An Inclusive World of Art
It started with a simple question - Why isn’t art more accessible to blind folks?
The truth is, art is not very accessible to people with visual impairments. Even through there are 27 million blind people around the world and 253 million people with some form of vision impairment, there are very few avenues for them to access the rich world of art. We want to change this! Our mission with Reliefeelable is to art more inclusive and accessible to folks with visual impairments.
Reliefeelable
Reliefeelable is a set of solutions that make art more accessible for everyone. As we researched the space and talked to our users, we realized there were more than one ways to make art more available to blind folks. Being a determined group, we decided to pursue 3 ideas, prototype them and get them in the hands of real users.
3D Printed Tactile Boards
We use a combo of AI and Image Processing to take paintings and convert it to 3D models and print them in relief form. Blind folks can feel these reliefs and get a sense of the world in the paintings. We also provide AI based audio descriptions of the image to further enhance the users perception of the artwork.
Motorized Tactile Dispay
We built a 4x4 motorized pin array driven by a custom designed linear actuator that allows each pin to rise/drop with fine control. Driven by 4 Arduino Unos and 16 HW130 boards + 16 DC motors, this solution provides fast image changes and the ability be controlled by a phone over bluetooth.
Motorized Pinboard & Gantry
Our most advanced solution, the Pinboard and Gantry allows for fine control with low costs, allowing for the creation of larger displays. Instead of individually droving each pin, we use a gantry and row of stepper motors to raise one row at a time. This enables a simpler mechanical and electrical design while supporting large displays.
