Gill, John Martin (1973) Design, production and evaluation of tactual maps for the blind. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

A computer-assisted system has been developed for the
production of tactual mobility and orientation maps for
the blind. The system involves using computer-aided
design techniques to generate the input for a computer-controlled
machine tool. Plastic copies are vacuum
formed from an epoxy resin master. The main advantages
of this system are quality, versatility and speed.
Experimental studies have been undertaken on the
tactual discriminability of areal, line and point symbols
produced by this system. A further experiment studied
the retention of meanings associated with fourteen tactual
symbols and the ability of blind schoolchildren to locate
these symbols on a map.
A pilot study has been carried out on the acceptability
of four design parameters:
(i) Double and single representation of roads.
(ii) Choice of plastic.
(iii) Symbol elevation.
(iv) Methods for marking road names.
A number of tactual maps have been made for informal
evaluation by a larger section of the blind community.
As a result of this work a system has been evolved which
can support further research in the general area of tactual
representations, and which can also form the basis for a production unit to meet cone of the demands for this
type of aid. It has proven possible to identify sets
of symbols which may prove useful to the future design
of these maps.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Maps for the blind, Blind -- Printing and writing systems, Computer-aided engineering
Official Date:	1973
Dates:	Date Event 1973 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Engineering
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Douce, John Leonard ;
Sponsors:	Medical Research Council (Great Britain) (MRC)
Description:	The hard copy of this thesis contains volume 2 made up of 4 tactual maps. Please see the official URL for details on how to access the full version.
Extent:	1 v. (various pagings)
Language:	eng

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