TECHNOLOGY HELPS DIFFERENTLY-ABLED ACCESS ART|科技幫大忙 身障者藝術新體驗

In Pakistan, hearing-impaired students are now given the chance to experience music for the first time, thanks to the invention of a "musical sofa". Meanwhile in Austria, those visually-impaired get to experience famous paintings, such as "The Kiss", with the help of technology. Born with hearing impediments, 18-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim and 20-year-old Anam Hashim are about to experience music for the first time in their lives. At the Deaf Reach School, a new invention called the "Musical Sofa" is helping those with hearing difficulties to enjoy the gift of music. Using sign language, Anam explains what she "heard". ==ANAM HASHIM, student 手語== I had never listened to music before, so I was overwhelmed by this visual and sensory experience. The "Musical Sofa" was brought to Pakistan under a collaborative project called the Coke Studio. The sofa, which is fitted with vibratory sensors and pulsating lights, provides the frequency of percussion instruments as a vibration that can be felt. The lights in the room are either synchronized to reflect guitar riffs or the bass. While hearing impaired people can feel the music through vibrations, changing lights, music videos and the lyrics, visually-impaired people can now experience "The Kiss", the most celebrated painting in Vienna by Gustav Klimt, at the Belvedere Museum. Using a high resolution scan of the original, Andreas Reichinger, a scientist at the center for virtual reality and visualization in Vienna, created a touchable 3D relief version of the painting for visually-impaired visitors. ==ANDREAS REICHINGER, scientist and 3D relief creator== "The Kiss" so far was my most difficult exhibit. There are very figurative and physical parts. And on the other hand, there are these very flat and ornamental areas. It was important to find a good trade-off here that carves out the plastic parts in a three-dimensional manner and at the same time to portray the seemingly flat parts still as flat in the relief. The Belvedere museum, in partnership with the EU-funded Access to Museums for Blind and Visually Impaired People project, now plans to provide an interactive audio guide for visually-impaired people. A set of cameras and sensors will be used to make sure that the part of the relief that is being touched will provide explanations at a touch. With the help of modern technology, art can finally be accessible to all. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH