Professional

What Do You Know about the Blind Way?

The blind passages that can be seen everywhere seem to have a very simple design, nothing more than a few edges on a brick, but it only appeared nearly half a century ago.


In 1965, Seiichi Miyake of Japan invented the "touch paving brick", which is the embryonic form of the current blind track, which aims to provide the visually impaired with a new way to walk in the city.


In 1967, 230 tiles of 7X7 inches in size appeared. Since then, this system has been gradually applied to major train stations in Japan, as well as along the streets of urban roads, until it is widely used all over the world.


Blind floor tiles are bricks whose surface is jagged in order to guide the blind to walk along safe roads. Such bricks can indicate upcoming intersections and obstacles ahead.


Tactile paving slabs have two tactile modes, and people with visual impairments can detect these patterns with a cane or with their feet-providing clues as to which way to go.


The first mode has a series of raised lines, which means "forward".


The second design is often referred to as the "truncated dome" model, a series of small bumps that act as "stop" signs, usually located on the edge of a train platform or in front of a highway.


A qualified blind way must not only have bumps, but also have a specific color or surface design, so that blind people or people with low vision can recognize where the blind way is, where there are turns, where there are stairs or dangers.