Mission

Revolution for educational evolution

We’ve been running a long way, for over a whole decade. The road was paved with adventure, hope and countless breakthroughs, but our dream does not stop here. 

2010 – the wish to revolutionize the education of blind children emerges 

2011 – 2013 – Feel the Art (3 editions)

Goals:

• placing disabled people suited equipment and services in associate museums (specialized and tangible exhibits, catalogues, Braille maps, tactile carpets, audio guides, sign language interpreters) 
• organizing free visits and workshops in associate museums
• growing awareness and promoting museum access opportunities for disabled people

• 2011 – The Antipa Museum Exhibition

Financer: The National Cultural Heritage Administration 

• 2012 – The Antipa Museum Exhibition & The Romanian Peasant Museum Exhibition

Video: link

Financer: The National Cultural Heritage Administration 

• 2013 – Feel the Art in 6 Museums:

1. The National Art Museum of Romania
2. The National Peasant Museum of Romania
3. The National Contemporary Art Museum of Romania
4. The National Military Museum 
5. The Art Museum in Timișoara
6. The ”Casa Mureșenilor” Museum in Brașov

Website: https://simtearta.wordpress.com/ 

Financer: The Orange Foundation – ”The World through Color and Sound”

2013 – Feel the Art on the Road

Goal: Facilitating the access of blind and partially sighted children from 5 Romanian cities to cultural education through embossed reproductions of 4 Romanian representative paintings. 

5 cities: Bucureşti, Buzău, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Frumos and Timişoara

Website: https://simteartaladrum.wordpress.com/

Video: link

Financers: The National Cultural Heritage Administration 

       The Orange Foundation – ”The World through Color and Sound”

2014 – Elephant Step & THATS

Goal:

• Equipping 5 Romanian schools for the blind with 10 iPad tablets
• Creating research and development for the prototype of the educational platform THATS (Touch & Hear Assistive Teaching System)
• Inventing the first companion software to assist the exploration of tactile graphics

Website: https://pasdeelefant.wordpress.com/

Videos: link, link

Prototype achiever: Radcom S.R.L.

Financer: The Orange Foundation – ”The World through Color and Sound” (link, link)

2016 – thats.wiki 

Goal: Conducting research for the first digital encyclopedia for the blind  (featuring images and audio tracks) which uses assistive technology and implementing the e-learning platform. Proving that one can create and read tactile graphics with a mobile app. 

Website: http://thats.wiki.procivic.ro/en/home/

Video: link

Created by: The Urban Development Association

2016 – Social Impact Awards  

Info:  https://romania.socialimpactaward.net/castigatorii-sia-2016-romania/

Video: https://romania.socialimpactaward.net/project/thats/

2017 – Semifinalists of Chivas Venture Romania 

2018 – Semifinalists of Chivas Venture Romania 

Press:  Branding Magazine, buhnici.ro

2018 – imaginitactile.ro

Goal: Creating the first online library of tactile images (50 self-describing images – the project ”Romania in Images – How Can You See 100 Years from the Great Union”). Creating images and descriptions and inventing the self-exploration system of the tactile graphics with the aid of a QR code. 

Website: www.imaginitactile.ro

Presentation: Link

Financer: The National Cultural Heritage Administration 

2018 – Romania in Accessible Images – Romania’s Centenary (1918 – 2018) and The First World War 

Goal: Continuing to create content (400 images in the library – vehicles, monuments, buildings, maps, personalities, miscellaneous objects). The descriptions and the historical research were made with the aid of the Historical Consulting Center. 

Description: We used the first QR Code self-describing boards and donated a catalogue with 60 embossed drawings to the 7 schools for the blind in Romania.

Financer: The Ministry of Culture

SIMFEST Video: link

Supported by: The National Cultural Heritage Administration

Made with the assistance of the Historical Consulting Center

2018 – Awareness-raising Tour in 5 Museums

Goal: Raising awareness of the tactile graphics in 5 museums in the country: Târgu Mureș, Oradea, București, Iași, Brașov. 

Description: The exhibitions within the tour showed the public a visual and tactile history of the last 100 years in Romania, through images suited for people with visual disabilities, correlated with digital explanations, available through the mobile phone. 

