UC Davis has unveiled the prototype of a new navigational aid for visually impaired students and visitors: an interactive, tactile campus map, with audio.

You can try out the Tactile Audio Campus Map, or TAC Map, during the annual Disability Awareness Symposium, to be held Wednesday, Oct. 12, presented by the Disability Issues Administrative Advisory Committee and the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion. See more information in the box below.

The map was just a dream a few years ago, and this past summer it was delivered to the Student Disability Center, ready for campus viewing and use

The idea of creating an interactive map was born in 2018. Student Affairs offered grants for projects serving students, and Joshua Hori, then with the Student Disability Center, applied to build a prototype to replace the campus’s 25-plus-year-old Braille map. Today, Hori is working as accessible technology coordinator in Information and Educational Technology.

After the grant application was accepted, Hori enlisted help from Professor Susan Verba of the Department of Design. A course was created, and design students and visually disabled students enrolled to work on the prototype and test the tactile patterns.

Touch Graphics, a company that makes products that communicate spatial information through sense of touch, was enlisted to create the prototype, guided by the design proposed by the students. Recalling his visit to check out their work in progress, Hori said: “My jaw dropped when I saw their work; it was better than I thought possible, especially with regard to the audio interface.”

The final, three-dimensional printed map (featuring slightly raised buildings, roads, paths and more) sits atop a touchscreen video monitor. The map includes an index of major campus destinations with Braille captions. Upon touching a listing in the index, you can find it on the map by following a continuous sound that gets louder the closer you get to your destination. Or, you can simply touch anywhere on the map to hear the name of what you have touched (the map spells out "Mrak"). You can then trace a route to get there.

“The map is intended for low vision and blind students, but it really is for everyone because it shows what we can do as a community,” Hori said. “Hopefully it will expand everyone’s minds to what is possible.”

Sebastian Niles, accessible technology specialist at the Student Disability Center, agreed: “This map is just the beginning of innovation in navigating and wayfinding. We have more exciting projects in the works.”

If you have questions or are interested in viewing the map, contact the Student Disability Center by email. If you want to engage in the campus accessibility conversation, join the UC Davis Slack channel at #accessibilityhelp.

Ahna Ligtenberg Heller is a communications analyst with Information and Educational Technology Client Success.