Tactile colour pictogram to improve artwork appreciation of people with visual impairments

A recent development in tactile technology enables an improvement in the appreciation of the visual arts for people with visual impairment (PVI). The tactile sense, in conjunction with, or a possibly as an alternative to, the auditory sense, would allow PVIs to approach artwork in a more self‐driven and engaging way that would be difficult to achieve with just an auditory stimulus. Tactile colour pictograms (TCPs), which are raised geometric patterns, are ideographic characters that are designed to enable PVIs to identify colours and interpret information by touch. In this article, three TCPs are introduced to code colours in the Munsell colour system. Each colour pattern consists of a basic cell size of 10 mm × 10 mm to represent the patterns consistently in terms of regular shape. Each TCP consists of basic geometric patterns that are combined to create primary, secondary, and tertiary colour pictograms of shapes indicating colour hue, intensity and lightness. Each TCP represents 29 colours including six hues; they were then further expanded to represent 53 colours. Two of them did not increase the cell size, the other increased the cell size 1.5 times for some colours, such as yellow‐orange, yellow, blue, and blue‐purple. Our proposed TCPs use a slightly larger cell size compared to most tactile patterns currently used to indicate colour, but code for more colours. With user experience and identification tests, conducted with 23 visually impaired adults, the effectiveness of the TCPs suggests that they were helpful for the participants.     

Void region restriction for additive manufacturing via a diffusion physics approach

A longstanding challenge in additive manufacturing (AM), the presence of void regions in additively manufactured components, causes two main issues: the enclosing of build material powder in powder bed fusion techniques and limiting tool access in critical post-processing operations to remove sacrificial support structures. As topology optimization has embraced and overcome many of the obstacles of incorporating AM constraints into the underlying numerical optimization statement, there exist few solutions that directly address this fundamental void region issue. By developing computationally efficient and effective solutions to this problem, the integration of these two advanced technologies can be fully realized. Drawing on inspiration from the principles of diffusion physics, a particle diffusion void restriction (PDVR) method is presented in this work that is capable of encouraging the optimization scheme to generate final designs that are fully accessible. Additionally, this method empowers the user to choose the type of post-processing method to clear support material (eg, three-axis or five-axis milling operations, number and orientation of part set-ups) and, therefore, quantify the level of costs associated with the post-processing operation. The PDVR optimization framework is demonstrated on multiple two- and three-dimensional test problems, with physically manufactured examples depicting the real-world benefits this method admits.     

儿童友好视角下城市公园品质与可达性研究——以巴塞罗那学龄前儿童为例

具备可进入的绿色空间、游乐场地是儿童友好城市衡量中的核心指标，也是城市公园提供的必要服务之一。聚焦对城市公园需求度和使用率较高的学龄前儿童，尝试建构综合考虑城市公园品质和可达性的分析及评估方法。选取联合国儿童友好城市——西班牙巴塞罗那为案例，基于实地调研、开源地图、官方统计数据等，使用儿童友好的公园品质指数（QUINPY）和空间句法可达性模型开展综合评价，并结合学龄前儿童人口密度分布，提出有针对性的改善建议，基于不同的需求和现状，选取改善城市交通步行环境、合理增加结构性设施或者鼓励分时段及立体化拓展空间使用可能性等适宜性创新措施。以期为我国儿童友好导向的城市公园发展建设提供参考。     

A review of the accessibility of ACT COVID-19 information portals

Accessibility of public health websites allows important information to reach as many audiences as possible. This is vital during a public health crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reviews public health information portals provided by the Australian Capital Territory local government against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.     

基于GIS的可达性评价方法比较

可达性是交通及城市研究中的一个非常重要和基础的指标 ,关于该指标的评价方法繁多 ,因此评价方法的选择尤为重要。以江门市为例 ,以地理信息系统为技术平台 ,用实证的方法 ,通过比较几种常用可达性评价方法的结果与城市密度的相关性大小 ,来选择合适的方法 ,同时对基于地理信息系统的可达性评价技术作了一定的探讨。     

Impact of accessibility on housing expenditure and affordability in Hong Kong's private rental sector

The expenditure on rental housing as aproportion of income is usually measured by therent-to-income ratio, which is the mostcommonly used affordability indicator, whilethe residual income approach is often taken asan alternative. This paper attempts toidentify the determinants of the rent-to-incomeratio, and to examine the impact ofaccessibility on affordability in the privaterental sector. Empirical results indicate notonly determinants of the rent-to-income ratiowould vary, but even the same variable wouldhave different impacts on the rent-to-incomeratio and hence on affordability for locationswith different accessibility. Although therent-to-income ratio in Hong Kong isconsiderably higher than in most other cities,results from the residual income approachindicate that the affordability problem is notsignificant, and that it has a strong link withaccessibility.     

Planning transport infrastructure: examining the politics of transport planning in Melbourne,Sydney and Perth

Abstract

Australian cities have observed a “consensus turn” expressed as broad public support of greater accessibility and public transport provision as revealed in metropolitan strategic plans. In contrast large-scale road projects proposed to traverse the inner-city of three major Australian cities reveals an ongoing and deep-seated attachment by some to car-based travel in Australian urban transport planning. Comparative case studies of these three road projects in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth explores the impact that an antagonistic relationship between the state and community has on the culture of transport planning. Through observational insights, policy and media analysis and interviews with community groups, we show that this antagonistic planning culture arises when there is a fracture between metropolitan strategic plan-making and project planning, and when clear channels of communication and deliberation are undermined.     

Job accessibility impacts of intensive and multiple land-use scenarios for the Netherlands’ Randstad Area

This paper examines job accessibility impacts of intensive and multiple land-use scenarios in the Netherlands’ Randstad Area for the period 1996–2030. The scenarios involve a heavy increase in the density and diversity of activities around railway stations. Accessibility impacts are examined using location-based accessibility measures and utility-based accessibility benefit measures within a high-resolution land-use/transport interaction modelling framework, taking into account the regional demand for economic activities and possible market responses. It is concluded that extreme concentrations of economic activities at central urban locations well served by public transport are not to be preferred over less heavy concentrations of economic activities at more locations. Heavy concentrations of new firms may firstly repel existing firms in the neighbourhood and secondly result in decreasing marginal returns of accessibility benefits for public transport users.     

建筑路径网络的拓扑学分析

通过拓扑学的网络分析方法,从建筑路径的整体性特征人手,建立了以结点、弧段为基本构成要素的拓扑路径网络。提出了路径网络的平面嵌入定理,立体状网络转换方法,以及立体网络的判断问题。并分别对路网的结构、路径的可靠性、可达性、可贯穿性进行阐述。力求利用拓扑学原理解决一些建筑路径的设计中所遇到的问题,从而为路径设计和真实地构建路径奠定了基础。