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Intact sketchpad9/9/2023 ![]() ![]() For someone whose livelihood depended so heavily on vision, such a loss might have forced a career shift.īut Downey never considered leaving architecture. "Especially where almost all of education is moving towards digital disbursement and collection.”Īs EASY moves forward, they hope to make the tools for people who are blind to work across any platform, whether it’s digital drawings for a PowerPoint or a picture for their grandparents.San Francisco-based architect Chris Downey lost his sight in 2008 following surgery to remove a benign brain tumor that was pressing against his optic nerve. “We live in a digital age and to not have access to graphics, it really puts blind students at a disadvantage," Coffee says. With the inTACT sketchpad, eraser and printer in development, the next step is to go digital. They’re using the grant to develop a new prototype of a printer to print tactile graphics and translate conventional graphics to tactile graphics. ![]() In October, they received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Health. Now a year after they’ve started selling the sketchpad and eraser, EASY is gaining more national attention. " allows her to express what she is thinking to her teacher or her peers and allows them to describe it back to her again through that sketchpad." “The sketchpad allows her to really compete in those classes," Walker explains. Walker says one key aspect is that the inTACT sketchpad is easy for both blind and sighted people to use, allowing for more collaboration. “She had heard people say that blind people can’t do math, blind people can’t do science, which is bonk.” "She loves science, she loves math,” Walker said. Her daughter, a freshman in high school, is blind. ![]() Walker is manager of Braille education programs at the National Federation for the Blind. And then when they get to geometry class or calculus or to an art class in high school, they’ll have those basic skills their sighted peers develop and take for granted at an early age.”Ĭarlton Walker, an educator, says the sketchpad helps in school. They’ll be comfortable drawing their own graphics. They’ll be comfortable interpreting graphics that are tactile. “If you do that kids will be familiar with drawing. The device allows blind children an affordable opportunity to draw. Eleven-year-old Abby Duffy of Concord, New Hampshire shows off her creation on the inTACT sketchpad. While there was another tactile drawing board prior to the inTACT sketchpad, it didn’t have an eraser, so if a student made a mistake, they’d have to start over.Ĭredit Courtesy of E.A.S.Y. He said after founding the company, it took until 2014 to get their current products on the market. So we formed a company,” said Michael Rosen, co-vice president and founder. “The answer was clear, it was simply too good to let it languish as an interesting academic project. When the course ended, they decided to take the project a step further. In 2011, during his senior year, Coffee was working with two of engineering professors on developing tactile drawing tools. was started as a senior design course at the University of Vermont. “There was clear need in the community for a product for tactile drawing that was cost effective that was easy to use," Coffee explains, "that kids could pick up and engage with, like their sighted peers do with crayons and regular paper.”Į.A.S.Y. Josh Coffee, president and co-founder of E.A.S.Y., says there's been a lack of affordable tools up until now. Whenever lines or shapes are drawn, the plastic pops up so the image can be felt. A magnetic frame secures a special piece of plastic, and a stylus is used to draw. The sketchpad bright red or blue and roughly the size of an iPad. They call their tools the inTACT sketchpad and eraser. ![]() A Burlington company called E.A.S.Y. is working to change that by giving the blind much needed tools to draw. However, for people who are blind, getting that early exposure to drawing is difficult. Most of us start to draw at a young age and it can be an important skill especially in math and science. ![]()
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