
>its success.
>
>Art of the Eye II features works in a variety of media
>including painting, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media and
>photography by artists who are blind or have visual
>impairments such as double vision, macular degeneration,
>retinal detachment, retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, diabetic
>retinopathy, monocular vision and retrolental fibroplasias.
>
>Historically, visual disorders have affected many famous
>artists including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Honore
>Daumier, Mary Cassatt, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Titian
>and Edgar Degas.
>
>If people want to delve into Art of the Eye II, special
>guest and curator of the exhibit Scott Nelson will be
>available for interviews by phone or in person Feb. 4-6.
>
>Nelson is an accomplished artist and lecturer whose
>sculptural tripod sighting instruments have been exhibited
>in art galleries and museums throughout the country since
>1975.
>
>Nelson has played key parts in both of the exhibits on
>vision.
>
>Art of the Eye II, a compilation of 42 mixed media works,
>will be an artistic expression of vision, not to be missed.
>
>Original Art of the Eye works are still for sale with pieces
>shown on Delta Gamma's Web site or through contacting
>Kathleen Williams at 614-481-8169 ext. 324.
>
>  
>
>"Art Of The Eye II" exhibit returns to The Gallery At
>Joel's  
>
>Posted on Fri, Jan. 21, 2005
>
>
> School for Blind students express  themselves through art
>
>
> First project making molds with clay
>
> By Bill E. Wambeke
>
> American News Writer
>
>
> Even those challenged by the loss of their eyesight can
>express themselves through art.
>
>  Northern State University professor Ruth McKinney and her
>two NSU student assistants  Cassie Houston and Katie Kaiser
>are teaching art to high school-aged students at the South
>Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
>
> The goal is for the visually impaired students to create
>works of art every Tuesday until the end of the current
>school semester.
>
> This week, the first art class of the semester, McKinney
>and her assistants were helping the children put clay on
>plastic faces to make molds.
>
> "Right now they're exploring texture. We're giving them a
>new material to work with," said McKinney.
>
> With the clay that the students were putting over the
>masks, in the following weeks they are going to add features
>to resemble or exaggerate their own faces.
>
> In the school, one hall is designated for art pieces done
>by freshmen art students at NSU as  part of their freshmen
>requirements. The pieces have different textures that allow
>the blind students to feel them.
>
> "You get to have fun with it and do something outside of
>the box," Kaiser said.
>
> This is not the first art class for the students, as in the
>past they have had pottery and papier
>mache classes through the city's parks and recreation
>department.
>
>In the future Houston would like to give a presentation on
>fibers at the School for the Blind,
> while Kaiser would like to do painting. Eventually in May
>they would like to have an art show
> comprised of works created by the school's students.
> Kaiser, whose mother is the superintendant of the school,
>feels working with the students gives
>her a chance to broaden her teaching horizons.
>
> "In the art education department, you don't get the chance
>to work with challenged kids. We
>feel really good about what we're doing with them."
>
> Kaiser said that she would like to teach painting by giving
>each student a block of Masonite. They would paint on it
>what they wanted and create a mosaic from the blocks. With
>the varying  levels of sight in the class, she would try and
>give them a common theme to paint about.
>
> "Ruth kind of had the idea for this, and I was looking to
>fill my professional credits," Kaiser said about her work at
>the School for the Blind.
>
> She added that working with the visually impaired kids will
>give her needed teaching experience.
>
> Kaiser is a junior art education major at NSU and would
>like to teach secondary art when she
>graduates.
>
>  "These kids haven't had the chance to work with art a
>whole lot. This is providing them with an
>  opportunity to express themselves."
>
>
>
>CAR RALLY 
>Surat holds car rally for blind 
>Express News Service 
> 
>Surat, January 10: The eighth car rally for the blind
>organised by the Surat Round Table-135 concluded on Sunday
>with about 86 car rallyists participating in the 76 km
>rally. The rally was flagged-off from the Indoor Stadium by
>Additional Commissioner of Police (administration), Meera
>Ramnivas on Sunday morning. The blind rallyists who were
>guiding the navigators using a Braille map, began the 76 km
>drive from Athwalines and covered Rander, Barbodhan, Dandhi,
>Kachla and Setula areas. 
