Tactile MapTile
This project presents an alternative approach to understanding the pedestrian experience. Challenging the existing primacy afforded to vision, this work takes a tactile approach. Physical abstractions are used as a means to guide people through the multi-sensory environments encountered everyday. Designed as tools that enhance spatial understanding for people within a large range of visual capacities, these maps consider circumstances that influence a full spectrum of experience. These tiles confront gaps in the cartographic record as it pertains to inclusive design, and considers how that is manifest in the lived experience.
Developed under the guidance of the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology. This work pairs a participatory, data-driven design approach together with interdisciplinary collaboration. 3D printed, parametrically designed map tiles allow for user feedback, and ever changing open-data sets to be quickly incorporated.