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national federation of the blind

Meet with MAD Lab at the Summer 2022 Blind Consumer Conventions

Meet with MAD Lab at the Summer 2022 Blind Consumer Conventions

Members of our Media and Accessible Design Laboratory (MAD Lab) team will be on hand at the LightHouse exhibit booths at this summer’s American Council of the Blind (ACB) and National Federation of the Blind (NFB) conventions. They’ll be showcasing our famous TMAP, which is a tactile street map of a specific area or location as designated by the end-user. Frank Welte will be representing the MAD Lab at the ACB convention in Omaha, Nebraska and at the NFB convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.

If you’re going to the ACB convention, stop by our exhibit booth, say hi to Frank and take a look at a tactile map of Omaha.

Those of you going to New Orleans will find it a bit easier to explore the city because NFB and MAD Lab are working to make copies of a TMAP street map of the area near the convention hotel available, including the French Quarter. Make sure to pick up one of those maps.

Going somewhere else on vacation this summer? No problem! You can purchase TMAP tactile street maps and other unique MAD Lab products at the Adaptations Store. Visit www.adaptations.org or call 888-400-8933 for more information.For inquiries or questions for the MAD Lab, please contact madlab@lighthouse-sf.org or visit the MAD Lab page on the LightHouse website. We look forward to meeting you at this year’s summer conferences.

Learn More about MAD Lab, Adaptations and LightHouse Services at NFB, ACB Conventions

Learn More about MAD Lab, Adaptations and LightHouse Services at NFB, ACB Conventions

LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco will be making appearances at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and American Council of the Blind (ACB) virtual Conventions this July.

LightHouse at the NFB Exhibit Hall
LightHouse Breakout Session at NFB Convention
LightHouse at the ACB Convention

LightHouse at NFB Exhibit Hall

LightHouse will be in the NFB Virtual Exhibit Hall to talk about our services the following dates and times:
 
Tuesday, July 6: 6:00 am to 2:00 pm Pacific (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern)
Wednesday, July 7: 6:00 am to 2:00 pm (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern) 

NFB Exhibit Hall Zoom url: https://lighthouse-sf.zoom.us/j/97124211821?pwd=K1pJMFQ5cEE2MmYreUtRc1Z3akxBZz09
NFB Exhibit Hall Zoom Meeting ID: 971 2421 1821
Password: 982034
Dial toll free in the United States: 1-833-548-0282

Additionally, the Media and Accessible Design Laboratory will have a breakout session on July 6 from noon to 1:00 Pacific (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Eastern):

LightHouse Breakout Session at the NFB Convention

LightHouse Presents: Tactile Maps and More!
LightHouse in San Francisco invites you to hear how our MAD Lab TMAPs can help you learn a city block or navigate a new neighborhood and how tactile intersection diagrams can enhance O&M instruction. Find out how you can touch the news and learn about our online Adaptations store.
Hosted by Sheri Albers, Community Outreach Coordinator, San Francisco LightHouse
Tuesday, July 6 from noon to 1:00 Pacific (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Eastern):

NFB Breakout Session Zoom meeting URL is https://zoom.us/j/92618487109
NFB Breakout Session Zoom meeting ID: 926 1848 7109
Dial toll free in the United States: 1-833-548-0282

LightHouse at the ACB Convention

 LightHouse will be in the ACB Virtual Exhibit Hall to talk about our services the following dates and times (in Pacific):
 
Monday, July 19 through Thursday, July 22 from noon to 2:00 pm Pacific (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Eastern) daily
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://lighthouse-sf.zoom.us/j/94402436903?pwd=elJWcFVINmJVYlNlMkcwdHE5WU5UZz09
Meeting ID: 944 0243 6903
Passcode: 035006
One tap mobile +16699006833,,94402436903# US (San Jose)
Dial toll free in the United States: 1-833-548-0282
 
So if you’re attending one or both the conventions, we hope you’ll stop on by and hang out and ask many questions of our friendly, skilled staff.

Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award will help support our new on-demand mapping software for the blind

Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award will help support our new on-demand mapping software for the blind

Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Seal On Sunday we accepted a national award for a new technology that’s got the blindness community talking – and walking.

The National Federation of the Blind distributed six Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards for accomplishment and innovation in the field of blindness this week – including to outdoor program Ski for Light, Navajo braille creator Carol Green, and Danish startup Be My Eyes. Among them was LightHouse’s mapping project known as TMAP (Tactile Map Automated Production).

“Blind people profit from access to maps as much if not more than their sighted friends and family,” said LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin, himself blind and an avid map user.  “That’s the reason the LightHouse is commercializing accessible, automated map production.”

TMAP was developed by LightHouse in partnership with the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute over the past year and is the culmination of many years of iterating and testing. The system allows a blind user to type in a point of interest, auto-generate a specially formatted map file, and print a tactile (raised line, braille) map on an embosser in one simple workflow.

“The internet gave sighted people the ability to generate a street map of anyplace they wanted,” said Dr. Joshua Miele, the blind scientist at the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute who conceived TMAP. “I wanted blind people to have that, too.” Lighthouse’s T-Map project stems from original work conducted by Dr. Miele in 2011 and has been transformed into a consumer-facing service by the LightHouse’s Media and Accessible Design Lab.

Those interested in obtaining tactile maps for their locality can e-mail adaptations@lighthouse-sf.org and will soon be able to purchase the maps through an online store.

The Bolotin award was presented during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, the largest gathering of blind people held anywhere worldwide. LightHouse’s Senior Director of Programs Scott Blanks accepted the $5,000 honor.

“At the LightHouse, we are passionate about connectivity, community, and the power of autonomy through access to information,” says Blanks. “Tactile street maps embody these tenets, giving each blind person the agency to decide how they wish to interact with the world around them. When a person can touch, or look at, a top-down streetscape, so much can be unlocked: the orientation of an intersection, directionality of streets, and a better overall understanding of how a neighborhood fits together. With TMAP, we are just getting started.”

About the National Federation of the Blind’s Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award

The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards are presented annually by the National Federation of the Blind with support from the Santa Barbara Foundation to recognize outstanding individual and organizational achievements in the blindness field. For more information, go to nfb.org.