[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] photography, quiet cars, gardens, course UCSC

[Lisa Yayla]

Blind Israelis use photography to share their world
Feb. 11 - The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design at the Hebrew University 
in Jerusalem recently concluded an exhibit of blind photographers using 
photography to explore the world, reports the Associated Press. The 
three week exhibit attracted a crowd of over 400 people. Made up of 
exhibits from participants from a groundbreaking Israeli photography 
course for the blind, the program was inspired by a similar project in 
Japan. Iris Shinar and Kfir Sivan, the initiators of the Israeli 
project, hope that the idea will spread and further courses and exhibits 
will open around the world. Shirley Britton of the Disabled 
Photographers Society in the United Kingdom noted that completely blind 
photography is still extremely rare. In addition to teaching the 
fundamentals of photography, the course helps build communities. Riki 
Fritsh, 50, has become well known on her bus route. One bus passenger 
even asked her to be the official photographer for a party at a local 
nursing home. Another participant photographed her Passover preparations 
for more than 30 family members. Shinar said the class, started last 
year and run on a volunteer basis, will continue. "We can't stop now," 
she said. "We are like family."

http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=InThePress&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=Zone&enZone=InThePress&Date=02/11/07


article excerpt
Blind PedestriansSay Quiet HybridsPose Safety Threat

Hybrid cars became commercially available to mainstream consumers in 
2000 and are gaining in popularity. Nationwide, registrations for new 
hybrids more than doubled to 199,148 in 2005 from 83,153 in 2004, 
according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive research firm. At least a 
dozen states and several cities are encouraging drivers to buy 
fuel-efficient hybrids by offering tax breaks and other incentives, and 
the vehicles are being added to municipal fleets. Still, the total 
392,000 hybrids on the road reflect just over 1% of all new vehicle 
registrations in the U.S.

The National Federation of the Blind, an advocacy group, says all hybrid 
vehicles should emit a sound while turned on and is calling on the auto 
industry to make changes. The group says the sound should be loud enough 
to be heard over the din of other ambient noise.

Members of the NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety have 
discussed sound cues that hybrids could use to alert pedestrians, 
including a device built into the axle that could make a sound as the 
wheels rotate, or a sensor that blind travelers could carry that would 
indicate when a hybrid is in the vicinity. The committee has yet to have 
a formal meeting with auto industry representatives.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117133115592406662-lzcW5raT8WcaWzZqQ3reMhj9EzY_20070314.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

article

New course teaches UCSC students about disability

The University of California, Santa Cruz, is offering a new general 
education course on universal access and assistive technology, enabling 
students from all majors to learn more about disability and the issues 
that surround it.

The course is taught by Roberto Manduchi, an associate professor of 
computer engineering whose research includes work on assistive 
technology. Assistive technology refers to equipment that allows people 
with disabilities to function in the day-to-day world. Universal access 
is the goal of assistive technology, which seeks to enable everyone, 
disabled or not, to communicate and participate in society.

According to Manduchi, the new course is unique in that it addresses 
both the technological aspects of disabilities and the implications of 
disability on a personal and societal level.

"There is some technology involved, because this is an engineering 
course. But mostly the emphasis is on understanding the physiology, 
psychology, and sociology of disability," Manduchi said.

The course is aimed at anyone interested in the subject, but will be 
required for those pursuing UCSC's new bioengineering major. Called 
Universal Access: Disability, Technology, and Society, it will be 
offered every year and has no prerequisites. The students who are taking 
the class this year are evenly distributed among engineering, social 
sciences, humanities, and physical and biological sciences, Manduchi said.

The class incorporates invited guest lecturers to give the students as 
many perspectives on disability as possible. These include experts who 
study disability, professionals who work with people with disabilities, 
and disabled people themselves. Manduchi himself spent almost 10 years 
working on robot vision before deciding to apply that knowledge to 
helping blind people. He thought it would be easy, but soon learned 
otherwise.

"Most engineers are like me. They start proposing solutions to the 
problem of disability without knowing what the problems are," Manduchi 
said. "After a while, I realized that you could not start from an 
engineering point of view. You need to talk to people and understand all 
the issues that go along with disability. Then you can start trying to 
solve the problem."

In his research, Manduchi addresses the problem of blindness by 
engineering equipment that helps blind people sense their environment. 
He developed what he calls a "laser cane" that can sense obstacles in a 
person's path. He is also working on a computer mouse that translates 
onscreen features into tactile sensations, like the feedback sensors on 
some video-game controllers. Another project involves using the camera 
and computer in a cellular phone to "look" for things like bathrooms and 
elevators in an unfamiliar environment.

Peggy Church, director of the Disability Resource Center on campus, and 
her staff provided resources and information that helped Manduchi design 
the new course. Church called the class an important contribution to 
broadening students' awareness of disability.

"When people think of diversity, they think of ethnic diversity and 
gender, but not about disability," she said.

The course includes a project that requires students to immerse 
themselves in a facet of the disability issue. Manduchi said this could 
include learning some American Sign Language or spending 24 hours with a 
person with a disability. Manduchi said he hopes that his course will 
give students an opportunity to explore a field and an issue they might 
otherwise not have thought about.

"I think the right way to deal with disability is knowledge: getting to 
know what disability means and entails," Manduchi said.

http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/text.asp?pid=1051


article excerpt

Gardner Choudhury Surendra Ram, who has been tending to the garden for 
37 years, said: “The President has taken great interest in the 
development of the garden. Since his first year in office, he has 
introduced many changes. The Herbal Garden is one of them. He also 
introduced special facilities for the blind in the form of the ‘tactile’ 
garden.”

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=221961