CA1141600A - Color-coded device - Google Patents
Color-coded deviceInfo
- Publication number
- CA1141600A CA1141600A CA000318034A CA318034A CA1141600A CA 1141600 A CA1141600 A CA 1141600A CA 000318034 A CA000318034 A CA 000318034A CA 318034 A CA318034 A CA 318034A CA 1141600 A CA1141600 A CA 1141600A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- color
- blind
- indicator
- portions
- colors
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
- G09B21/00—Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
- G09B21/001—Teaching or communicating with blind persons
- G09B21/003—Teaching or communicating with blind persons using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Educational Administration (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Audiology, Speech & Language Pathology (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Educational Technology (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Toys (AREA)
- Spectrometry And Color Measurement (AREA)
- Inspection Of Paper Currency And Valuable Securities (AREA)
- Details Of Garments (AREA)
Abstract
COLOR-CODED CONCEPT DEVICE FOR VISUALLY HANDICAPPED
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Device having a surface which is divided into a plurality of portions, each portion being provided with a distinct color and a textured surface corresponding to each of the said portions, which texture is capable of being sensed by feel and having a separate, distinctive character corresponding to the color of the portion.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Device having a surface which is divided into a plurality of portions, each portion being provided with a distinct color and a textured surface corresponding to each of the said portions, which texture is capable of being sensed by feel and having a separate, distinctive character corresponding to the color of the portion.
Description
BAC~GR:OUNI:~ OF: l'HE: IN~lh'NTI~N
One of the impo.rtant problems facing the visually handicapped person, is his inability to.see and appreciate color and to di.stinguish one color from another.
This means, for instance, that he is unable to appreciate some of the great paintings of the world. Even when a painting is reproduced with the major dividing lines appearing as raised lines,.it is impossible for the blind person to appreciate in any way the.variatians and shades of. color. Because color is so much part of the sighted persons world, many articles depend on color not ~O only for aesthetic appearance (as.in the case of a painting), but also for warning and instructions.as in the case of a dir.ectional light.at a.street.inter.section.
..
~' Even the color-blind person has the difficulty that, in the case of signals, he cannot distinguish one color from another. In the case of paintings and the like, he can see outlines, but he has no way of visualizing color contrast;
even in selecting his clothing he has no way of matching clothing and accessories. These and other difficulties experienced in the prior art have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a device that will permit visually handi~apped persons to sense the meaning, distribution, and quality of color.
Another objeet of this invention i5 the provision of a device bearing indieia whieh ean be sensed by a eolor pereeptive person and also carries a coding which ean be sensed by a non-eolor pereeptive person.
A further objeet of the present invention is the provision of a method of eoding articles so that they not only bear discrete colors in various areas, but so that ~0 these areas ean be sensed by toueh and distinguished from one another.
It is another objeet of the instant invention to provide a method of eoding eolored bbjeets so that they are eapable of being sensed by feel, the method allowing ~S the eonstruetion of sueh a deviee which is simple in con-struetion, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is eapable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenanee.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a device having portions which are distin-guishable by touch, so that persons who have been blind throughout their entire lives and who have never seen color can, nevertheless, receive some impression of the nature of color.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system of color-coding that can be used every-where that the color is important to act as a standard color code for visually handicapped persons.
It is a still further bbject of the invention to provide an apparatus having an indicator chan~eable to a plurality of visually-distinguishable modes and a device operative to present a plurality of portions in 1~ synchronization with the indicator, which portions are coded to be distinguishable by touch.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.
''S'UMMA;~Y OF :TE~ INVENTI~N
-In general, the invention has to do with an article for use by visually handicapped persons, the article having a first portion in the general shape of a closed plane figure, the entire first portion being colored with a single color and capable of being sensed by non-visual means. The device has a second portion in the general shape of a closed plane figure, entirely colored by another color and also having a surface which ;10 is capable of being sensed by non-visual'means., The sensing means of the first portion is readily distinguish-able from that of the second portion.
More specifically, the sensing means consists of a surface texture that is capable of being recognized by the sense of feel. The surface of the article is divided into a plurality of discrete portions, the portions being colored in a variety of colors, each portion being colored with a single color only, and each portion having a given color and being provided with a surface having a texture that is distinctive of that color and readily distinguishable by the sense of feel from the texture used in any portion textured for another color. The texture in every case is in the form of straight parallel ridges (either horizontal or diagonal) and the texture of one ~5 color is readily distinguishable from the textures of the other color because of the orientation of the ridges, some of the textures consisting of crossed sets of ridges.
The textures may be coded to show the density (or tone) of the color by using ridges that are closer to~ether.
BRI~F'D~S'C~I'P:TI'O~-OF THEi'DRAWINGS
The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, . in which:
Figure: 1 is a plan view of a teaching device incorporating the principles of the present invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device taken on the line II-II of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a traffic signal using the principles of the invention, Figure 4 is a somewhat schematic view of portions of the signal shown in Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a work of art that incorporates the principles of the invention.
