To address the needs of a visually impaired client, architects in Thiene, Italy, worked from the start to integrate a custom wayfinding system into the structure and layout of this home, including a creative set of tiles with varied textures to guide the owner from room to room.

The owner, who had lived in one place for 55 years until this point, was understandably concerned about learning to navigate a new environment, working with So & So Studio (images by Stefano Calgaro) to make the transition easier and more intuitive.

The first step was to create a central corridor to minimize any confusing maze effects that a more complicated layout might create. All entrances and exits are located along this spine, as are primary places like the kitchen and bedroom.

The architects worked with the client to map out her routines and paths, organizing their design around these regular activities. Potential hazards like thresholds were also avoided.

Perhaps the most stunning part, though, is the glyphic alphabet encoded in the floors — textured stones create patterns designed to be read and followed by the client, a built-in system for wayfinding. A guest might notice these standing out and think them a simple visual queue, when in fact they work for the sightless as well as the sighted.

In Santiago, Chile, six murals offer visually impaired people the chance to experience large-scale works of street art by Chilean artists through touch panels, braille and audio descriptions. Entitled “Manos a la Pared (Hands to the Wall),” the project adds accessibility to some of the murals found in the bustling Barrio Lastarria, one of the city’s most touristy neighborhoods. In Chile, 16.7% of the population is visually impaired or blind, adding up to about 2.8 million people.

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“The initiative was born from the union of three restless women who met in the Diploma of Cultural Management of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,” says Paula Cancino, president of the Association for Inclusive Culture Mu.Cho. “This project was conceived under the premise of breaking with the barriers that impede access to arts and cultures.”

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The new circuit was unveiled on July 10th, 2018 and includes “La Debutante” by famed Chilean surrealist Roberto Matta in the Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro, “The Player of Palín” by Francisco Maturana on Mosqueto Street, “Ganza” by Javier Barria in Santo Domingo, “A Surrealist Named Matta” by Alexander Tadlock in Mosqueto, “Ludwig van Beethoven” by Jorge Campos in Mosqueto and “Lastarria Patrimonial” by Luis Núñez on the Rosas corner of Lastarria.

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The works were chosen according to the symoblic importance of their content and the accessibility of the space. After leading a test subject through a proposed circuit in the planning phases, they realized there were a lot of tables, restaurant awnings, poles, bicycle parking and other obstacles in the way, so they had to adjust the route carefully.

That initial tester, Monica Sepulveda, says the experience of using the touch panels is “not total, to be honest, but when you add other elements such as audio description, that helps even more to understand what’s there in front.”

Braille type is often included as alongside conventional letters, but “Braille Neue” typesets blend both visible and tangible characters in the same space, creating hybrid alphabets that anyone can read. Developed by designer Kosuke Takahashi, the solution is simple and elegant, giving equal priority to both sighted and visually impaired people.

The trick, essentially, is to use the two-by-three point layout already employed in the braille alphabet as a framework for the overlapping visual text. As a secondary effect, the visible overlap helps educate those who can see it about braille equivalents.

Takahashi has developed both Japanese (Braille Neue Standard) and English (Braille Neue Outline) variants. Theoretically, these could also be used to “print over” existing texts — as in: lay ink over braille or even vise versa in some cases.

Specifically, though, the typeface’s creator hopes this solution will be employed in signage for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. After all, those represent a time and place designed to bring people together.

Braille is named after its creator, Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight as a result of a childhood accident. In 1824, at the age of fifteen, he developed a code for the French alphabet as an improvement on night writing. He published his system in 1829. The second revision to this touchable type system, published in 1837, was the first small binary form of writing developed in the modern era.

“My nose isn’t that big!” protests portrait subject George Wurtzel as he runs his hands over his own image, rendered in paint on thousands of screws raised from a wooden board in a relief pattern. He might not be able to see the colors, or the play of light and shadow that gives the portrait much of its nuance and realism, but he can still experience it in a way that wouldn’t be possible if it were merely painted onto a canvas. For artist Andrew Myers, who specializes in these unusual sculptural paintings, this moment marks a concept that has come full circle since he first watched another blind man eagerly explore his art with his fingertips, six years ago.

Myers doesn’t just allow people viewing his artwork to touch it, he actively encourages it, noting that it’s an important part of the experience of taking it in. Realizing that this could potentially allow a blind person to see their own portrait, he set out to create a custom work with artisan and teacher George Wurtzel as his subject. George teaches at a 300-acre summer camp for the visually impaired in California’s Redwood Forest, and has also been tasked with renovating a barn into a new Tactile Art Center full of accessible art, where blind artisans can both sell their own work and feel the 3D works of others.

“We snuck into George’s future gallery and  hung the portrait for him to discover,” says Andrew. “As he experienced this for the first time (and between bursts of laughter) he kept repeating the phrase, ‘mind boggling.’ Not every piece of art needs to or should be touched… but perhaps it’s time we took a look at how pervasive and mandatory our ‘no touching’ rules really are – it might help everyone see artwork a little differently.”

While Andrew’s portrait of George is comprised of about 4,000 screws, other works require upwards of 20,000. One portrait, ‘Fading Thoughts,’ takes his work a step further by infusing a scene with a sense of motion, with screws seemingly being blown off the canvas.

Those of us who aren’t visually impaired take for granted simple everyday actions like navigating unfamiliar places, reading bus schedules, telling the time or distinguishing between spices when cooking. These innovative gadget concepts use a combination of tactile displays, sensors, Bluetooth technology and apps to make the world a more accessible place for people who are unable to see, ranging from simple braille adaptations to cutting-edge neuroscience.

Invisual Tactile iPhone Case

This stretchy silicone casing for the iPhone covers the entire phone, front and back, replacing the glass screen with a tactile pad. Used along with an accompanying app, the phone offers special accessibility functions like text-to-speech as well as all the usual apps and programs you find on an iPhone.

Munivo: Wearable Silicone Guide

Distance sensors on this wearable gadget that wraps around the palm like jewelry guide the visually impaired toward a particular destination using actuators in the silicone film that’s in contact with the skin. The sensations include pressure, temperature and vibration, alerting the wearer whether to stop, turn right or left, or to be aware of the road widening or narrowing.

Section Cooking Surface

Braille-like raised textures on this cooking mat let you know where the cooking surfaces are, and then keep track of how hot they’re getting with sounds. The designer converted the typical stove eye dial from circular to linear for easier use.

Touch and Go Navigation

Another ultrasonic navigation device fits onto the top of the hand and pairs with a Bluetooth headset, sensing obstacles and letting the wearer know their location via sound and as a relief map on the face of the gadget, both telling them where to go and showing their position on the map in respect to their destination.

Braille Spice Jars

Differences in shape and texture, as well as braille letters, identify salt, pepper and various spices in this set of jars for the visually impaired. The designer split spices into ‘mediterranean’ and ‘oriental’ groups, giving each one a unique shape. The teardrop-shaped salt and pepper shakers are distinguishable from each other using matte or smooth surfaces. Each little pod fits ergonomically into the palm of the hand and is easy to refill.

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Visionary Inventions 13 Bold Designs For The Blind