If you're blind or have low vision, fireworks can feel a little exclusive to those with full sight.。
"Feeling Fireworks" is a new project attempting to make fireworks more inclusive for people with low or limited vision, or who are blind — yep, they're fireworks you can "feel."。
SEE ALSO:This laser-equipped helmet can help a blind person 'see'。A new project by Disney Research and ETH Zurich's Dorothea Reusser, Espen Knoop, Roland Siegwart and Paul Beardsley, it's a large-scale tactile firework show in which water jets are directed onto a flexible screen.。
Users put their hands up against the other side of the screen, a rear-mounted Kinect detects the user, and they will be able to feel "tactile fireworks that are directly analogous to physical fireworks happening in the sky."。
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Different nozzles produce different "firework" effects — three jet nozzles for creating rockets and explosions, one shower nozzle for creating crackle effects, and one nozzle for a blooming flower effect.。
The nozzles are mounted on pan-tilt units to render movement across a latex screen, and the water moves through the system by a controllable pump.。
Plus, the team propose a visual element to the screen as well, for total inclusivity. "We envisage it as an installation at a firework show that attracts all crowd members to share the experience of feeling fireworks," says the research paper.。 According to 。According to 。 New Scientist 。, the project is still in demonstration phase, having shown at the User Interface Software and Technology conference in October.。
NS 。
reports that the technology has only been fully tested on seeing users so far, with the intention to test it on blind users soon.。
Probably wise?
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