DESC~IP~ION ~F :THE'P:REFE'RRE'D'EMB'ODIMæ~T
Referring first to.Figure 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention,. the article, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown as for use by a visually handicapped person, particularly for a blind person. The artic.le consists of a first portion 11 having a periphery 12 in the general shape of a closed plane figure, in this. case a 60 segment of a circle. The entire area within the periphery 12, has a _.5_ first color such as yellow, and has a surface 13 that is provided with non-visual sensing means 17. In the preferred embodiment the article is formed of thermo-plastic by the injection molded process.
The article has a second portion 14, having a periphery 15 in the same general shape as the pr.eviously described periphery 12 and has a second color such as green. The portion 14 also has a surface 16 that has the same type of non-visual sensing means 18, the sensing means of the first portion 11 being readily distinguishable from that of the second portion 14. The sensing means 17 and 18 both consist of a surface texture which is capable of being recognized by the sense of feel.
It can be seen, then, that the artic.le has a surface divided into a plurality of discrete portions, the portions being colored in a variety of colors. In the illustrated embodiment the.colors are yellow, green,. b:lue, violet, red, brown, and orange in accordance wi.th the standard color wheel. Each portion, such as the portions ll and 14, ~0 are colored with a single color only and each portion has a given color and is provided with a:surface having a texture that is distinctive of that color and readily distinguishable by the sense of feel from the texture used in any portion provided with another color. In Fi.gure l, for instance, it :.
~5 can be seen that the yellow portion has the ridges extending horizontally. The orange portion has the ridges extending at a 45 angle from left to right and the green portion has 3~6~
the ridges extending at a 45 angle from right to let.
The blue portion has the colors extending horizontally with broken ridges alternating with straight ridges. The violet has the ridges crossed. The red portion has the ridges extending horizontally but closer together than in the YELLOW section. A peg is provided on the periphery of the article to indicate the top for orientation pur-posesO
A hexagonal central area is coded for the color BROWN, while at the upper portion are provided raised portions coded for BLACK and WHITE. It should be noted that the BLACK portion consists of a plurality of raised dots, thus indicating high density; as a matter of fact, since BLACK is the most dense of all "colors", the feeling generated by the dots is that of a large number of raised elements. Now, the WHIT~ (being the absence o color) has no raised dots or elements and, therefore, is the least dense and is shown simply by its outline. The other colors are provided with element frequencies commensurate with ~0 their densities and, the case of BROWN, shown in the cen-tral hexagonal portion, not only has a pattern of lines and dots that are distinctive (for color identical purposes) but has high pattern frequency to give the concept of high density.
~5 It can be seen, then, that the texture in every case is in the form of straight parallel ridges and dots and the texture of one color is readily distinguishable from the textures of the other colors, because of the orientation of the ridges, some of the textures consisting of crossed sets of ridges.
6()~
1 Referring to Figures 3 and 4, it can be seen that the article, indicated generally by the reference numeral ~0, is shown as a signal light 26 supported on a post 27. The element 31 at the bottom portion has a surface 21 divided into three 120 portions 22, 23, and 24, the portion 22 being exposed in an opening 28 in the casing. The portion 22 has a surface texture 25. The signal light 26 has an indicator 29 having a plurality of visually-distinguishable displays, in this case a red, yellow, and green light. The indicator, of course, is changeable to only one light at a time in the usual manner. The element 31 is movable in synchronization with the changes in the indicator 29 so as to expose at any given time one of the portions 22, 23, and 24. Each portion has a surface texture distinguishable from the surface texture of the other portions by the sense of feel.
The exposed portion corresponds to the display which is evident at the indicator 29. AS has been stated, the displays in the indicator~29 are of different colors and the surface texture in the particular portion 22, 23, and 24 which is exposed at a given time corresponds to the color then on display at the lights. The element 31 is movable by means of a motor 32 and the indicator is changeable by means of another motor 33 operating a switch 34 in the usual way and the two motors are operated in synchronization by a servo 35. A variation of the invention consists of a fixed plate in which the sections can be individually vibrated in synchronization with the color which is lighted.
` ~
6~
The operation and the advantages of the present invention will now be readily understood in vie~ o-f the above description. In order that the system may work effectively, the uisually handicapped person must first memorize a chart of the type shown in connection with the article 10. In this embodiment of the invention, the article 10 is shown as a hexagonal plate which may be either carried in the pocket of the user as a reminder of the color code, or worn around the neck as a piece of jewelry (or as a watch face) having the dual function of being pleasing in appearance, while acting as a decoding device. Presumably, the visually handicapped person will soon memorize the touch code, however, and will not need a decoding chart. `Nevertheless, for the purpose of allow-ing sighted persons to make use of this code and for explaining the code to other persons, a device of this kind can be very useful. It should be noted that the colors are arranged in the form of the standard primary and secondary color chart (in which complementary colors ~0 are located diametrically across from one another) that has been used for some time for teaching colors and their relationships to young children or anyone learning color.
Whatever device is provided with this coding (either the article 10 or some other article), the visually handicapped ~S or blind person can obtain some indication of the relation-ships of colors in the world and in art.
When applied to the traffic light, shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sighted person will use the lamp 29 as they go from red to yellow to green and back again in the usual way. The blind person, waiting to cross the _g_ :, 6(~
~g street, will simply feel the opening~in the window of the element 31 attached to the bottom of the post 27 at a suitable height. Since only one of the three coded portions 22, 23, and 24 will be exposed in synchroniza-tion with the lamps 29, the blind person will know exactly what the traffic signal is showing and will govern his activity accordingly.
When the principles of the invention are applied to a picture 38, as shown in Fiyure 5, the frame will be provided with a peg 37 which would indicate to the visually-handicapped person the top of the picture. Other-wise, the coding becomes incorrectly read. Normally, if the picture is mounted on the wall, however, this would not be necessary. In this particular landscape version, the foliage 38 of the tree is coded for GREEN, the trunk 39 is coded BROWN, *he sky 41 is coded for BLUE, the ground 42 is coded for GREEN, the main part of the mountain 43 is coded for VIOLET, and the peak 44 of the mountain lacks any color code and, therefore, would be considered as ~0 WHITE.
The many advantages of the present invention will be readily understood in view of the above description~
The invention has many uses that are creative, educational, useful, and decorative. It may, for instance, be used in ~5 teaching sighted children and may act as the color bridge between the sighted and the blind. As has been mentioned ;`
above, the color chart may be used as a jewelry emblem in many ways. Certainly, for the blind it can act as a means of projecting form, perspective, and color even to persons who have never been able to see. As has been pointed out, particul-arly in connection with such functional items as are described in connection with Figures 3 and 4, the color coding can be very useful. It can be used for indicat~ng the colors of clothing by providing a label coding which can be used not only for the blind, but also for the color-blind in assisting them in selecting their clothing. Even sighted children would enjoy making pictures by using paper which has been particularly textured in accordance with the above-described color code, as well as having a visual color. One passibility is that the colored and textured paper could be transluscent to assist sighted children in tracing the outlines of the figures of the drawing and their textured color. The pictures constructed in this way can be used for testing the aptitude of a sighted child as to whether he can ~latch patterns. After the sighted child has used such materials to make a pic-ture, it can be submitted and used by a blind child to ;` read, thus building a library of readable pictures and thus bringing about a communication between si~hted and blind people. In the past, the concept of color has been avoided in teaching the blind, because it has been advisable they not be told about something o~ which they could have no concept and because it would make them further feel .
the inadequacy of blindness. Because of this failure to give blind persons even the basic concepts of color, they also fail to appreciate the concept of outline form of articles, thereby not realizing how form is put on a flat surface to produce a drawing or painted picture.
One easy way to carry out the concepts of the present invention are to draw the lines or ridges on heavy aluminum foil which has previously been laid over a layer of felt or the like. When this drawing has been completed, by *urning the foil over, the bl.ind person can feel on the reverse side the code on the lines of the foil.
One use for the present system would be to provide colored crayons formed of a soap substance that . can be removed by washing from a painting after.use by the blind student. The crayon, first of all, can be provided with a color code. embossed on.its side or top to correspond to the picture's textured colors. When raised barrier outlines are provided in the drawing, the coloring by the s.tudent would take place, of course, only as far as the barriers. The teacher, by noting the color that has been applied to the element, can . easily tell the mental aptitude of the child doing the drawing or painting. Fur.thermore, the child's knowl.edge of the outlines of simple objects, such as an apple, may sometime build upon his creative ability to.become an artist. A form of art can very well be developed which would be best appreciated by other blind people, but.it n~
could also be enjoyed by sighted persons. It would also give the blind individual a knowledge of flat form. This could serve as another method of bridging the gap between the sighted and the blind, so as to permit inter-relationship artistically and bring the blind into discussions of art and color. This would add a scope of life that the blind do not have at the present time. It could, of course, lead to exhibits of blind art that could be appreciated by sighted persons also.
It can be seen from the above discussion that many products can be developed making use of a touch-color coding system. First of all, the universal touch-color wheel itself (with its color symbols and its textured quadrants) is not only a teaching element, but a delight-ful jeweIry piece. Tinted material, such~as paper sheets, can be sight-colored as well as printed with the touch texture for use in cut-outs and the like in making pictures which are visible to sighted persons as well as readahle by blind persons. This would involve not on~ly material ~0 which is printed in a` manner of a book, but also a product in the form of a sheet. Each sheet would have its ~olor and texture built in. A plastic recess plate of a figure (such as an apple or a bell) can be manufactured carrying the code and having the boundary margins, in a manner similar to a color section of the article shown in Figure 1, for coloring by the blind. Associated with such materials would be the soap-like crayons, not only carry-ing the color coding on *he side or top to indicate to . : ~
, the blind person the nature of the color, but also made so as to be washable from the plastic recessed plates which have been described above for use over again. It can even be visualized that a camera could be provided which would not only produce the conventional color prints, but also textured portions in accordance with the above code. Many devices similar to the traffic light, described and shown in Figures 3 and 4, can be visualized. For instance, the: coding could be "read" by an electronic stylus that would emit a sound commensurate with.the color being heard. Certainly,.jewelry could be developed in the manner of colisonn~, having not only visual color, but also the touch-readable color code. Also, one of the concepts that is diffi:cult to teach blind persons is that of the outline of objects. By providing the present system, where the raised outline: can be felt and by using the color "differentl' texture combined with the nature of the outl.ine, some concept of perspective will result. Where a large area of a given color is: used, it ~0 may not be necessary to. texturize the entire area, b~ut only to use a small spot o.the color coding. Also, in braille literature, color can be indicated in the text by a color code of the type described above or.even by a simplified version of it, such as an angular line related to the position of the. color located on the color :chart.
