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The 6th Ratchasuda International Conference on Disability 2019

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Research, Development, and Dissemination of “Tactile Graphics” Useful for Teaching

People with Visual Impairment

YASUDA Teruo1,2, OKAMOTO Akira1, ICHIKAWA Ayumi1, YASUDA Takako2 ,

IIZUKA Junichi1

1 National University Corporation Tsukuba University of Technology,

2 Tactually Transmitted Design Study Group [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Since 2002, the Tsukuba University of Technology for students with visual impairments

(4-12-7 Kasuga, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, 305-8521 JAPAN) has been working on the research,

development, and dissemination of “Touch and Perceive ‘tactile graphics.’ ” In 2012, we

developed “colored tactile graphics” to help people with visual impairments who can perceive

colors. Our university uses these “tactile graphics” and “colored tactile graphics” in the classroom

to help students with visual impairments look at artworks such as paintings and facilitate their

understanding of anatomical charts. Another great benefit of these tactile graphics is that anyone

can make them at a low cost and in a short time using special “capsule paper” and an existing

photocopier. These tactile graphics have been exhibited every year as “Touch and Perceive” art at

Nika Exhibition and schools for students with visual impairments. They have also been presented

at various academic meetings to contribute to the understanding and dissemination of “tactile

graphics. ”This study is very meaningful for our university, which serves students with visual

impairments. We are actively pursuing the research, development, and dissemination of “tactile

graphics” into the future.

Key words: visual impairment, tactile sensation, Touch and Perceive, tactually transmitted

design, universal art, universal design, art appreciation

1. Background and Purpose of the Research

We are the only university in the world for students with visual and/or hearing impairments.

Believing that it is very meaningful for “students with visual impairments” to appreciate the

posters that “students with hearing impairments” have produced, we launched the research and

development of “Touch and Perceive” art (tactile graphics) in 2002.

Having the completely blind in mind, we initially transformed the original posters into

monochrome (black-and-white) 3D in order to produce “Touch and Perceive” posters.

Aiming to develop “colored tactile graphics” for non-color blind persons with amblyopia,

tunnel vision,

central scotoma, and other visual impairments, we have also carried out research, development,

and dissemination activities on “tactile graphics” for people with various types of visual

impairments.

2. Method

With considerable money and time, it is possible to make “tactile graphics” in various

ways.However, we aim to make them using a special “capsule paper” and an existing photocopier

so that anyone can create them at a low cost and in a short time; this is why this study is

meaningful. The production procedure is as follows: add black edges or dots, or shade the part of

mailto:[email protected]


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the original painting or picture that is to become 3D; then photocopy it on “capsule paper” and

heat it up in a dedicated 3D copying machine (Piaf); this allows the black areas to become 3D.

Note that it is essential to gain permission for this processing from the painter or photographer of

the original artwork.

3. Results

Thanks to the development of “Touch and Perceive” art (tactile graphics) using “capsule paper”

in 2002, students with visual impairments at our university have been given greater chances to

appreciate art. Moreover, since “colored tactile graphics” were developed in 2012, the art

audience has responded that “It is easier now to understand art because I can perceive the colors.”

Those who give informative support to people with visual impairments have also stated that “It

has become easier to explain pictures now that they perceive colors.” Since 2013, “colored tactile

graphics” have been used for an anatomical chart in the classroom for students with visual

impairments and their effect in deepening students’ understanding has been observed.

The “Touch and Perceive” art that has been developed by us is not only on display at Nika

Exhibition and schools for the blind every year, but has also been presented at various academic

conferences, contributing to the understanding and dissemination of “Touch and Perceive” art.

4. Diffusion Activities

4.1 Nika Exhibition（September 2007/ September 2008/ September 2009/ September 2010/

September 20011/ September 2012）

“Touch and Perceive” art has been exhibited in the design category of the Nika exhibition held

at the National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo. We are supported by members of Nikakai

including Akihide Imamura, a representative of Nikakai Designers General Incorporated

Association. Many visitors from allgenerations were able to appreciate these artworks by

touching with their hands.


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“Touch and Percerve” art corner

4.2 Nika Ibaraki Branch Exhibition (May 2008/May 2009/May 2010/May 2012 /May

2013/May 2014/May 2015/May 2016)

Touch and Perceive artworks in all four Nika exhibition categories of oil painting, sculpture,

photography, and design were displayed in the Touch and Perceive art corner; color Touch and

Perceive works were exhibited in three of the categories, namely oil painting, photography, and

design. Many visitors, including Nika Association President Ryo Tanaka and Ibaraki Prefectural

Governor Masaru Hashimoto, were able toappreciate the works by using their sense of touch.

“Touch and Percerve” art corner

4.3 Special Exhibition at the Ibaraki Prefectural School for the Blind (May 2010/May

2012/May 2013/May 2014/May 2015/ May 2016)

At the request of the Ibaraki Prefectural School for the Blind, all of the works that were

exhibited in the Touch and Perceive art corner display at the Nika Ibaraki Branch Exhibition

were exhibited at the school. Both students and teachers touched and appreciated the works with

great interest and eagerness, further enhancing the students’ interest in art. The exhibition was

extremely meaningful, and there were even requests to continue exhibiting such works in future

if the opportunity arose.


