Researchers Work to Extend Technology to Visually Impaired
From: BBC - 04/19/2005

Researchers at Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland, are beginning work on
a three-year project to extend the benefits of technology to users who are
blind or visually impaired. Funded by a 3.8 million euro grant from the
European Union, the project will include 13 other universities and
organizations from around Europe. Alan Marshall, professor at Queen's
University, noted that people with disabilities are unable to benefit from
many of the advantages of technology because of the design of the technology
itself. The disparity between those who can use technology to its fullest and
those who cannot will widen if steps are not taken to address it, according
to Marshall. The project will address such topics as tactile displays and
audio aids, and researchers will also look into using technology to help
people with visual impairments participate in a variety of activities. For
example, Marshall described a system of devices in shopping centers that
would automatically identify themselves to wireless devices. Those with such
devices could walk through a shopping center and know what stores they were
near and could locate others. 

Read the article at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4457793.stm

Links:
Project to open internet to blind
http://saoirse32.blogsome.com/2005/04/19/internet-for-the-blind

Alan Marshall
http://www.ee.qub.ac.uk/dsp/research/telecomms/personal/Alan_Marshall.html

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Project to Open Internet to Blind
From: BBC News 04/19/2005

Mobile devices could play a role in closing the digital divide for people who
are blind or visually impaired, according to researchers involved in the
Enabled initiative in Europe. Researchers from Queen's University's Virtual
Engineering Centre and Sonic Arts Research Centre are leading the project to
make the Web more accessible for people with visual disabilities, and is
being assisted by 13 other universities and groups on the continent. The
researchers see mobile devices as a potential strategy in that embedded
devices would be placed in public areas, such as a shopping mall, and have
the ability to serve as an audio guide. As a blind person with an enabled
personal data device walks through the mall, the position of stores would be
revealed. "If you have embedded devices they could advertise what the shop
is, by saying 'I'm a butchers' through a mobile device," says Queen's
University professor Alan Marshall. The scheme could also include tactile
display screens that act as maps for the blind as they navigate unfamiliar
buildings. The project has received 3.8 million euros in funding from the EU. 

