Fintastic! Exhibit

About the Research Project
A unique research project sponsored by the National Institute for Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the Tactile Talking Fish Project, was conceived and developed by RAF Models, Inc. to explore ways that exhibits can be programmed and designed to make museum exhibits accessible to visitors who are blind or have low vision.

The project focused on the use of tactile exhibits, the development of design guidelines and methodologies, and on new technology that is useful for making museum exhibits and exhibit information accessible to visitors with vision loss.

For RAF, the inspiration for this project sprang from the observation that most informal learning environments, such as museums, visitor centers, historic sites, zoos and aquariums, provide very few ways for the visiting public who have vision loss to have access to the information about exhibits. Through the Tactile Talking Fish Project, the goal was to change this paradigm and bring exhibits out from behind the glass through the development of technology for use of the entire audience, while being easily accessible to the audience with vision loss.

An aquatic exhibit was chosen for the task because if an aquarium exhibit can be made accessible, then almost any exhibit can be made accessible. The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, one of the three aquariums in North Carolina, agreed to be the test site for the final tactile talking fish installation.

Alliance was fortunate to be included as a partner in this three-year research endeavor, and many Alliance consumers participated in the testing to develop the various aspects of the Tactile Talking Fish. Since an aquarium is especially "out of touch," the challenge was to develop models that would be accessible to all visitors in order to spark interest and curiosity, thus promoting an exchange of interpretations, ideas and experiences for everyone, regardless of their abilities

Year One
Data was collected on the communication effectiveness of three different forms of tactile objects in the context of an exhibit program at an aquarium. Specifically, which form of tactile fish representation is the most effective in communicating exhibit information related to form and shape?

• raised line drawing
• bas-relief
• full round representation

Alliance consumers tested each form and gave feedback on habitat and feeding characteristics to determine its effectiveness.

Year Two
Data was developed on the effectiveness of using textures on tactile models of fish to communicate patterns of color. For this objective, three general patterns of fish coloration were identified.

• spots
• stripes
• countershading

Each of these general patterns was further broken down into more specific patterns that related to how fish might use colors to adapt to their environment. Can textures be used in conjunction with physical form to communicate complex exhibit information about fish and the environment in which they live? Alliance consumers tested these combinations of textures and forms and provided feedback on the communication of this complex information concerning fish coloration and their environment.

Year Three
A small talking tactile exhibit was designed, fabricated and installed at the participating aquarium to demonstrate the results of the project. Alliance consumers took a field trip to the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores to test the effectiveness of the touch-sensitive talking exhibit in a public setting.

The Fintastic Exhibit Post-Research
The Fintastic exhibit is now a 1500 square foot permanent exhibit that includes several new live fish exhibits. There are eight talking tactile fish models ranging in size from a 14 in (35.6 cm) long cow fish to a 9 ft (2.74 m) long hammerhead shark.

All fish models are represented in a "full round" configuration. The fish are life-sized and presented as realistically as possible, and they are crafted with modified fiberglass similar to that of trophy fish mounts. The fish are also displayed in front of a tactile background mount that illustrates the type of environment in which they live.

Fish that exhibit adaptive coloration patterns have modified textures to make those patterns tactitle. And each tactile fish model has been created to be touch-sensitive with a separate touch-activated audio interpretive track. The audio tracks discuss the fish's habitat, shape, form, and coloration.

Some of the tactile exhibit is specialized to environment or certain features of marine life. For example, the tactile jaw of a shark can be explored, including the two layers of teeth. The jaw is represented without the rest of the shark, making it possible to explore the second layer of teeth and the back part of the jaw without impediment.

What began as a small temporary exhibit primarily intended for audience testing has grown to the point that it fills an entire room and allows Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium to say that they are the first Aquarium to have an exhibit that is accessible to the entire audience, including those visitors who are blind or have low vision.

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