>
>The members of Surat Round Table-135 have been organising
>the car rally for the past eight years. 
>The aim of the rally is to boost self-confidence among the
>blind and give them a chance to prove their abilities. 
>Chairman of the Surat Round Table-135, Jitendra Patel said,
>''We have been organising the event since last eight years." 
>
>He added, "The participants are provided with the braille
>map of the entire route and they have to guide the
>navigators accompanying them.'' 
>
>Patel added, ''Our main aim behind the car rally is to boost
>their self- confidence,''he added. 
>
>
>
>January 14, 2005 ¤Ñ In the Miari area of northeastern Seoul,
>a couple of streets are lined with houses bearing such signs
>as Yeeonga (Prophet), Cheolhakwon (Philosophy House) and
>Jakmyeongso (Name-Making House). 
>The area is rather dreary. That may be simply because it is
>poorer than other parts of Seoul, or because it was the site
>of a cemetery during Japanese colonial rule and was the
>first place in Seoul to be invaded by the North when the
>Korean War began. Miari Hill used to be called the "Hill of
>Tears" because of the historical traumas it suffered. 
>Now, these streets have become a "fortune tellers' village."
>Yet, what particularly sets them apart is that all of the
>fortune tellers there are blind.
>Lee Do-byeong, 63, was the first one to settle in the area.
>"I lost my vision when I was only two years old, from
>cataracts. I met a teacher who taught me how to read Braille
>and how to predict people's fortunes, when I was 15," he
>says. After completing his lessons, he moved to Miari and
>opened a fortune-telling business in 1966. "The rent was
>cheap, since the area was not so popular," he says.
>Mr. Lee became well-known, and the number of customers rose.
>"Since I became famous, more blind people gathered in the
>area and started the same business," he says.
>There were more than 100 fortune tellers in the area in the
>1980s, when the economy was booming, but the number has
>dropped to around 60 now, and they find making a living much
>more difficult. 
>Demand for fortune-telling services traditionally grows in
>the spring and fall, when many people marry or move. Around
>the time of the College Scholastic Ability Test in the fall,
>the fortune tellers used to see as many as 10 customers a
>day, Mr. Lee says. Now, he scarcely has one customer a day,
>regardless of the season, because of the weak economy. 
>"Usually, a bad economy increases the number of customers,
>who want to know when the situation will improve," he says.
>"But the economy has been stagnant for so long, people don't
>want to spend money that way."
>The growing number of "modern" fortune-telling shops in
>other areas of Seoul, such as Sinchon and Apgujeong, does
>not help the situation either, he says.
>
>A serious financial struggle 
>Mr. Lee adds that life as a blind person involves serious
>financial struggle. "In Japan, the United States and Europe,
>the blind receive decent financial support from the
>government. In Korea, only extremely poor ones without any
>family members to support them get about 400,000 won ($380)
>a month. 
>"That money is not enough to make a decent living, and it is
>not so easy to get it," he adds. Therefore, fortune telling
>is a way for blind people to earn a living.
>The fortune tellers in the area use books called
>"Cheonseryeok (Life Map)" and "Jakmyeong (Name-Making
>Book)," written in Braille, and a calculator or abacus to
>forecast a client's fate. "The books come from ancient China
>and were written based on the belief that humans have cycles
>and seasons just like nature," Mr. Lee says.
>"When you were born you received a certain energy, based on
>the time, date and year of your birth. They determine your
>physical and mental tendencies and strong and weak points."
>he says. 
>Even though society has modernized and relatively few young
>people follow these customs, fortune telling persists, and
>the reasons for visiting fortune tellers are as varied as
>the people who go to them. 
>According to Lee Seon-bok, another fortune teller in the
>area, some customers seek guidance about their jobs, life
>goals or the overall blueprint of their future. Mothers ask
>about how well their children will do on tests. Single women
>ask about when they will meet "Mr. Right," and some couples
>come to seek the best name for their newborn baby because it
>has been a traditional Korean belief that a person's name
>affects his destiny. 
