[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] Rocket Models Exhibit

[Lisa Yayla]

Hi,
News from Steve Landau from Touch Graphics that the interactive 3D 
rocket model at NY Hall of Science is now launched!
Regards,
Lisa
http://www.touchgraphics.com/rocket.htm
Interactive 3D Touch Rocket Model
As part of its Phase 2 SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation, 
Touch Graphics is exploring a new technology for making museum exhibits 
more accessible for blind and low vision visitors. We are creating a 
touchable model of the Hall’s Rocket Park; the park includes two actual 
artifacts from the US space program from the 1960’s: a Mercury 
spacecraft set on a Titan rocket booster, and a Gemini capsule set on an 
Atlas booster.

The model, set in a prominent position inside the museum, next to large 
windows with a view of the actual rockets, will allow visitors to 
interact through a combination of listening, looking and touching. The 
company has commissioned a new electronic device that is capable of 
detecting when a person touches any one of 54 discreet metal parts on 
the model; this information is sent to a computer, which then plays back 
identifying audio information on the part that was touched.

Additionally, the exhibit provides historical overview information on 
the space program, and will even include an alphabetical index of the 
parts of the model, from which the user will select something of 
interest, and then have his or her hand coached to the place on the 
model where that part can be found.

The Rocket Model has been shown publicly at the 2005 Association of 
Science and Technology Centers conference in Richmond, Virginia, USA, 
and at the National Center for Tactile Diagrams 2005 Conference in 
Birmingham, England.