https://thefabricsoflife.com/product/t-shirt-blanket/

https://inews.co.uk/news/real-life/blind-partially-sighted-visually-impaired-braille-supermarkets-products-kelloggs-navilens-874323

https://www.rnib.org.uk/sight-loss-advice/equality-rights-and-employment/voting-and-elections-what-you-need-know

http://www.bagbooks.org

https://www.shegotguts.com/posts/2018/12/3/the-ultimate-list-our-favorite-sensory-toys

The card is suitable for anyone of all ages- The overall brand is aimed at partially sighted individuals, but anyone can experience the card. 

As the card is customisable, you essentially design the card catered to the needs of the person that is recieving the card, you pick the design or you can add images of yourself and your loved one to the card and you choose the textures inside. So whoever you need the card to be for, you design it in a way that they like and a way that is accessible to them. 

The cards have be designed to cater for a wide range of forms of visual impairment. For those with mild visual impairment the cards will use bold colours and large legible font and for those with more severe impairments the design on the outside can be embossed, which adds a tactile element, enabling them to touch and feel the card. The inside is obviously focused on the idea that instead of using small text and illegible type where the reciever with visual impairment struggles to read it, they can instead experience through touch what their loved one wants to say to them. 

Platform/ format- what is it what does it do? 

It is a brand of sensory cards that enable visually impaired to experience recieveing a greetings card in a way that is accessible to them. It is a 3D structure that when opened reveals tactile textures that the reciever can touch and feel around. Each of these textures represents a certain message e.g. Embossed hearts represent I love you so much. The card is customisable and so has to be purchased online, the person sending the card chooses all the elements like the outside design and the inside textures so that it caters to the person that is recieving it and also chooses the textures based on what they want to say. 

When would it be used? 

The cards can be sent to the person on all types of ocassions, birthdays, christmas, valentines, just to say thank you etc. You choose what you want the card to be for and what you want it to say to the reciever. 

Where would it be used? 

It would be used by the person that you send the card to, it is a more accessible way for visually impaired to interact/experience greeting cards

Intended purpose / use of your idea: Why is it useful?

It is useful because through research I found that visually impaired people find it hard to interact with normal greeting cards due to the small font size and designs that can make it harder for them to read/ experience the card that they recieve. Using tactile elements enables them to touch and feel around textures and experience the card in an accessible way. It makes it more inclusive to have something like this on the market. 

Some greeting cards nowadays have raised or embossed images. Often the paper has simple embossed designs, while other cards have tactile shapes made from materials like felt or glitter.


E-Cards

As the name suggests, these are digital greeting cards one can send via email. They often include picture animations and short audio clips. People can even personalize the cards with pictures and short audio recorded messages of their choice.

My first initial idea is based on story telling through using sensory elements, my inspiration for this was the research I conducted on kids sensory play toys. This research inspired me to use sensory aspects as a way of learning about the world. In this case my idea is based on using sensory elements to tell a story as well as being educational about visual impairment and the features used in our communities today that allow visually impaired to be more independant and safe, for example tactile paving, smart technology etc. Before this project I myself was aware of some features that are used to help visually impaired, but since starting this project and conducting more research I have found out about all these techniques in more depth and discovered new ones, how they are used and how they help. I think most people are aware of some of these features but arent educated on how they work or what they do. Through this sensory book I aim to educate people on the uses of features for the partially sighted, I would incorporate sensory elements like tough and sound, that will allow this to be a more memorable and fun experience and way of learning.