Type of Project: Funded project
Workshop: Innovative developments in the assistive technology market

Assistive products workshop: "Innovative developments in the assistive products market, opportunities and limitations of 3D printing, and advice on good lighting for blind and visually impaired people" from 08.05.2019 - 11.05.2019 in Rüsselsheim An event of the German Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband e.V.) Participants: 34 people Starting point of the project: Approximately 650,000 blind and visually impaired people live in Germany. Approximately 28,000 new blindnesses occur every year. The complete or partial loss of vision leads primarily to serious disadvantages in mobility, in obtaining information and in communication. Everyday life often becomes an insurmountable barrier for this group of people, also as a result of constant innovation of everyday objects. Even assistive products that serve to overcome everyday hurdles are constantly being provided and offered with various innovations. It is the declared goal of the DBSV to create conditions that enable blind and visually impaired people to lead a self-determined and self-responsible life. This also includes ensuring the operability and usability of technical equipment and devices for daily use, e.g. household electronics. The regional associations in the DBSV have appointed honorary assistive products advisors who check assistive products and objects of all kinds for usability on behalf of their regional associations and also make their own suggestions for the use of these objects. Furthermore, they advise blind and visually impaired people and their relatives in their regional associations and district groups on matters of assistive products. The goal of the consultations is to achieve an improvement in the everyday life of those seeking advice. The workshop of the assistive products advisors of the 20 regional associations in the DBSV in 2019 pursued the goal of continuously informing about further developments in the assistive products sector and to present and evaluate new assistive products. Participation was open to the voluntary assistive technology consultants in the DBSV regional associations, but also to people who are interested in this activity. As multipliers, the voluntary consultants pass on the knowledge they have gained to their local sub-associations. Implementation: The conference focused on the following points: - Exchange about assistive products and the consulting practice The constantly changing offer of new, especially electronic assistive products on the market makes it necessary to always be informed about innovations. This results in the urgent and constant need for training of the assistive technology consultants in all national associations in order to be able to ensure the same level of information and the same standards in the quality of consultation. - Visit to the largest international trade fair for assistive products for the blind and visually impaired. Sight-City is the largest international trade fair for assistive products for the blind and visually impaired. It is held annually in Frankfurt at the Sheraton Airport Hotel. By visiting Sight-City and subsequently sharing what they had experienced, participants had the opportunity to get a broad overview of the assistive products currently available on the German market. - Opportunities of 3D printing A very extensive presentation on the technology of 3D printing to create tactile media and assistive products for the blind and visually impaired was very informative. All of the steps and file systems for digital data transfer necessary to create 3D prints were presented; as well as products such as tactile maps for finding your way around a neighborhood or a building floor plan. A 3D printer was provided by the company Urbanmakers for the purpose of demonstrating how such a device works. In line with this lecture content, a new development on tactilely detectable rotary switches for household appliances was demonstrated in 3D by the developer. - Good lighting is very important for people with visual impairments. In a lecture by low vision consultant Gerhard Frühwald, the very different needs of visually impaired people were outlined. The following questions were explained: How must the light source be arranged, what qualities must the illuminants have, and what qualities must the luminaire have? Which light color is most comfortable for which visual impairment? Evaluation: The project objective was met in its entirety. The presentations, the contributions of the participants and the thematic exchange on all contents were highly professional. Overall, the level of satisfaction was exceptional. In the final round, the participants gave the clear feedback that they went back to their consulting activities at the state level with a great increase in knowledge. It became apparent that the operating aids of electrical devices and the developments in the assistive technology sector for blind and visually impaired people make the need for regular training necessary. Thus, the exchange on practical topics was extremely important and was rated as indispensable for knowledge enhancement. It was also positively emphasized that the annual meeting with a large unchanging core helps to build an extraordinarily productive and trusting working atmosphere.