It might.even be possihle to teach perspect~ve by drawing the outlines of objects as:the sighted person sees them, so that the blind person can realize how an object which is very large appears smaller and smaller at a greater and greater distance. The present concept may be used in conjunction with transposing ordinary pictures into ~mbossment by computerization.
With regard to the teaching concept of "TOUCH
COLOR", as projected to the born-blind student, keeping in mind that the standard color wheel is composed of yellow, red, blue which are primary (pure) colors and orange, violet, green which are secondary (mixed) colors, in this case BLACK is full obstruction and WHIT~ is non-obstruction:
It may be helpful in understanding the present invention to visualize the coding on a large scale, i.e., by supposing that one is standing by a window that consists of a frame only, as in white, the area wi-thin and between the framing is an entire area of "non-density". Now, place "louvres" horizontally across the space (as yellow in Figure 1) spaced wide enough, so that a blind student could put his entire hand through and between each "louvre".
These louvres will add "density" of obstruction to a greater degree than white. Now, this brings about the suggestion that yellow, as the sighted see it, is *he less .
dense color of all the primary and secondary colors - and a further suggestion that it is known to the sighted world as a "warm" color.
Now, if one adds twice as many horizontal "louvres" than is present in yellow (as is true with red on the apparatus) the student will find he now can only put his fingers through the opening of "this" density and ; 30 he is told by the sighted world that RED is a "hot" color.
It is not necessary to have heating eIements in teaching;
~ . :
~ .
even the born-blind all have felt heat, warmth, and cold, so that they definitely set a value from the density or "darkness" of the color as to whether or not the color has heat, warmth, or a cold feeling to its value. Blue is known as a "cold" color. The secondary colors are made up of two particular primaries mixed to obtain a particular secondary (one of the three standards). Each have a distinctive value, apart, yet between the primaries.
For instance:
Orange is a combination of warm and hot, Green is a comhination of warm and cold, and Violet is a combination of hot and cold.
By mixing these values mentally and by touching the texture and understanding their dens.ity, (in relation-lS ship to having felt warmth, hot, and cold in.every day living), a color.value may be:achieved that is.very much in relationship to color as the sighted "see".it. The concept falls in line with the way the sighted talk about, choose, and feel about the various colors and their values.
~0 In the apparatus to suggest the mixin~ of values, the lines are made diagonal or with dots to.show :full density. BLUE has broken lines in its ".texture" to suggest it is the darker color and indicates some further xelationship to the darkness of BLACK hut, because in the louvre system ~5 described above, the pIacement of horizontal BLUE would enable the student to put his fingers between the louvres as they did in RED, so that he receives a true feeling of a definite color.value for BLUE, even though the broken o~
lines suggest its getting darker in value. The student should arrive at a feeling of a pleasant, cool value for BLUE as the sight~d "feel" about the color, generally speaking.
So the full concept of the use of the apparatus in teaching includes:
1. Touch sense texture,
One of the impo.rtant problems facing the visually handicapped person, is his inability to.see and appreciate color and to di.stinguish one color from another.
This means, for instance, that he is unable to appreciate some of the great paintings of the world. Even when a painting is reproduced with the major dividing lines appearing as raised lines,.it is impossible for the blind person to appreciate in any way the.variatians and shades of. color. Because color is so much part of the sighted persons world, many articles depend on color not ~O only for aesthetic appearance (as.in the case of a painting), but also for warning and instructions.as in the case of a dir.ectional light.at a.street.inter.section.
..
~' Even the color-blind person has the difficulty that, in the case of signals, he cannot distinguish one color from another. In the case of paintings and the like, he can see outlines, but he has no way of visualizing color contrast;
even in selecting his clothing he has no way of matching clothing and accessories. These and other difficulties experienced in the prior art have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a device that will permit visually handi~apped persons to sense the meaning, distribution, and quality of color.
Another objeet of this invention i5 the provision of a device bearing indieia whieh ean be sensed by a eolor pereeptive person and also carries a coding which ean be sensed by a non-eolor pereeptive person.
A further objeet of the present invention is the provision of a method of eoding articles so that they not only bear discrete colors in various areas, but so that ~0 these areas ean be sensed by toueh and distinguished from one another.
It is another objeet of the instant invention to provide a method of eoding eolored bbjeets so that they are eapable of being sensed by feel, the method allowing ~S the eonstruetion of sueh a deviee which is simple in con-struetion, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which is eapable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenanee.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a device having portions which are distin-guishable by touch, so that persons who have been blind throughout their entire lives and who have never seen color can, nevertheless, receive some impression of the nature of color.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system of color-coding that can be used every-where that the color is important to act as a standard color code for visually handicapped persons.
It is a still further bbject of the invention to provide an apparatus having an indicator chan~eable to a plurality of visually-distinguishable modes and a device operative to present a plurality of portions in 1~ synchronization with the indicator, which portions are coded to be distinguishable by touch.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.
