Nov. 9, 2023 — The New England College of Optometry (NECO) Center for Eye Care has unveiled an interactive kinesthetic experience to teach audiences both about the eye and the many ways in which individuals gather information.
To help users understand the inner workings of the brain, the learning tool features a tactile image of the visual system that allows touch and sound to simulate a sensory experience for the brain to create a visual image, which allows a person to see. NECO shares that the experience will allow users to touch, feel, and hear the depiction of the eye, enabling them to reach their own understanding without someone else explaining it to them—from students learning about the anatomy of the eye to patients understanding their diagnosis.
Located at 930 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, the interactive learning tool was donated by former U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration commissioner and NECO board member Janet LaBreck, for whom NECO’s Low Vision Center is named, in collaboration with Tactile Images, a New York-based company specializing in accessible educational and artistic installations.
“We are encouraged that it will allow for a holistic way to promote independent access to what would traditionally be considered visual information,” says LaBreck.
A recently held ceremony to unveil the tactile display gathered members from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, NECO leadership and low vision faculty, LaBreck and her team, and Tactile Images’ cofounder John Olson and senior creative officer and vice president of marketing Brad LaMere.
“It is our hope that this functional learning tool will aid not only our patient’s understanding of the eye but also support our clinical optometrists in teaching patients and students how the eye functions,” says NECO Center for Eye Care senior director owned clinics and outreach affiliations Timothy Bossie, O.D., FAAO. “We are excited to share this tactile depiction of the visual system as an additional way to help people understand their world.”
As the National Eye Institute expects vision impairment or blindness to double by 2050, NECO shares that gathering knowledge through alternative means, such as touch, is an important initiative for organizations to support. Individuals need further understanding of their sight and how to protect it, supported by alternative learning options that span beyond standard visual learning tools.
“By presenting visual information in alternative ways, tactile images help to provide all users a firsthand connection to knowledge that may otherwise be inaccessible to individuals with vision loss,” says Olson.