BT has awarded a discretionary prize to the student designer of an
innovative portable visual display aid for the visually impaired. Laura
Birtwistle from Glasgow School of Art entered her design for the RSA
Design Directions Awards, Inclusive Worlds, which challenged designers
to demonstrate how technology could be used to accommodate those usually
excluded, and to provide greater access to mainstream environments and
services. Her unit magnifies text or images and displays them on an LCD
screen that the user can view. It also has bluetooth connectivity.
“Laura came up with a well-researched and very credible design that
solves a real-world problem”, commented Jeff Patmore, head of BT’s
university research programme. “What is exciting for us is that it opens
up avenues for future products.”
Laura was also awarded the ADAPT (Access for Disabled people to Arts
Premises) Trust Travel Award for her design.
Source: bjhc&im October 2004
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