Title: Designing the architecture of a preliminary system for assisting tactile exploration of bas-reliefs

Authors: Francesco Buonamici; Rocco Furferi; Lapo Governi; Yary Volpe

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139, Florence, Italy ' Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139, Florence, Italy ' Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139, Florence, Italy ' Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139, Florence, Italy

Abstract: The participation of blind people (BP) in cultural life can be improved by enhancing methodologies and tools for facilitating the 3D reproduction of artworks and, at the same time, to facilitate their exploration. The creation of integrated systems including not only tactile media such as, for instance, sculptures or bas-reliefs but even a set of tools capable of providing the users with an experience cognitively comparable to the one originally envisioned by the artist, may undoubtedly enhance artworks exploration. The present work aims to design a conceptual system to aid BP in the tactile exploration of bas-reliefs. This conceptual system comprises both a hand-tracking system and an audio device, together with a number of methodologies, algorithms and information related to physical design. The designed layout, preliminarily tested to understand its potential and limits, proved to be a promising first attempt in enhancing the BP exploration experience.

Keywords: tactile bas-relief; hand-tracking system; 3D reconstruction; blind people; tactile exploration.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2017.086780

Journal of Design Research, 2017 Vol.15 No.2, pp.110 - 127

Accepted: 19 Apr 2017
Published online: 24 Sep 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article