“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

Increasingly affordable and accessible, 3D printing is enabling the creation of everything from simple straw holders to prosthetic hands for people with disabilities, whose quality of life can be greatly enhanced with a little technology. These 12 creations help the blind visualize memories, allow kids with muscular dystrophy to play video games, and even restore brain function after devastating accidents.

Touchable Memories: Tactile Photos for the Visually Impaired

An affordable home printer called the Buccaneer can be used in conjunction with ‘Touchable Memories,’ a software by Pirate3D, to turn photographs into tactile 3D-printed objects. The project allows people who have lost their eyesight or been blind from birth to visualize the memories that were photographed, whether in relief form or as freestanding sculptures.

‘Magic Arms’ Exoskeleton

A little girl suffering from a rare congenital disorder that limits her ability to use her arms now has a ‘magic’ exoskeleton that aids her movement and enables her to lift objects. A team at the duPont Hospital for Children created a wearable 3D-printed plastic jacket that’s lightweight enough to be used by small children. Heavier, larger versions of the robotic exoskeleton are hard to use and expensive to replace as the children grow, but using 3D printing means it’s as simple as adjusting the dimensions on the 3D model and printing a new one.

Q-Ramp Modular Access System for Wheelchairs

Most cities aren’t exactly built with wheelchairs in mind, but for a few ramps here and there. Raul Krauthausen of Berlin, who uses a wheelchair full-time due to a genetic bone disorder, had trouble getting around Berlin on his own. Having purchased a 3D printer just for fun, he started envisioning how he could use it to improve his quality of life. The result is a portable, printable wheelchair ramp that’s easy to carry on the back of his chair. Krauthausen put the design up on Thingiverse so others can print their own.

Custom Game Controllers

Conditions like muscular dystrophy can weaken the muscles to the point that even using a game controller is too tiring. Tinkerer Caleb Kraft noted that the special controllers marketed to the disabled were grossly overpriced, and decided to come up with his own solution. His 3D-printed creation is not exactly robust enough for most of today’s more complex games, but it allows a child to play Minecraft.

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Touchable Memories 12 3d Printed Aids For The Disabled

It’s difficult for those of us with sight to imagine just how different daily experiences are without this ability – but all of the challenges associated with visual impairment are being addressed at an amazingly rapid pace with stunning modern gadgetry. These 12 inventions for the blind featured on Yanko Design use today’s technology to read, navigate, learn, solve puzzles and create art.

B-Touch Mobile Phone

Imagine how much easier it would be for the visually impaired to perform everyday tasks like talking on the phone, reading a book and recognizing objects if they had an accessible all-in-one device like the B-Touch Mobile Phone concept. Designer Zhenwei You incorporated braille, voice systems and optical reading devices

Braille Rubik Cube

It may take a bit more time to actually feel out the face of each individual square in a Rubik’s cube than to attempt solving it visually with colors, but this braille-equipped version is certainly an interesting challenge even for those who aren’t visually impaired.

Safe and Sanitary Mug

How would you like having to burn yourself on hot coffee just to keep track of how much you’re pouring into a mug? Most blind people have to use their fingers, but the awesome Braun Bell Concept Mug by Sang-hoon Lee and Yong-bum Lim makes the process much more safe and sanitary. The mug emits a certain sound when liquid reaches each water sensor.

The Eye Stick – Walking Stick that Sees

Sonic vibrations provide one of the most accurate ways for the visually impaired to get their bearings in an environment, so equipping the end of a walking stick with a little sensor can instill confidence even when dealing with stairs and other potentially dangerous scenarios.

Tactile Flash Cards for Learning

When you can’t see, you rely upon hearing and, of course, touch in order to learn – so tactile flash cards imprinted with the name of an object in braille on one side and a physical texture on the other are a particularly effective way to become familiar with new things.

Feel the Time

The design of the ‘Feel the Time’ watch is so brilliantly simple, it’s amazing that it’s not already commercially available. The minimalist black face features two separate discs, each with one tiny nub – one that signifies the hour, and one for the minute. A break in the outer circle at the 12 o’clock mark acts as a guide to get an accurate reading.

Braille E-Book

It’s hard enough to lug around multiple heavy books, but doing so with expensive, extra-bulky braille books is downright impossible. So as convenient as E-readers are to those with sight, they would be far more so to the blind. This Braille E-Book concept, which dynamically changes the surface pattern with an electromagnetic signal, could revolutionize books for the blind.

Sign Language Voice Translator

One particularly troubling communication scenario is that of a deaf person and a blind person, unable to hear or see each other’s voice or gestures, respectively. So the Sign Voice Language Translator is an interesting prospective solution – a gadget on a necklace that converts gestures to voice and voice into written text.

Navigation Bracelet

What looks like a modern piece of plastic jewelry is actually a navigation system that uses GPS, voice commands and audio and haptic feedback to provide the blind with a level of independence that is currently impossible for many. Yanko Design notes that it could benefit the sighted as well, simply making it fast and easy to navigate a new city.

Touch Color Painting Tablet

Sure, people without sight can paint and often produce stunning artwork without ever having a real sense of color. But when color temperature becomes literal, cool blues and hot reds are differentiated in a new way that permits far more creative expression. The Touch Color tablet uses thermal energy and a hand-held color wheel to create works of art. The color wheel can even capture actual colors from a user’s environment and transmit it to the tablet.

Color Sensor Helps See with Sound

Art is invaluable, but why not bring the ability to sense colors into everyday life with a more practical application? The Bright-F Color Sensor can help the blind “see” colors by associating each color with a particular sound – a huge help when sorting laundry or picking outfits.

Braille Polaroid Camera

Touching an object may help a blind person get a sense of what it is, but unlike the sighted, they can’t use photographs to capture and keep memories. The Braille Polaroid Camera, however, acts as an instant braille printer, translating the basic shape of an object into texture so that the blind can collect “images” in an album.