''S'UMMA;~Y OF :TE~ INVENTI~N
-In general, the invention has to do with an article for use by visually handicapped persons, the article having a first portion in the general shape of a closed plane figure, the entire first portion being colored with a single color and capable of being sensed by non-visual means. The device has a second portion in the general shape of a closed plane figure, entirely colored by another color and also having a surface which ;10 is capable of being sensed by non-visual'means., The sensing means of the first portion is readily distinguish-able from that of the second portion.
More specifically, the sensing means consists of a surface texture that is capable of being recognized by the sense of feel. The surface of the article is divided into a plurality of discrete portions, the portions being colored in a variety of colors, each portion being colored with a single color only, and each portion having a given color and being provided with a surface having a texture that is distinctive of that color and readily distinguishable by the sense of feel from the texture used in any portion textured for another color. The texture in every case is in the form of straight parallel ridges (either horizontal or diagonal) and the texture of one ~5 color is readily distinguishable from the textures of the other color because of the orientation of the ridges, some of the textures consisting of crossed sets of ridges.
The textures may be coded to show the density (or tone) of the color by using ridges that are closer to~ether.
BRI~F'D~S'C~I'P:TI'O~-OF THEi'DRAWINGS
The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, . in which:
Figure: 1 is a plan view of a teaching device incorporating the principles of the present invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device taken on the line II-II of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a traffic signal using the principles of the invention, Figure 4 is a somewhat schematic view of portions of the signal shown in Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a work of art that incorporates the principles of the invention.
DESC~IP~ION ~F :THE'P:REFE'RRE'D'EMB'ODIMæ~T
Referring first to.Figure 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention,. the article, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown as for use by a visually handicapped person, particularly for a blind person. The artic.le consists of a first portion 11 having a periphery 12 in the general shape of a closed plane figure, in this. case a 60 segment of a circle. The entire area within the periphery 12, has a _.5_ first color such as yellow, and has a surface 13 that is provided with non-visual sensing means 17. In the preferred embodiment the article is formed of thermo-plastic by the injection molded process.
The article has a second portion 14, having a periphery 15 in the same general shape as the pr.eviously described periphery 12 and has a second color such as green. The portion 14 also has a surface 16 that has the same type of non-visual sensing means 18, the sensing means of the first portion 11 being readily distinguishable from that of the second portion 14. The sensing means 17 and 18 both consist of a surface texture which is capable of being recognized by the sense of feel.
It can be seen, then, that the artic.le has a surface divided into a plurality of discrete portions, the portions being colored in a variety of colors. In the illustrated embodiment the.colors are yellow, green,. b:lue, violet, red, brown, and orange in accordance wi.th the standard color wheel. Each portion, such as the portions ll and 14, ~0 are colored with a single color only and each portion has a given color and is provided with a:surface having a texture that is distinctive of that color and readily distinguishable by the sense of feel from the texture used in any portion provided with another color. In Fi.gure l, for instance, it :.
~5 can be seen that the yellow portion has the ridges extending horizontally. The orange portion has the ridges extending at a 45 angle from left to right and the green portion has 3~6~
the ridges extending at a 45 angle from right to let.
The blue portion has the colors extending horizontally with broken ridges alternating with straight ridges. The violet has the ridges crossed. The red portion has the ridges extending horizontally but closer together than in the YELLOW section. A peg is provided on the periphery of the article to indicate the top for orientation pur-posesO
A hexagonal central area is coded for the color BROWN, while at the upper portion are provided raised portions coded for BLACK and WHITE. It should be noted that the BLACK portion consists of a plurality of raised dots, thus indicating high density; as a matter of fact, since BLACK is the most dense of all "colors", the feeling generated by the dots is that of a large number of raised elements. Now, the WHIT~ (being the absence o color) has no raised dots or elements and, therefore, is the least dense and is shown simply by its outline. The other colors are provided with element frequencies commensurate with ~0 their densities and, the case of BROWN, shown in the cen-tral hexagonal portion, not only has a pattern of lines and dots that are distinctive (for color identical purposes) but has high pattern frequency to give the concept of high density.
~5 It can be seen, then, that the texture in every case is in the form of straight parallel ridges and dots and the texture of one color is readily distinguishable from the textures of the other colors, because of the orientation of the ridges, some of the textures consisting of crossed sets of ridges.
6()~
1 Referring to Figures 3 and 4, it can be seen that the article, indicated generally by the reference numeral ~0, is shown as a signal light 26 supported on a post 27. The element 31 at the bottom portion has a surface 21 divided into three 120 portions 22, 23, and 24, the portion 22 being exposed in an opening 28 in the casing. The portion 22 has a surface texture 25. The signal light 26 has an indicator 29 having a plurality of visually-distinguishable displays, in this case a red, yellow, and green light. The indicator, of course, is changeable to only one light at a time in the usual manner. The element 31 is movable in synchronization with the changes in the indicator 29 so as to expose at any given time one of the portions 22, 23, and 24. Each portion has a surface texture distinguishable from the surface texture of the other portions by the sense of feel.
The exposed portion corresponds to the display which is evident at the indicator 29. AS has been stated, the displays in the indicator~29 are of different colors and the surface texture in the particular portion 22, 23, and 24 which is exposed at a given time corresponds to the color then on display at the lights. The element 31 is movable by means of a motor 32 and the indicator is changeable by means of another motor 33 operating a switch 34 in the usual way and the two motors are operated in synchronization by a servo 35. A variation of the invention consists of a fixed plate in which the sections can be individually vibrated in synchronization with the color which is lighted.
