Luke Iannone
Visually Impaired Friendly Art Gallery Project
Project range: November 2023 - December 2023
Research range: November 2023 (one week of research)
IxD/UX design project involving the Memorial Art Gallery in Hale Hall on the Farmingdale State College campus. The main focus was individuals who were blind since their birth, thus possessing a different form of communication mentally and physically. The problem at hand: how can individuals blind from birth experience artwork in an easy, accessible, and non-intrusive way?
Team: Luke Iannone, Steven Gonzales Soto, Arthur Ibarra
The project and its research was performed at Farmingdale State College, 2350 NY-110, Farmingdale, NY 11735
Research Methods
Observation
The Hale Hall memorial gallery was where we began our research. We observed the artwork presented there, a modern art exhibition at the time, and tried thinking about the colors, textures, shapes, scales, and other such things. We accounted for them in our notes, and while we attempted to think about what they meant, we began another form of research to help translate these ideas into ones compatible with the blind.
Interviews
Steven had gotten in contact with an instructor who specifically worked with blind individuals of this type (blind from birth). From his interview with them, we found that colors, textures, and shapes aren’t observed the same way as most people observe them. Certain colors or textures are attached to emotions, feelings, or experiences. Steven writes, “Blind individuals, especially those blind from birth might have enhanced perceptions or be more aware of their senses as they depend on them to navigate their day to day life and even add meaning to things such as colors based on their senses ex. Yellow is hot and active, blue is cold and depressing. Touch: A heightened sense of touch helps in understanding shapes, textures, and spatial relationships. Hearing: Enhanced auditory perception can aid in navigating environments and appreciating auditory arts or audio descriptions. Smell and Taste: These senses can provide additional contextual information about surroundings, though they are less commonly used in museum settings.”
Developing a Solution
With the research portion sufficiently done, we took what we learned, and applied it to our observational research. We searched the internet for pre-existing solutions that could be applied to our final solution, while fulfilling the needs of our users.
Pre-existing solutions we researched include:
● 3D printed artwork with exaggerated bumps and textures that can be
touched, which allows the users to feel the artwork.
● Touch sensors and Raspberry Pi technology, where touching a sensor
plays a sound.
● Braille digital tablets, with a small touch screen, and a large screen that is
made up of braille.