Dialog

Imagine complete black. No color, no light…though your eyes are wide open. No guide but a stick and a voice in the dark.

Curiosity took us to a traveling exhibition hosted by Union Station, entitled Dialog in the Dark. Visitors are given a walking stick and led to a room where the light levels are gradually diminished to the point of utter darkness. A voice guides each visitor through a series of galleries designed to replicate real world environments. The voice…from a person who themselves are visually impaired.

Without sight, all other senses are heightened when surrounded with sounds, smells, objects, textures, even subtle changes in climate, as one moves through and experiences each environment. Visitors are challenged to function in each scenario, while being given clues from their guide who explains ‘we don’t see with our eyes’.

As a designer, it is difficult to imagine navigating through this world without the ability to see with our eyes. An awareness of spatial relationships and changes in texture of finish now seem of greater importance. Subtle changes that are often unnoticed by a person with sight become critical means of providing sensory clues to aid in understanding, and moving through one’s environment.

An incredible challenge never to be forgotten… an entirely new sense has been awakened.


For more information, visit http://www.dialog.unionstation.org/