` ~
6~
The operation and the advantages of the present invention will now be readily understood in vie~ o-f the above description. In order that the system may work effectively, the uisually handicapped person must first memorize a chart of the type shown in connection with the article 10. In this embodiment of the invention, the article 10 is shown as a hexagonal plate which may be either carried in the pocket of the user as a reminder of the color code, or worn around the neck as a piece of jewelry (or as a watch face) having the dual function of being pleasing in appearance, while acting as a decoding device. Presumably, the visually handicapped person will soon memorize the touch code, however, and will not need a decoding chart. `Nevertheless, for the purpose of allow-ing sighted persons to make use of this code and for explaining the code to other persons, a device of this kind can be very useful. It should be noted that the colors are arranged in the form of the standard primary and secondary color chart (in which complementary colors ~0 are located diametrically across from one another) that has been used for some time for teaching colors and their relationships to young children or anyone learning color.
Whatever device is provided with this coding (either the article 10 or some other article), the visually handicapped ~S or blind person can obtain some indication of the relation-ships of colors in the world and in art.
When applied to the traffic light, shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sighted person will use the lamp 29 as they go from red to yellow to green and back again in the usual way. The blind person, waiting to cross the _g_ :, 6(~
~g street, will simply feel the opening~in the window of the element 31 attached to the bottom of the post 27 at a suitable height. Since only one of the three coded portions 22, 23, and 24 will be exposed in synchroniza-tion with the lamps 29, the blind person will know exactly what the traffic signal is showing and will govern his activity accordingly.
When the principles of the invention are applied to a picture 38, as shown in Fiyure 5, the frame will be provided with a peg 37 which would indicate to the visually-handicapped person the top of the picture. Other-wise, the coding becomes incorrectly read. Normally, if the picture is mounted on the wall, however, this would not be necessary. In this particular landscape version, the foliage 38 of the tree is coded for GREEN, the trunk 39 is coded BROWN, *he sky 41 is coded for BLUE, the ground 42 is coded for GREEN, the main part of the mountain 43 is coded for VIOLET, and the peak 44 of the mountain lacks any color code and, therefore, would be considered as ~0 WHITE.
The many advantages of the present invention will be readily understood in view of the above description~
The invention has many uses that are creative, educational, useful, and decorative. It may, for instance, be used in ~5 teaching sighted children and may act as the color bridge between the sighted and the blind. As has been mentioned ;`
above, the color chart may be used as a jewelry emblem in many ways. Certainly, for the blind it can act as a means of projecting form, perspective, and color even to persons who have never been able to see. As has been pointed out, particul-arly in connection with such functional items as are described in connection with Figures 3 and 4, the color coding can be very useful. It can be used for indicat~ng the colors of clothing by providing a label coding which can be used not only for the blind, but also for the color-blind in assisting them in selecting their clothing. Even sighted children would enjoy making pictures by using paper which has been particularly textured in accordance with the above-described color code, as well as having a visual color. One passibility is that the colored and textured paper could be transluscent to assist sighted children in tracing the outlines of the figures of the drawing and their textured color. The pictures constructed in this way can be used for testing the aptitude of a sighted child as to whether he can ~latch patterns. After the sighted child has used such materials to make a pic-ture, it can be submitted and used by a blind child to ;` read, thus building a library of readable pictures and thus bringing about a communication between si~hted and blind people. In the past, the concept of color has been avoided in teaching the blind, because it has been advisable they not be told about something o~ which they could have no concept and because it would make them further feel .
the inadequacy of blindness. Because of this failure to give blind persons even the basic concepts of color, they also fail to appreciate the concept of outline form of articles, thereby not realizing how form is put on a flat surface to produce a drawing or painted picture.
One easy way to carry out the concepts of the present invention are to draw the lines or ridges on heavy aluminum foil which has previously been laid over a layer of felt or the like. When this drawing has been completed, by *urning the foil over, the bl.ind person can feel on the reverse side the code on the lines of the foil.
One use for the present system would be to provide colored crayons formed of a soap substance that . can be removed by washing from a painting after.use by the blind student. The crayon, first of all, can be provided with a color code. embossed on.its side or top to correspond to the picture's textured colors. When raised barrier outlines are provided in the drawing, the coloring by the s.tudent would take place, of course, only as far as the barriers. The teacher, by noting the color that has been applied to the element, can . easily tell the mental aptitude of the child doing the drawing or painting. Fur.thermore, the child's knowl.edge of the outlines of simple objects, such as an apple, may sometime build upon his creative ability to.become an artist. A form of art can very well be developed which would be best appreciated by other blind people, but.it n~
could also be enjoyed by sighted persons. It would also give the blind individual a knowledge of flat form. This could serve as another method of bridging the gap between the sighted and the blind, so as to permit inter-relationship artistically and bring the blind into discussions of art and color. This would add a scope of life that the blind do not have at the present time. It could, of course, lead to exhibits of blind art that could be appreciated by sighted persons also.