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4.4 Exhibition at the Disabled Persons’ Week Commemorative “Fureai no Tsudoi”

(Exchange Gathering) (December 2013/December 2014/ December 2015/December 2016)

An exhibition of Touch and Perceive art (colored tactile graphics) was held at the Bunkyo

Civic Center in Tokyo as part of this event.

5. Presentations at Academic Conferences

5.1 Design Research Association Fall Conference 2012 (December 8, 2012)

A paper was presented on the topic “Tactually Transmitted Design: Opening up Possibilities

for Art Appreciation by the Visually Impaired.” This was the first paper to be published on the

creation of colored Touch and Perceive art.

5.2 23rd Japanese Association of Rehabilitation for the Visually Impaired (JARVI)

Research Presentation Congress (July 19, 2014)

A paper was presented on the topic: “An Examination of the Use of Tactile Graphics in

Anatomy: Evaluation of Colored Tactile Graphics and Conventional (Monochrome) Graphics.”

5.3 23rd Japanese Association of Rehabilitation for the Visually Impaired (JARVI)

Research Presentation Congress (July 20, 2014)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Development and Dissemination of Colored Tactile

Graphics for People with a Diversity of Visual Impairments.”


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5.4 15th Meeting of the Japanese Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation

(November 1, 2014)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Development and Dissemination of Colored Tactile

Graphics, a Universal Art Form, to Facilitate Art Appreciation by People with Various Visual

Impairments.”

5.5 15th Meeting of the Japanese Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation

(November 2, 2014)

A paper was presented on the topic: “The Application of Colored Tactile Graphics in Anatomy

and Related Issues: An Examination of Colors and Shading” (in Japanese).

5.6 Design Research Association Fall Conference 2014 (November 8, 2014)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Motivation for Development and Dissemination of

Colored Tactile

Graphics to Facilitate Art Appreciation by People with Various Visual Impairments: an

Overview.”

5.7 the 25th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (July 18, 2016)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Experimental Production of Intricate Materials Illustrated

withColored Tactile Graphics: Application to the Anatomical Materials of Circulatory System.”

5.8 the 25th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (July 19, 2016)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Development of Tactile Graphics Division Systems to

Make ‘Colored Tactile Graphics’ More Understandable.”

5.9 the 17th Meetings of the Japanese Association for Low-vision Research and

Rehabilitation (August 26, 2016)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Deepening the Understanding of ‘Touch and Perceive’ Art

of Tactile

Graphics: Introduction of Dot and Stripe Patterns.”

5.10 the 47th National Meeting of the Japanese Academy of Advertising (October 16, 2016)

A paper was presented on the topic: “Development and Dissemination of ‘Touch and Perceive

Advertisement’ for People with Visual Impairment”

5.11 the 26th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (June 11, 2017)

A paper was presented on the topic: “By utilization of "capsular paper", From first, we

produce ’Touch and


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Perceive’ Art which we visually impaired the subject”

5.12 the 48th National Meeting of the Japanese Academy of Advertising (October 29, 2017)

A paper was presented on the topic: ”Development and production of easy-to-understand’

Touch and

Perceive’ Advertising that contributes to the visually impaired”

6. Examples of Tactile Graphic


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7. Conclusion

As a result of this study, we now expect the further dissemination of “tactile graphics,” which

can be used in schools for students with visual impairments. This study contributes greatly to the

improvement of education for students with visual impairments. This study has a great meaning

for our university, which serves students with visual impairments. We are actively pursuing the

research, development, and dissemination of “tactile graphics” into the future.

8. Information We Hope to Clarify through Future Research

(1) Useful knowledge about how to produce tactile graphics that meet the needs of people with

various types of visual impairment.

(2) Ways of increasing the precision (and thus the ease of understanding) of three-dimensional

copies

(3) Provision of a standard for converting the visual information from artworks into tactile

information

(4) Using language (text) information as support information, and converting this visual information

into voice information.

*These research and diffusion activities were performed with the support of scientific research

grants for FY

2013–2015 (Project Number 25381296) and 2016 (Project Number 16K04816).

9.References

1. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue: “Research

aiming at enabling visually impaired students to acquire image information and thus

appreciate paintings, etc.”, discretionary budget was allocated by our university

president,2006

2. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue: “Research on

the creation of “touch posters,” which can be appreciated by the visually impaired, the third

spring meeting of the Japan Society of Kansei Engineering”,2007

3. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue: “Research for

the visually impaired peoples to acquire and appreciate the image of paintings etc.”, Grants-

in-Aid for Scientific Research, 2007-2008

4. Teruo Yasuda: “Touch and Perceive” art lecture, the exhibition<Museum’ Utilization and its

Future>of Tsukuba University, 2008

5. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue:Report of

Outline of “See by Touching” Poster and Art in NIKA Exhibition, Tsukuba University of