>One of the most common questions, says Ms. Lee, is about
>gunghap, or "marital harmony," often asked by single people
>who want to know whether their boyfriend or girlfriend would
>make a good spouse. Since some Koreans are strong believers
>in destiny and fortune telling, there are even cases of
>people who break up with their partners after getting a
>negative prophecy, she says. 
>
>Destiny can change
>Ms. Lee says a person's destiny can change if he knows when
>to be careful and when to be bold. "My prophecies might not
>be 100 percent accurate either, because there are too many
>factors that affect people's decisions," she says. But some
>people are surprised at how accurate the fortune tellers
>are, and keep coming back to them, she adds. 
>Kim Min-jung, 26, who lives in Suyu-dong, said she went to a
>fortune teller in Miari recently. "I went with a friend, and
>the fortune teller described each of our jobs correctly.
>There was no way that he could have guessed by observing us,
>because he was blind. He told us the specific names of our
>jobs, not a broad category. I'm still waiting to see if his
>prophecy on my future will be correct, as well."
>Han Min-gyu, 39, who lives in Sinchon, said he went to one
>of the fortune tellers in the area a few years ago. "At that
>time I was planning on opening a business. The fortune
>teller said that my business would go very well, ¡®like fire
>on a match.'" 
>Soon, he started the business he planned. "Even though I
>didn't believe what the fortune teller said entirely, things
>seemed to be going perfectly at first. But I later went
>bankrupt, after extending my business too much."
>Mr. Lee notes that fortune telling has been a part of Korean
>culture throughout history. 
>"Fortune telling started in the Goryeo Dynasty a thousand
>years ago, and became very common among blind people in the
>Joseon Dynasty," he says. "But under Japanese rule, fortune
>telling was considered to be merely ¡®superstitious.'" 
>Mr. Lee says he has learned wisdom in life through fortune
>telling.
>"My predictions may not be correct all the time, but I'm
>sure about one thing through my experience," he says. "When
>you are going through a bad time, it means you possess too
>many unnecessary things. You have to be extra generous to
>others in order not to get ill. 
>"When you are sick, get involved in charities, or start
>giving what you have to others," says Mr. Lee. "You will get
>better after that." 
>
>
>by Choi Sun-young <sunyoung78@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>A visit to a Miari fortune teller costs around 30,000 won
>($28). The village is about a five-minute walk from Sungshin
>Womans University subway station on line No. 4, exit 7. No
>reservations are needed.  
>
>
>
>
>Blind Engineering Student 'Reads' Color as Sound
>Libraries
>Science News    
>Contact Information
>
>
>Victor Wong, a blind Cornell University graduate engineering
>student from Hong Kong, is helping to develop innovative
>software that translates color into sound to enable him to
>read color weather maps.  
>
>Newswise -- A melody of staccato piano notes sings out from
>the speakers of Victor K. Wong's desktop computer. But it is
>not a melody made by Bach, or Liberace, or even Alicia Keys.
>It is the melody of color.
>
>Wong, a Cornell University graduate student from Hong Kong
>who lost his sight in a road accident at age seven, is
>helping to develop innovative software that translates color
>into sound. "Color is something that does not exist in the
>world of a blind person," explains Wong. "I could see
>before, so I know what it is. But there is no way that I can
>think of to give an exact idea of color to someone who has
>never seen before." 
>
>He helped develop the software in Cornell's Department of
>Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) with undergraduate
>engineering student Ankur Moitra and research associate
>James Ferwerda from the Program of Computer Graphics. 
>
>The inspiration for using image-to-sound software came in
>early 2004 when Wong realized his problems in reading
>color-scaled weather maps of the Earth's upper atmosphere --
>a task that is a necessary part of his doctoral work in
>Professor Mike Kelley's ECE research group. 
>
>It is a field dubbed "space weather," which attempts to
>predict weather patterns high over the equator for use by
>Global Positioning System and other satellite
>communications. A space weather map might show altitude in
>the vertical direction (along the "y" axis), time in the
>horizontal direction (along the "x" axis), and represent
>density with different colors.
