For Your Information Spring 2009

The Music is the Massage

Ryerson University has new technology that enables people who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music through vibration and images. In February, a team from Ryerson's Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT) and the Department of Psychology's Science of Music, Auditory Research and Technology (SMART) lab unveiled the Emoti-Chair and MusicViz, multimedia systems they developed.

Deborah Fels, director of CLT, came up with the idea for the Emoti-Chair with Graham Smith, an associate and artist, three years ago. Her research team and members of the SMART lab worked closely to make music more accessible, supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada/Canada Council.

They modelled the Emoti-Chair after a human cochlea, an intricate part of the ear that enables a person to hear. There are voice coils embedded in the chair, each synched to an individual sound or note. A person using the chair can experience music in real time through vibrations, rocking motions and blasts of air. MusicViz is the visualization software that helps people "see" songs.

Without the chair, Ellen Hibbard, a student who has been deaf since birth, isn't able to distinguish vocals from instruments. "I need the Emoti- Chair to bring out the richness and depth of music," she said, adding that for her, the chair has opened up a new emotional aspect of music. "When I sit in the Emoti-Chair, I enjoy the wash of emotions playing against my skin." For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca/news/news/Research_News/20090227_Emoti.html.

Eye Spy

Libby Thaw launched the Checkered Eye Project (CEP) in 2000 to raise awareness of low vision. She's since revamped and expanded her product line - which includes stickers, pamphlets, patches and posters bearing the black-and-white emblem. Thaw reports that the checkered eye has spread far and wide - across Canada, into the U.S., and as far as New Zealand. Visit www.checkeredeye.com.

New Guide for Travellers

The Canadian Transportation Agency has released a free guide, Take Charge of Your Travel. It contains information to help travellers with disabilities plan their trips, including details about accessible services for people using planes and trains, as well as buses and ferries that cross a Canadian or provincial border. (The previous version only covered air travel.) The plain-language guide was developed with input from associations of persons with disabilities and the transportation industry.
You can find it online at www.cta.gc.ca.