Full Coverage: 3-D maps, a new kind of interactive wayfinding

An interactive wayfinder for the visually impaired, developed by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access, was covered internationally in the press. The 3-D maps, which vocalize building information when touched, help visually impaired visitors navigate public spaces like museums and college campuses. The IDeA Center partnered with Touch Graphics, Inc., to develop the technology.

Updated February 2, 2015 This content is archived.

3-D Maps Made For Talking, and Touching
2/2/15
An article in Virginia Engineer reports developers at UB’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access have built and tested a new kind of interactive wayfinder: 3D maps that vocalize building information and directions when touched.
3-D Comes to Aid Visually Impaired
12/14/14
The Indian Express reports on a 3D map to help the visually impaired that UB’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center) helped create in collaboration with Touch Graphics.
Cutting-Edge Maps Show the Way With Sound and Touch
12/3/14
UB helps develop auditory maps to assist visually impaired
12/2/14
Business First, Next City and MedGadget report on the cutting-edge 3D maps, for the visually impaired, that show the way with sound and touch that were developed as a result of the collaboration between Touch Graphics and the UB Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center).
Talking 3D Maps Help Blind Navigate Around
12/2/14
New, Interactive 3D Talking Maps Can Help The Blind Find Their Way
11/26/14
Touch-responsive 3-D maps provide independence to the visually impaired
11/20/14
Touch-sensitive 3D maps guide the blind with spoken instructions
11/21/14
Gizmag, China Topix, Phys Org, Science Daily, Softpedia, and IT Pro Portal report on talking 3D touch sensitive maps to guide the blind and states that technology comes courtesy of a collaboration between tactile-graphics company Touch Graphics and the UB Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center).
Talking 3D Maps Now Available for Everyone, Including the Visually Impaired
11/21/14
Touch-Capable 3D Map Will Enable the Blind to Move About
11/21/14
A 3D, Talking Map for the Blind Provides Further Independence
11/20/14
Touch-responsive 3D maps provide navigation to visually impaired
11/21/14
designboom, a popular magazine of architecture, art and design, highlights 3-D, talking maps that UB researchers helped design to improve wayfinding for people with visual impairments. The article reports that Edward Steinfeld and Heamchand Subryan of the UB School of Architecture and Planning’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access led the project with Touch Graphics Inc. Stories also appeared in Wonderful Engineering and Product Design and Development
The 3D-printed interactive map helping the visually impaired find their way around
11/20/14
A 3-D, talking map for the blind (and everyone else)
11/20/14
Cutting-Edge Maps Show the Way With Sound and Touch
12/3/14
UB helps develop auditory maps to assist visually impaired
12/2/14
Business First, Next City and MedGadget report on the cutting-edge 3D maps, for the visually impaired, that show the way with sound and touch that were developed as a result of the collaboration between Touch Graphics and the UB Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA Center).

Full Coverage: 3-D maps, a new kind of interactive wayfinding

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