(L to R) NECO Center for Eye Care senior director Owned Clinics and Outreach Affiliations Dr. Timothy Bossie; NECO president and CEO Dr. Howard Purcell; Janet LaBreck; Tactile Images’ co-founder John Olson; and senior creative officer and vice president of marketing Brad LaMere.


 
For many visually impaired people, receiving medical treatment can be complex. Not being able to access educational materials can make it difficult to be a personal advocate and leaves people reluctant to seek help. A new partnership between The New England College of Optometry (NECO) Center for Eye Care and New York-based Tactile Images is ready to transform the way patients get care with a new interactive experience featuring a tactile image of the visual system on display at 930 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tactile Images specializes in accessible educational and artistic installations. This kinesthetic experience teaches audiences both about the eye and the many ways in which individuals gather information.

A tactile image allows touch and sound to stimulate a sensory experience for the brain to create a visual image that allows a person to “see.” The visual system is complex, but this learning tool helps individuals understand the inner workings of the brain that create a visual understanding of the world.

The teaching tool was donated by the former commissioner of the U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration and NECO board member Janet LaBreck, for whom NECOs Low Vision Center is named.



Janet LaBreck donated the image to the NECO Center for Eye Care.


 
The partnership between NECO and Tactile Images was the result of NECO's relationship with Janet LaBreck and her desire to donate something that would serve NECO students' learning and facilitate better patient support and education for the low vision community.

"Because NECO has a history of innovation in optometry education and in serving patients through the NECO Center for Eye Care and the Janet LaBreck Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation, we are always looking for new ways to better educate and serve all members of the NECO community," said Dr. Howard Purcell, president and CEO of NECO. "Janet introduced us to Tactile Images and made a generous donation to fund this unique installation to help patients better understand their diagnosis and the importance of the eye examination, while providing all users a firsthand connection to knowledge that may otherwise be inaccessible to individuals with vision loss."




Dr. Howard Purcell (l) sees the tactile image for the first time with Janet LaBreck and Brad LaMere.
 
This piece will bring an understanding of the human experience to individuals regardless of their visual ability. Being able to touch, feel and hear the depiction of the eye lets users come to their own understanding without someone else explaining it to them.

“The collaborative partnership between Tactile Images and NECO to develop a technological solution to educate the patient community and their family members about the visual system is truly a transformative experience,” noted LaBreck. “We are encouraged that it will allow for a holistic way to promote independent access to what would traditionally be considered visual information.”



A close-up look of the tactile image, The Visual Pathways.

Members from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, NECO leadership and low vision faculty, LaBreck and her team, Tactile Images’ co-founder John Olson, and senior creative officer and vice president of marketing Brad LaMere. Dr. Purcell, along with NECO Center for Eye Care senior director Owned Clinics and Outreach Affiliations, Dr. Timothy Bossie, were present for the unveiling.

“It is our hope that this functional learning tool will aid not only our patients' understanding of the eye but also support our clinical optometrists in teaching patients and students how the eye functions,” said Bossie. “We are excited to share this tactile depiction of the visual system as an additional way to help people understand their world.”

Being able to gather knowledge through alternative means, such as touch, is an important initiative for organizations to support because the National Eye Institute expects the number of adults with vision impairment or blindness to double by 2050. The growing number of individuals living with vision impairment is a call for people to seek further understanding of their sight, how to protect their vision and the need for alternative learning options that span beyond the standard visual learning tools.

NECO Center for Eye Care is excited to have this learning tool in a broadly accessible space and is confident that it will have a positive impact on anyone who interacts with it. From students learning about the anatomy of the eye to patients understanding their diagnosis, this tool will support the journey of different users in understanding vision and how they see the world.

Tactile Images Transform the Patient Experience




Tactile Images has also expanded into space exploration through a partnership with the Space Telescope Science Institute to create an accessible experience from images taken from the James Webb Space Telescope.
 
In a visual world, people with low vision are often excluded from the arts, culture and even their own medical treatment due to a lack of accessibility. Tactile Images, a company that makes visual knowledge accessible to the blind and visually impaired, bridges this gap with installations that increase engagement, accessibility and inclusion.

When co-founder John Olson was invited by the National Federation of the Blind to form a partnership, he soon discovered the need for accessible imagery for those with low vision. His own experience working as a staff photographer for Life Magazine had given him a unique understanding of the visual world and the power of imagery.

“By presenting visual information in alternative ways, tactile images help to provide all users with a firsthand connection to knowledge that may otherwise be inaccessible to individuals with vision loss,” Olson said following the unveiling of the new interactive experience featuring a tactile image of the visual system.

Today, Tactile Images takes their promise to use their technology to integrate sensory stimulation through an enhanced, accessible kinesthetic experience and applies it to countless innovative programs and services for the visually impaired.



Tactile Images’ Brad LaMere said the technology to integrate sensory stimulation through an enhanced, accessible kinesthetic experience, “more or less replaces the sense of sight and allows someone to experience the image.”



“It more or less replaces the sense of sight and allows someone to experience the image,” said Tactile Images creative director Brad LaMere, adding the result is an equitable way to interact for those who can and cannot see.

Tactile Images partnered with Getty Images to help turn some of the world’s most famous visuals into an accessible experience.

Through the use of 3D imagery and braille for text, Tactile Images combines sensors that are embedded in strategic locations and creates a touch-activated narrative. In some cases, olfactory sensors are also added to add depth and authenticity to the image.

The partnership with the New England College of Optometry (NECO) is just one of the many traveling exhibits that have been developed to improve access to care.

“It’s an app for people who are blind, so they can learn about their conditions and procedures,” LaMere said. “It is also an overview for everyone who is sighted or otherwise to learn about the visual systems."

LaMere said the team worked with medical illustrators to create the images, which he said the company hopes will be the first of many partnerships with medical institutions. Recently, the company has also expanded into space exploration through a partnership with the Space Telescope Science Institute home to create an accessible experience from images taken from the James Webb Space Telescope. The exhibit, titled Experience the Cosmos: The James Webb Space Telescope, features 10 multi-sensory tactile prints included in the exhibit along with 10 large-format photographs.

“We are trying to provide people who are blind an opportunity to have control over their experience,” he said, adding that many people the company has spoken with have said they do not attend museums or other public gathering spots because there's no way for them to be part of the experience. “This is one part of the bigger picture. These projects give autonomy and freedom for the blind and visually impaired to have an experience independently,” LaMere concluded.