It can be seen from the above discussion that many products can be developed making use of a touch-color coding system. First of all, the universal touch-color wheel itself (with its color symbols and its textured quadrants) is not only a teaching element, but a delight-ful jeweIry piece. Tinted material, such~as paper sheets, can be sight-colored as well as printed with the touch texture for use in cut-outs and the like in making pictures which are visible to sighted persons as well as readahle by blind persons. This would involve not on~ly material ~0 which is printed in a` manner of a book, but also a product in the form of a sheet. Each sheet would have its ~olor and texture built in. A plastic recess plate of a figure (such as an apple or a bell) can be manufactured carrying the code and having the boundary margins, in a manner similar to a color section of the article shown in Figure 1, for coloring by the blind. Associated with such materials would be the soap-like crayons, not only carry-ing the color coding on *he side or top to indicate to . : ~
, the blind person the nature of the color, but also made so as to be washable from the plastic recessed plates which have been described above for use over again. It can even be visualized that a camera could be provided which would not only produce the conventional color prints, but also textured portions in accordance with the above code. Many devices similar to the traffic light, described and shown in Figures 3 and 4, can be visualized. For instance, the: coding could be "read" by an electronic stylus that would emit a sound commensurate with.the color being heard. Certainly,.jewelry could be developed in the manner of colisonn~, having not only visual color, but also the touch-readable color code. Also, one of the concepts that is diffi:cult to teach blind persons is that of the outline of objects. By providing the present system, where the raised outline: can be felt and by using the color "differentl' texture combined with the nature of the outl.ine, some concept of perspective will result. Where a large area of a given color is: used, it ~0 may not be necessary to. texturize the entire area, b~ut only to use a small spot o.the color coding. Also, in braille literature, color can be indicated in the text by a color code of the type described above or.even by a simplified version of it, such as an angular line related to the position of the. color located on the color :chart.
It might.even be possihle to teach perspect~ve by drawing the outlines of objects as:the sighted person sees them, so that the blind person can realize how an object which is very large appears smaller and smaller at a greater and greater distance. The present concept may be used in conjunction with transposing ordinary pictures into ~mbossment by computerization.
With regard to the teaching concept of "TOUCH
COLOR", as projected to the born-blind student, keeping in mind that the standard color wheel is composed of yellow, red, blue which are primary (pure) colors and orange, violet, green which are secondary (mixed) colors, in this case BLACK is full obstruction and WHIT~ is non-obstruction:
It may be helpful in understanding the present invention to visualize the coding on a large scale, i.e., by supposing that one is standing by a window that consists of a frame only, as in white, the area wi-thin and between the framing is an entire area of "non-density". Now, place "louvres" horizontally across the space (as yellow in Figure 1) spaced wide enough, so that a blind student could put his entire hand through and between each "louvre".
These louvres will add "density" of obstruction to a greater degree than white. Now, this brings about the suggestion that yellow, as the sighted see it, is *he less .
dense color of all the primary and secondary colors - and a further suggestion that it is known to the sighted world as a "warm" color.
Now, if one adds twice as many horizontal "louvres" than is present in yellow (as is true with red on the apparatus) the student will find he now can only put his fingers through the opening of "this" density and ; 30 he is told by the sighted world that RED is a "hot" color.
It is not necessary to have heating eIements in teaching;
~ . :
~ .
even the born-blind all have felt heat, warmth, and cold, so that they definitely set a value from the density or "darkness" of the color as to whether or not the color has heat, warmth, or a cold feeling to its value. Blue is known as a "cold" color. The secondary colors are made up of two particular primaries mixed to obtain a particular secondary (one of the three standards). Each have a distinctive value, apart, yet between the primaries.
For instance:
Orange is a combination of warm and hot, Green is a comhination of warm and cold, and Violet is a combination of hot and cold.
By mixing these values mentally and by touching the texture and understanding their dens.ity, (in relation-lS ship to having felt warmth, hot, and cold in.every day living), a color.value may be:achieved that is.very much in relationship to color as the sighted "see".it. The concept falls in line with the way the sighted talk about, choose, and feel about the various colors and their values.
~0 In the apparatus to suggest the mixin~ of values, the lines are made diagonal or with dots to.show :full density. BLUE has broken lines in its ".texture" to suggest it is the darker color and indicates some further xelationship to the darkness of BLACK hut, because in the louvre system ~5 described above, the pIacement of horizontal BLUE would enable the student to put his fingers between the louvres as they did in RED, so that he receives a true feeling of a definite color.value for BLUE, even though the broken o~
lines suggest its getting darker in value. The student should arrive at a feeling of a pleasant, cool value for BLUE as the sight~d "feel" about the color, generally speaking.
So the full concept of the use of the apparatus in teaching includes:
1. Touch sense texture,
2. Density color value, and
3. Degree of warmth or cold.
It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without de-parting from the material essence thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.
The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure bv Letters Patent is :
:~ .
<
' .
It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without de-parting from the material essence thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.
The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure bv Letters Patent is :
:~ .
<
' .
Claims (2)
1. Article for use by a visually handicapped person, comprising:
(a) an indicator electrically changeable to show one of a plurality of visual displays, each display having a different color, and (b) an element having a plurality of portions, the portions having individual textures distinguishable from each other by the sense of feel and matched with the colors of the visual display, said element being located remotely of the indicator and movable in synchronism with the changes in the indicator, so as to expose at any given time a portion which is matched with the color of the visual display shown by the indicator.
