[community] Re-Envisioning the Museum for Visitors of All Abilities

[Van Alstyne, Greg]

Dear INCD people,
I'm sharing an item of possible interest involving my grad program at NYU and Cooper Hewitt
Best
--Greg
Re-Envisioning the Museum for Visitors of All Abilities<http://emm.engineering.nyu.edu/link.php?M=1509229&N=3944&L=12061&F=H>

NYU Tandon Newsroom

When R. Luke DuBois, professor of Integrated Digital Media (IDM) at NYU Tandon and co-director of the NYU Ability Project, met Caroline Baumann, the director of the Cooper-Hewitt, an arm of the Smithsonian that showcases design and decorative arts, she shared with him her desire to make the museum more accessible to all visitors, including people with disabilities. The task was complicated, however, by the Cooper-Hewitt’s small staff and limited resources, as well as by its unique, historically landmarked location — the Andrew Carnegie Mansion directly off Central Park. The encounter sparked a fruitful partnership: the Ability Project, then marking its fifth year of combining technology with human-centered design to impact lives, would launch a new client-centered course, driven by NYU students and aimed at reimagining the museum as a more accessible and inclusive space.