>
>As a scientist, Wong needs to know more than just the
>general shape of an image. He needs to explore minute
>fluctuations and discern the numerical values of the pixels
>so that he can create mathematical models that match the
>image. "Color is an extra dimension," explains Wong.
>
>At first, the team tried everything from having Kelley
>verbally describe the maps to Wong to attempting to print
>the maps in Braille. When none of those methods provided the
>detail and resolution Wong needed, he and Ferwerda began
>investigating software. Moitra later became their project
>programmer."We started with the basic research question of
>how to represent a detailed color-scaled image to someone
>who is blind," recalls Ferwerda. "The most natural approach
>was to try sound, since color and pitch can be directly
>related and sensitivity to changes in pitch is quite good."
>
>Over the summer of 2004, Moitra wrote a Java computer code
>that could translate images into sound, and in August he
>unveiled a rudimentary software program capable of
>converting pixels of various colors into piano notes of
>various tones.
>
>Wong test-drove the software by exploring a color photograph
>of a parrot. He used a rectangular Wacom tablet and stylus
>-- a computer input device used as an alternative to the
>mouse -- which gives an absolute reference to the computer
>screen, with the bottom left-hand corner of the tablet
>always corresponding to the bottom left-hand corner of the
>screen.
>
>As Wong guided the stylus about the tablet, piano notes
>began to sing out. The full range of keys on a piano was
>employed, allowing color resolution in 88 gradations,
>ranging from blue for the lowest notes to red for the
>highest.
>
>The software also has an image-to-speech feature that reads
>aloud the numerical values of the x and y coordinates as
>well as the value associated with a color at any given point
>on the image. "In principle I could turn off the music and
>just have the software read out the value of each point. I
>would know what the gradient is in a more absolute sense,
>but it would get annoying after some time. It keeps reading
>out 200.1, 200.8, 200.5, and so on," says Wong. 
>
>One of the biggest challenges of the project is the
>so-called "land-and-sea" problem. "Sometimes I just want to
>know where is the land and where is the sea," says Wong --
>meaning that he would like to have an idea where the major
>boundaries in an image lie, such as the boundary between the
>parrot and the background. The problem hinges on shape
>recognition, which for Wong can be difficult.
>
>In the simplest situation, the right half of an image would
>be completely blue and the left half completely red. To find
>the boundary Wong has to move the stylus continuously back
>and forth from one color to the next along the length of the
>tablet, which is both time-consuming and error prone.
>
>To solve the land-and-sea problem, Wong, Moitra and Ferwerda
>tried printing the major boundary lines of an image in
>Braille and then laying the printed sheet over the Wacom
>tablet, combining both audio and tactile detection. However,
>they are still working to develop software that can
>effectively pick out the important boundaries in an image so
>that it can be printed.
>
>"It is also important that there is no time delay between
>notes," says Moitra. "That is something we need to improve.
>Otherwise the image will become shifted and distorted in
>Victor's mind."
>
>One of the major issues facing the project is funding. "The
>initial work was done on a shoestring as a side project to
>grants Kelley and I have received," says Ferwerda, who is
>preparing a proposal to the National Science Foundation to
>extend this work and explore other ideas for making images
>and other technical content accessible to blind scientists
>and engineers.
>
>Says Wong: "Tackling complex color images is only one
>problem out of many that blind scientists are facing. But I
>think this is a pretty important idea."
>
>
>January 6, 2005 E-mail story   Print   Most E-Mailed 
>
>
>Loss of Sight Focuses His Artistic Vision
>Mostly blind, a Studio City photographer has found a new way
>of seeing the world.
>   
>By Bob Pool, Times Staff Writer
>
>It wasn't until he went blind that Michael Richard found his
>photographic vision.
>
>That's how the Studio City photographer describes what
>happened after he lost virtually all his sight three years
>ago.
>  
>Surgery to remove a tumor behind one of his eyes left him
>able to see only gauzy, indistinct shapes. Richard, 57, felt
>that his days as a scenic and documentary photographer were
>over.
>
>"I figured photography was out of the picture. I couldn't
>see to focus. So how could I shoot photos?" he reasoned.
