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Touchable Objects

Posted on by Corey Timpson

The National Museum of Mexican Art, in Chicago, not only has a great collection of Alebrijes and depictions of La Catrina, but has touchable versions as well as those behind glass. A great example of how when working with living and contemporary artists, when creating new experiences, there is ample opportunity to cost-effectively make artifacts and objects that can be explored through touch as well as sight. Multimodal interaction increases opportunities for inclusive accessibility, and deeper engagement among all audiences.

A colorful and eclectic collection of item. At the center, there is a whimsical creature with a turquoise textured body, large orange eyes with black pupils, and red accents around the eyes. It has a bright red mouth, long white tusks, and a pair of antlers. The creature's neck is adorned with yellow and red striped patterns, and it has multiple limbs in various colors, including yellow, red, and pink, with some resembling tentacles. To the left, there is a purple arm-like object with a hand at the end, featuring a lace cuff at the wrist and a floral pattern with a gem in the center on the upper part of the arm. Below, there is a rectangular object with a shiny, reflective surface, decorated with colorful gem-like structures in patterns of red, blue, green, and yellow, with silver accents. To the right, there is another arm-like object with a hand, similar to the one on the left, but this one is holding a white mask with a lace trim. The background is nondescript, and there is a partial view of a person wearing a black top. The items are placed on a black surface, possibly a table.
A selection of touch objects at National Museum of Mexican Art.
The picture shows a colorful figurine of a skeleton dressed in a festive outfit. The skeleton has a wide, toothy grin and large eye sockets, typical of a Day of the Dead decoration. It is wearing a purple hat adorned with a pink flower and a white lace veil that drapes over the back of the skull. The figure is also draped in a purple shawl with fluffy, dark purple feather trim. It is holding up a fan in its right hand, which is also decorated with a skeletal design. The background features a red informational panel with text, and there is a partial view of a person standing to the left. The floor is wooden.
A touchable la Catrina at the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Two individuals interacting with a colorful dragon character against a vibrant red background. The person on the right, wearing a gray striped shirt and a dark fedora hat, holding a white cane, is touching the dragon's head, which is predominantly turquoise with intricate patterns and a bright red mouth lined with white teeth. The person on the left, partially visible, is holding the dragon's body, featuring a mix of pink, yellow, and red patterns on its segmented parts. The dragon appears to be a part of a cultural or artistic display. The floor is wooden, and part of a wheelchair or walker is visible, suggesting accessibility considerations at the venue.
People exploring a touchable alebrije at the National Museum of Mexican Art.

More Touch Experimentation at the OAG

Posted on by Corey Timpson

This is the 2nd tactile art piece we’ve seen at the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) (see April 8 2020 for the previous piece we experienced there). Unlike the previous, this research project is based on an original artwork – Group of Seven member, Franklin Carmichael’s 1928 “In the Nickel Belt” oil painting. This work is interpretively reproduced as a rubber and wood tactile image with an adjacent iPad surfacing descriptions and sound effects. There is a substantial disconnect between navigating the iPad and the tactile image, going back and forth, which would certainly be a barrier to autonomous exploration for blind users, and the iPad was not set to access mode, meaning sight was required for on-screen orientation and navigation. Yet the interesting point for us with this work, is the dividing up of the paintings various landscape elements, the tactile patterning, and material selections and uses. We’d have more than a few notes for consideration within this experiment to render it more inclusively accessible, but we love that the OAG keeps on exploring various ways of making 2D artwork accessible to a wider audience.

Wide view of the installation has the label in English and French to our left. The iPad, mounted off the wall at an angle is located directly to the label's right, and the tactile painting is to its right.
Installation view of the labels (English, Français), iPad, and tactile artwork.
A landscape oil painting of dark colours low in saturation depicts an undulating ground which comprises the bottom half of the painting. Rising through the centre of the work is a plume of light grey smoke or clouds, meeting the top of the painting that consists of more grey clouds set against a pale grey sky.
Carmichael’s 1928 In the Nickel Belt oil painting.
A text label that reads: This project is the results of a collaboration between a researcher, Dr. Patricia Bérubé, and 6 participants from the low-vision and blind community taking on the roles of co-translators and co-curators. Using a participatory and co-design approach, the participants co-developed a multi-sensory translation of Frankly Carmichael's work, In the Nickel Belt. Visitors are invited to experience this augmented version of the painting by exploring the tactile component with their hands as well as he audio component on the iPad. Leaving your finger on a specific Zone will play a related sound, while double tapping on one part will provide a one or two-word description of what is being touched.
Installation label.
This tactile representation of a landscape painting in a plain, gold painted, wooden frame, is made of green, blue, and white rubber and pale wooden raised lines. The wooden lines provide outlines to the landscape, isolating the ground or mountains from the sky, and the clouds. Green rubber is patterned like repeating upside down Vs is used to note the ground, blue rubber in circular patterns is used for the sky, blue rubber lines are used for another part of the sky, and white rubber in a sort-of hounds tooth pattern is used for the clouds or smoke, located centrally in the image, above the ground and below and in the middle of the sky.
Tactile version of the Carmichael’s painting.

The Return

Posted on by Corey Timpson

Sina and I began this micro blog as a response to expressions of interest that we share those instances we come across, in our travels and across our projects, that present an interesting, unique, or innovative take on experience design. Given it’s us, you can be sure that whatever we chose to spotlight somehow surfaces concepts related to inclusion and access.

What we didn’t predict was a global pandemic stopping our travels the same month we decided to first publish Mosaic (#M4C). 20 months later and travel has ramped back up again. As such, we’re happy to begin picking up where we left off and sharing those notable examples of interesting and inclusive experience design that we come across . (Note: The Reading List and Glossary sections have been kept up to date this entire time).

It’s nice to be out in the world again and we’re looking forward to sharing those instances we come across that can help provoke discourse around meaningful, rich, and inclusive experience design.