2019 – Winner of the RO Smart Competition

Goal: Creating the e-learning platform and the 100 vehicles catalogue (drawing+description).

Project title: Touching Ai (The Next Step after Braille – The Accessibility of Images!)

Video: link

Organizer: OMV Petrom

2019 – The Country of Tactile Images Tour

Goal: Raising awareness of the library and the software solutions within 8 art schools and 24 blind people’s associations in the country.  

Description: This project meant presenting the tactile graphics at the events organized in 23 cities in the country. 

Videos: link

Financer: OMV Petrom

2019 – „The Equal Technology – Right to Education”

Goal: Receiving Smartphone settlement for the blind from the National Health Insurance Fund and raising awareness of the developed software solutions, namely the tactileimages.org platform. 

Description: This project entailed conducting awareness-raising activities in 4 cities in the country (București, Cluj, Timișoara, Arad). Thus, we spent 4 weeks in parks and squares. 

Presentation: bit.ly/ceredecont 

Videos: link

Financer: The Civic Innovation Fund

2019 – The ”Urban Landscape” Catalogue (online campaign #candinchiziochii) 

Goal: Creating the first self-describing catalogue.

Description: We created and donated two 50 images catalogues to the 7 schools for the blind in Romania. 

Video: link

Press: nONGuvernamental, CSRmedia, galasocietatiicivile

Financer: ING Bank Romania 

2019 – Global EdTech Startup Awards (GESA) Semifinalists, in Frankfurt

Goal: Presenting our project internationally at an EdTech startups competition. 

Description: We went on stage along with companies that have been changing education in the past 5 years. We interacted with universities and companies interested in special education from all over the world: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and we now hope to propel our innovation the sooner and the farthest possible. 

2020 – ”Electrica Puts Romania in a Different Light”

Goal: Creating a catalogue of self-describing images to facilitate blind people’s interaction with abstract concepts.

Description: We want to create and donate seven 50-images catalogues to the 7 schools for the blind in Romania. 

Financer: Electrica S.A. 

2020 – Launching the E-learning Platform TACTILE IMAGES 

Goal: Encouraging the bling to resort to independent learning and guaranteeing assimilation speed, a larger field spectrum and introducing the Smartphone as a pedagogical tool. 

Description (the platform contains):

1.  A LIBRARY with over 800 accessible images (drawings + audio details), which can be downloaded and turned into tactile graphics. 
2. A Mobile App which uses Artificial Intelligence to describe tactile graphics in real-time. 
3. An EDITOR and a DRAWER where a sighted person can create custom content (maps, objects that a blind person wants to find out more about and many others).
4. Using modern technologies (Interactive Augmented Reality) to enable blind people and partially sighted persons to resort to independent learning.

Website: tactileimages.org

Facebook Page: link 

Achievements until 2020:

• The first free e-learning platform for the blind
• The first self-describing tactile book
• The first App that creates reality portrayals for the blind
• The first software that enables the customization of the already existing tactile content
• The first community interested in education through tactile materials
• The first LIBRARY in the world with over 800 self-describing  tactile graphics translated in different languages
• The first software that will enhance the life quality of any blind person who has tactile graphics, a smartphone and internet 
• The first Interactive Augmented Reality platform meant for social good

2020 – DRAWER

Goal: Creating custom tactile graphics. 

Description: The DRAWER is the browser-dedicated software where anyone can draw an accessible representation, no matter their level of knowledge. Its aim is enabling sighted users (parents, professors, volunteers) to create personalized maps, maps adapted to any blind person’s specific needs. 

Financer: The Orange Foundation – ”The World through Color and Sound” 

2020 – PRINTER

Goal: Offering the financially accessible solution to embossed printing, by reducing the cost 100 times. 

Description: We are creating a PRINTER that works with a wallpaper paste and syringe system. The PRINTER will be launched with a set of rules that anyone can follow to create their own printer for tactile graphics, DIY model. 

Financer: The Orange Foundation – ”The World through Color and Sound” 

Details: link

Do you want to get involved?

If you want to contribute financially or in any other way,

If you believe in our dream and you want to revolutionize with us the education of the blind, sign up as a volunteer! Did you discover any errors or you know how we can improve?  Contact us!

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