Project for Visitors with Vision Loss Launches at Pennsylvania’s Historic
Sites/Museums
August 5, 2019 - by
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[Project for Visitors with Vision Loss Launches at Pennsylvania’s Historic
Sites/Museums]
HARRISBURG, PA — Beginning this summer, visitors to select state-owned historic
sites who are blind or have low vision can access technology that uses their
smartphones or special glasses to get free on-demand audio descriptions of
individual objects, artworks, and even entire exhibits from remotely located
professional agents.
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) has contracted with
Aira, a service that helps visitors with vision loss navigate and engage with
museums, at six Pennsylvania Trails of History sites: Erie Maritime Museum,
Erie; Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, Lancaster; Old Economy Village,
Ambridge; Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg; Railroad Museum of
Pennsylvania, Strasburg; and The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.
“PHMC strives to welcome all visitors to our Trails of History Sites,” said
PHMC Executive Director Andrea Lowery. “Now with Aira and the touch of a
button, visitors with vision loss can experience our museums in a new way,
increasing mobility and independence.”
A recent visitor to the Erie Maritime Museum reported that she’s “happy to be
back at the museum and doing what she used to love to do before she lost her
sight.”
Visitors can access Aira in two ways at no cost: by downloading the app to
their iPhone or Android smartphone or by using their personal Aira smart
glasses. In both cases, through artificial intelligence and augmented reality,
visitors will be connected to highly trained sighted live agents who can see
from their remote location what is in front of or near the user. The agent then
helps the visitor navigate the museum.
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PHMC will be monitoring the use of Aira. If it is successful and funding is
available, the commission will roll out the service to other state-owned
historic sites and museums.
The Aira initiative advances the goals of PHMC’s 21st-Century Task Force, an
agency-wide effort to set in place policies and procedures that eliminate
obstacles to participation by the diverse people who live and work in
Pennsylvania. The task force’s goal is to foster a culture of equity,
diversity, inclusion and access in everything the agency does, from programs to
the staff and volunteers who deliver them.
PHMC learned about Aira through the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services,
part of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry that assists
Pennsylvanians who are blind or visually impaired to gain the skills necessary
to live and work independently in their communities.
Source: Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Featured Image: Wagon Ride at Harvest Days, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info<http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
