Sight

Touch, feel and talk about the latest technologies being engineered for visually impaired and blind people. Meet the scientists behind current and future inventions - tell them what you think about these innovations and discuss any ideas you might have for future devices.

How did a passion for circuit boards, bat navigation and how the brain controls where you look come together to produce the award-winning UltraCane? Hear Brian Hoyle explain how he and other specialists combined forces to create this electronic sonic cane, and test it out for yourself.

Meet Keith Mathieson and find out about the latest developments in correcting degenerative eye diseases. He’ll be outlining the state of play with current technologies, and giving an update on his work towards developing a microchip implant for the eye. How will this restore sight and what similarities might it have with the imaging detectors used in mobile phones?

Come and feel a prototype virtual reality headset developed by Patrick Degenaar. Take part in an interactive activity to explore how visually impaired people experience the headset. Share your thoughts with Patrick on current and future prosthetic vision systems. How will virtual reality affect the lives of the visually impaired? Let him know your thoughts on how his headset could be improved…

In need of a culture fix? Feel your way around the tactile drawings developed by Dawn Cliff and Helen Petrie and hear about the maps and guides they’ve been producing alongside exhibitions at the National Railway Museum, Royal Academy of Arts and other museums.

This event is supported by The Royal Academy of Engineering.

Speakers

Brian Hoyle, Professor of Vision and Image Systems, School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds

Keith Mathieson, Physics and Astronomy Research Fellow, Glasgow University

Patrick Degenaar, Lecturer in Neurobionics, Division of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College, London

Dawn Cliff, Director of the Centre for Tactile Images, University of York

Helen Petrie, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Department of Computer Science, University of York

Facilitators

Steve Tyler, Senior Strategic Manager for Digital Technology, RNIB
Susanne Buck, Educational Facilitator, MA Creative Practices for Narrative Environments, Central St Martins

Event organised by:
The Science Museum

video

podcast

You can download an audio podcast [mp4] of this event.

This event is part of 5 Senses