>
>But a visit to the Braille Institute in Los Angeles to learn
>to use his white cane unexpectedly led to his becoming an
>acclaimed abstract-art photographer.
>
>Richard was startled to find that the Vermont Avenue agency
>offered a photography class. On a whim, he signed up.
>
>"You sure don't think of photography when you think of the
>Braille Institute," he said. "I was thinking that it would
>probably be a lecture course, something covering the history
>of photography."
>
>Richard, whose primary occupation is as a musician, had
>specialized in nature photography before surgery in early
>2002 to remove a malignant tumor left him sightless in his
>right eye. Born with a condition called acute amblyopia that
>made his left eye basically nonfunctional, he suddenly found
>himself unable to see anything distinctly.
>
>For a visual artist, it was devastating.
>
>Richard could only make out shapes with his left eye.
>Objects in front of him were ethereal and diffused, as if
>viewed through glass smeared with petroleum jelly.
>
>"It's like the world is a very Impressionistic painting," he
>said. "Only the broadest of lines are shown -- it's like the
>most extreme soft-focus photo that you can imagine."
>
>So he wasn't expecting much when he enrolled in the photo
>class taught by former Life magazine photographer Jack
>Birns. 
>
>"I was anticipating that this was going to be a joke,"
>Richard said. "How can the blind take pictures?"
>
>Birns was quick to build confidence among his 10 students.
>They could use automatic-focus cameras and commercial film
>processing, he promised. They would find plenty of pleasure
>in pointing and shooting.
>
>Richard remembers being pleased when he got his first roll
>of film back. There were lines and forms that even he could
>make out.
>
>Sighted viewers of his pictures praised their composition.
>He'd not lost his feel for photography, they assured him.
>
>Richard's wife, graphic artist Patrice Hughes, began driving
>him around Los Angeles to potential photo sites. From the
>start, he decided to leave his white cane at home when
>carrying his camera.
>
>He had learned through a self-defense class at the Braille
>Institute that blind people are often targeted by thieves,
>Richard said.
>
>"You can't run from anybody trying to rob you," he said.
>"You can't chase anybody, either."
>
>Richard carries a magnifying glass to help him adjust the
>settings on his Nikon 35-mm camera. A magnified monocular
>helps him find distant subjects to photograph. He often
>paces off the distance between them and his camera in order
>to set the proper focus.
>
>He develops black-and-white film himself and prints his own
>20-by-24-inch enlargements at a Burbank photo lab that is
>open to the public.
>
>"I have to use both my monocular and my magnifier just to
>see if the negative is in the enlarger's carrier. I find a
>sharp edge in the picture and get in real close on the easel
>with my magnifier to focus the enlarger. Sighted people who
>use the lab have learned not to walk too close to me in the
>darkroom," he said.
>
>His blow-up prints depicting such things as shadows from a
>window falling across a tile floor, balconies marching in
>rows across the side of a skyscraper and rain puddles on
>pavement show Richard's skills at powerful abstract
>composition.
>
>During the last two years, his photographs have been shown
>in nearly a dozen exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco
>and Philadelphia.
>
>"He's learned to adapt to his loss," said Christine Leahey,
>director of the Santa Monica-based "The View From Here"
>organization, which showcases art of the visually impaired.
>She estimates that 100 such photographers are working in the
>state.
>
>It was Richard and his photographs that motivated her to
>start the nonprofit group, Leahey said.
>
>"Michael not only has a beautiful, mature portfolio but he
>has a sensitivity to the issue of disability," she said. "He
>looks at lighting and composition in a much different way
>than before. The camera has allowed him to reassert his
>independence."
>
>Altadena art director Les Sechler purchased one of Richard's
>photographs after seeing it in an exhibition. "I was
>astounded, blown away," by his pictures, Sechler said.
>
>For his part, Richard acknowledges that his work is
>"inspired and perhaps even enhanced by my visual
>disability."
>
>Several of his images will be on display beginning Jan. 26
>at the UC Berkeley Art Museum. His photographs are also
>scheduled to be included in exhibitions later this year in
>Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
>
>"To think that a visual impairment could stimulate a
>photographic career," he said.
