SC 10 H: Accessibility Design Challenge – Harry & Daxton & Andrew & Eugene & Ray
Project: Tactile Map
Empathy & Define:
Our main goal for this project was to make a tactile map to help and ease Molly to navigate the school. After a conversation with her, our group decided to make this because we knew that she still has difficulties understanding the structures of our school. Her white cane was not enough and drawing mental maps in her head was extremely difficult.
Ideate:
First, we thought of lights that change colours depending on current location of Mollie using lights, but we ended up not using this as she couldn’t differentiate colors well.
Second, we thought of self-driving wheelchair that has certain programs about routes in the wheelchair with a motor.
Third, we thought of tactile paths such as the ones found in Asia sidewalks.
Fourth, we thought putting different smells and perfumes around the school so that Molly could identify the sections of the school.
Finally, we decided to make a tactile map which was the most practical idea out of everything we had.
Brainstorm:
Our initial sketch & steps:
Prototype & Test:
map was too small so we printed 8 pieces so she could identify the rooms more easily
Pros:
- Printing small takes less time.
- It is easy to scale the map.
- 3D printing is successful.
- The printed map is a hundred percent identical to the designs we did on Blender app.
- We can use 3D printer any time.
Cons:
- Too small
- Difficult to change lines because we have to convert every single lines on Blender.
- Difficult to print bigger because it takes too much time.
- Braille that represent room numbers do not show on the map because of technical issues.
- Cannot choose colour.
Feedback from Molly:
- The entire map is too small.
- Office area has too many rooms that it is difficult to feel it by her hands.
- Likes the idea of puzzle-map.
Final Product:
Reflection:
I’m overall not to happy with how the map ended up, in the end we where not able to fit the brail onto the map as we couldn’t print it so that it fits into each room. If we knew from the start that the brail wouldn’t fit we could have had another person to work on the map.
My role in the project:
I worked on one of the four quadrants of the map, and along with Harry and Daxton came many times after school and at lunch to trouble shoot some problems while printing.
My responsibilities:
- Monitor 3D printers
- Make 3D model
- Research & Analysis
Contributions:
I worked on parts of the map and helped Daxton show the others how to use blender.
Collaboration improvement:
I will improve my collaboration skills by communicating clearly. throughout the project many if us ran into issues, from printing, to designing. One huge problem with this was one of our group members not using a texting app that we used so we would have to email him separately if we had issues.
What I learned:
I learned that not everything works as planned and problem solving skills are important. We had to revise our 3D model several times because there were technical issues. Moreover, it took us a week to figure out the proper size of the map because we had to print it even larger. Since there was limited time given, instant problem-solving helped us to finish the product quicker than we expected.
I learned how difficult it is for the blind people to navigate the school. I was able to empathize with Molly through a conversation with her. To make our society more inclusive, I think we have to accept and respect those people with disabilities. It will eventually subside the stereotypical mindset of our community, hence it will inspire positivity to it.
This is what I learned while working with the SME (the student):
I learned that Molly mostly depends on her white cane to move and navigate around the school. The EA (Educational Assistant) described the cane as part of Molly’s body. I realized how important that cane is to Molly. Therefore, I chose to make a tactile map because I wanted to make an unprecedented object that could possibly help Molly to walk around the school without difficulties.
What I liked:
I liked how we where able to interact with Molly letting us clearly communicating our ideas to her, and also testing whether she didn’t like something specific or not. Also her showing us a fraction of her problems allowed us to get a feel of what she has been struggling with her whole life.
In the future:
I would like to use this as my capstone, i really hope that the other members agree with me but i would love to work on this project more. Using this as our capstone we would be able to help our school with problems targeted towards those who’s lifes are already difficult, we could leave a mark on this school by making there live a bit easier.