Technology Techno Report vol.15,pp.197-199,2008

6. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue: Report of

Outline of the Activities of “See by Touching” Art Project, Tsukuba University of

Technology Techno Report vol.16,pp.32-36,2009

7. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Hideji Nagaoka, Miki Namatame, Seiya Inoue: “From

‘Visually Transmitted Design’to the World of “Tactually Transmitted Design”, Japan Society

for Graphic Science Spring Meeting (special lecture), 2009

8. Teruo Yasuda: "Touch Communication Design" which open up the possibility of the art

appreciation of the visually impaired, the autumn meeting of Design Research

Association,2012


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9. Teruo Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda: ”Development and

Dissemination of ‘Colored Tactile Graphics’ applicable to People with Various Visual

Impairment ” , the 23th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (July 19, 2014)

10. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Hirokazu Sakamoto, Takako Yasuda, Junichi

Iizuka: ”Examination of Tactile Graphics in Anatomy: Evaluation of Colored Tactile

Graphics and Conventional Graphics(blackand-white), ” , the 23th Presentation Conference

of Visual Rehabilitation (July 20, 2014)

11. Teruo Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda: ”Development and

Dissemination of ‘Colored Tactile’ Graphics as Universal Arts Appreciation by People with

Various Visual Impairment” , the 15th Meetings of Japanese Association for low-vision

Research and Rehabilitation (November 1, 2014)

12. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Kazuo Kato, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: ”Application

and Issues of Colored Tactile Graphics in Anatomy – Examination of Hue and shading” , the

15th Meetings of Japanese Association for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation

(November 2, 2014)

13. Teruo Yasuda: " Motivation for Development and Dissemination of Colored Tactile Graphics

to Facilitate Art Appreciation by People with Various Visual Impairments”, the autumn

meeting of Design Research Association,2014

14. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: ”Motivation for Development

and Dissemination of ‘Colored Tactile Graphics’Applicable to People with Various Visual

Impairment ” , the 24th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (July 27, 2015)

15. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: “Evaluation of Shading

Density and Color Ground of Dot Pattern in Colored Tactile Graphics”, the 24th Presentation

Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (July 27, 2015)

16. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: ”Issues to Make Colored

Tactile Graphics (Touch and Perceive Arts)More Accessible” , the 16th Meetings of Japanese

Association for low-vision Research and Rehabilitation (November 21, 2015)

17. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Kazuo Kato, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: ”Evaluation of

Shading Density and Ground Color of Stripe Pattern in Colored Tactile Graphics” , the 16th

Meetings of Japanese Association for low-vision Research and Rehabilitation (November 21,

2015)


Tactile Graphics (Touch and Perceive Arts)More Accessible”, the 16th Meetings of Japanese


19. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Kazuo Kato, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka:” Prototyping of

complicated illustration teaching materials by colored tactile graphic-applying to anatomy

circulatory system steel-” , the 25th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (June

18, 2016)

20. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: ”Development of tactile

graphic division method to further make "colored tactile graphic " easier to understand”, the

25th Presentation Conference of Visual Rehabilitation (June 19, 2016)

21. Teruo Yasuda, Akira Okamoto, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka: “Deepen the understanding of

‘Touch and Perceive’ Tactile Graphics - Introduction of dot and stripe patterns”, the 16th

Meetings of Japanese Association for low-vision Research and Rehabilitation

(August,26,2016)


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Tactile Graphics (Touch and Perceive Arts)More Accessible”, the 16th Meetings of Japanese


23. Ayumi Ichikawa, Teruo Yasuda, Kazuo Kato, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka:” Evaluation

o\]f shading density and background color of stripe pattern in Color Tactile Graphics”,

Abstracts of the 24th Annual Meeting on Vision Rehabilitation Research Conference (June

27-28,2015)

24. Teruo Yasuda, Ayumi Ichikawa, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka:” Utilizing ‘Capsule Paper’,

from the beginning ‘Touch and Perceive ‘art production for People with Visual Impairment”,

the 16th Meetings of Japanese Association for low-vision Research and Rehabilitation

(November 21, 2015)

25. Teruo Yasuda: ”Development and Dissemination of ‘Touch and Perceive Advertisement’ for

People with Visual Impairment”, the47th National Meeting of the Japanese Academy of

Advertising (October 16,2016)

26.Teruo Yasuda: “Easier to understand ,to Development and Production of’ Touch and

Perceive Advertisement’ for People with Visual Impairment”, the 48th National Meeting of

the Japanese Academy of Advertising (October 29, 2017)

27.Teruo Yasuda, Ayumi Ichikawa, Takako Yasuda, Junichi Iizuka:” Research and

development of ‘Touch and Perceive ‘ art that can be understood by touching with a hand,

understanding and appreciation with the help of a ‘Tactile Graphics’ even for People with

Visual Impairments”, The 44th Sensory Agency Symposium Program / Abstracts

(December,3,2018)

28.Teruo Yasuda: “Development and production of Universal symbol marks that can be

understood by ‘Touch and Perceive ‘, which contributes to visually impaired”, the 49th

National Meeting of the Japanese Academy of Advertising (October 14, 2018)

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