>
>"I'm letting the camera be my eyes."
>
>
>
>Eyesight not required for artistic vision
> 
>Sculptor's imagination 'as fertile as ever' after she became
>blind
>
>
>05:52 PM CST on Saturday, January 8, 2005
> 
>
>By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
> 
>
>Gisela-Heidi Strunck did not let going blind prevent her
>from continuing to be an artist. A little more than a year
>after an operation to remove a brain tumor, the sculptor has
>new works on display at Irving Bible Church. 
>
>"It is a blessing to be able to work," Ms. Strunck said. But
>at first she held little hope of doing what she loves. 
>
>"My first thought was, 'Oh my God, I can't work,' " she said
>about waking up in the dark. "I was pretty miserable." 
>
>Although her tumor was benign, it disturbed nerves. Not only
>did she lose her sight but also her sense of taste and
>smell, and a little bit of feeling. 
>
>But her memory and talent were not lost. 
>
>"Her imagination and creative energies are as fertile as
>ever," wrote Marcie Inman in a guide to the exhibit. Curator
>of the galleries at the Irving Arts Center, Ms. Inman has
>known the artist for a long time. 
>
>"She is amazing," Ms. Inman said about Ms. Strunck's
>resiliency. "She is still an avid explorer, eager student
>and tireless worker. She rewards us [in this exhibit] with
>her obvious love of life and making art." 
>
>Ms. Strunck couldn't imagine a life without art. Born in
>Germany in 1945, she left home at a young age to study
>painting in Madrid, Athens, Florence and Oslo. She came to
>the states in the late '60s to visit a man she had met on a
>Greek island. 
>
>Romance blossomed and Juergen Strunck became her husband.
>Also an artist, Mr. Strunck joined the faculty at the
>University of Dallas in 1968 and still teaches at the
>liberal arts college in east Irving. The couple resides in
>Southlake. 
>
>Ms. Strunck worked in ceramics at the university and tried
>sculpture in the early '70s. Her first sculpture exhibit was
>at the university in 1975. She has had solo exhibits
>throughout Texas at colleges, galleries and art centers and
>group exhibits not only in Texas but also in Indiana,
>Arkansas, Kansas and Washington, D.C. 
>
>At first she didn't like Texas, but she admits she now is
>fond of her home. While living here, she continued to travel
>and made several trips to India in the '90s. "I love
>traveling," she said, and she draws inspiration from the
>places she's visited. 
>
>She uses exotic woods, such as purpleheart, yellowheart,
>lacewood and zebrawood, adding metallic floss that flows
>from the woods and fixtures. 
>
>About half of the pieces in the exhibit were created after
>she lost her sight. She credits her friends and fellow
>artists with encouraging her not to give up. 
>
>"People said you are strong and you can handle this," but
>she did not want to believe them. "Everyone has been so
>special. They have helped me realize being blind is not the
>worst thing," she said. 
>
>Most of the encouragement and assistance, however, comes
>from her husband. "Being an artist he was able to help in
>many ways," she said. He made a guiding device to help her
>separate the spools of floss so she can choose and combine
>colors. 
>
>Although she cannot see her work as she creates it, she
>guides her hands along the piece to feel if it flows and
>comes together. 
>
>One of her new pieces is called Prayer Posts, a display of
>seven 84-inch tall totems in an omega shape. Ms. Inman
>describes the work as "occupying and engaging space more
>actively with modular characteristics" than her earlier
>works. 
>
>Ms. Strunck's work reflects a strong spiritual influence as
>well as inner strength and rich vision. But she wants her
>story to be about the power of art and "not about me." 
>
>Art has lessened her pain. "Art is soothing and calming,"
>she said. "I am thankful to do what I do. I have a very good
>life." 
>
>E-mail dfleck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>
>IF YOU GO 
>
>
>Exhibit: "Seeing and Imagining: Gisela-Heidi Strunck
>Sculptures" 
>
>When: through Jan. 16 
>
>Where: Irving Bible Church, lower level hall, 2435 Kinwest
>Parkway 
>
>Call: 972-560-4600
>
>
>
>  
>

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