(a) an indicator electrically changeable to show one of a plurality of visual displays, each display having a different color, and (b) an element having a plurality of portions, the portions having individual textures distinguishable from each other by the sense of feel and matched with the colors of the visual display, said element being located remotely of the indicator and movable in synchronism with the changes in the indicator, so as to expose at any given time a portion which is matched with the color of the visual display shown by the indicator.
2. Article as recited in claim 1, wherein the element is movable by means of a motor, wherein the indicator is change-able by means of a motor and switch, and wherein the two motors are operated in synchronization by servo means.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US86331277A | 1977-12-22 | 1977-12-22 | |
| US863,312 | 1977-12-22 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1141600A true CA1141600A (en) | 1983-02-22 |
Family
ID=25340849
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000318034A Expired CA1141600A (en) | 1977-12-22 | 1978-12-15 | Color-coded device |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1141600A (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2011145B (en) |
Families Citing this family (14)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2577063A1 (en) * | 1984-12-05 | 1986-08-08 | Dunoyer De Segonzac Madeleine | Colour and touch plate intended to awaken learning interest in children with learning difficulties |
| US4650421A (en) * | 1985-05-13 | 1987-03-17 | Edward Anczurowski | Representation of color for blind persons |
| US4851836A (en) * | 1986-04-29 | 1989-07-25 | Amalgamated Wireless Limited | Audio-tactile pedestrian push button signalling system |
| US4764119A (en) * | 1987-05-04 | 1988-08-16 | Miraglia Lucinda J | Learning device and method of using same |
| US5286204A (en) * | 1989-09-28 | 1994-02-15 | Touch Books, Inc. | Tactile symbols for color recognition |
| GB2263354B (en) * | 1992-01-16 | 1995-01-18 | Anthony Graham Addison | Labels for the blind |
| US5522243A (en) * | 1992-07-16 | 1996-06-04 | Kusmiss; John H. | Daylight fluorescent color combination lock with optional additional indicia |
| US5664446A (en) * | 1992-07-16 | 1997-09-09 | Kusmiss; John H. | Combination lock with nonnumerical indicia |
| DE9216680U1 (en) * | 1992-12-08 | 1994-02-17 | Otegau Ostthueringer Entwicklu | Relief for displaying graphic information for the blind |
| GB2287566A (en) * | 1993-09-24 | 1995-09-20 | Elaine Ruth Wheeler | Tactile display system |
| FR2725541B1 (en) * | 1994-10-10 | 1996-11-15 | Carrier Panelatti Monique | METHOD OF ILLUSTRATION OF RELIEF TEXTS BY ASSEMBLY OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS |
| US5839215A (en) * | 1996-12-27 | 1998-11-24 | Lasprogata; Denise L. | Raised indicia labels |
| DE102010018025A1 (en) * | 2010-04-23 | 2011-10-27 | Astrid Schwarz | A method for producing a printed product with a visible to the blind or visually impaired by feeling representation of a graphic object, and printed matter produced by this method |
| WO2017144924A1 (en) * | 2016-02-22 | 2017-08-31 | STANIC, Vedran | Tactile relief symbols for color recognition intended for the blind or the visually impaired, and persons who are color blind - lunas spectrum |
-
1978
- 1978-12-15 CA CA000318034A patent/CA1141600A/en not_active Expired
- 1978-12-19 GB GB7849024A patent/GB2011145B/en not_active Expired
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2011145B (en) | 1982-08-25 |
| GB2011145A (en) | 1979-07-04 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| CA1141600A (en) | Color-coded device | |
| US4427390A (en) | Educational book-like toy | |
| RU193618U1 (en) | Flower simulator for group corrective developmental exercises and training visual-spatial memory | |
| RU179376U1 (en) | Magnetic cube simulator for training to restore visual-spatial perception and memory in patients of a neurological clinic | |
| US4073070A (en) | Coloring book for the blind | |
| US4877405A (en) | System of modules for composing alphanumerics | |
| US3242594A (en) | Vinyl art | |
| KR102192379B1 (en) | Stereoscopic book read by fingertips | |
| US4428732A (en) | Educational and amusement apparatus | |
| US3384982A (en) | Display panel | |
| US5873729A (en) | Mathematical triangle kit and method of use | |
| US4316337A (en) | Illuminated display assembly | |
| US3958344A (en) | Teaching aid for teaching numbers | |
| US5505624A (en) | Digital teaching clock | |
| US3996675A (en) | Instructional birthday cake toy | |
| US4146977A (en) | Educational toy | |
| US6176704B1 (en) | Children's learning toy | |
| US2090837A (en) | Die | |
| CN213715714U (en) | Clock with alarm | |
| KR200261488Y1 (en) | Form forming paper having studying effect | |
| US3745675A (en) | Educational puzzle | |
| CN210925119U (en) | Teaching aid about graph theory basic teaching | |
| JP3025024U (en) | Jigsaw puzzle that can be used on both sides | |
| JP2001159866A (en) | Display system for identification display | |
| Collier et al. | TACTILE FOCUS: The Reciprocality of Painting & Architecture |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |