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 --- 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.