Artworks such as paintings or sculptures are accessible mainly through vision (“visual art”). Whilst blind and partially blind (BPB) people are traditionally considered as the primary users of audiodescription to access to art works, several groups also benefit from other alternative solutions, involving other senses, in order to experience art and enjoy a (multimodal) aesthetic experience induced by an artwork.

These include young children, particularly those acquiring language, elderly people who are losing visual acuity, people with limited attention spans or other cognitive disabilities, people who are temporarily disabled through illness or injury, migrants and tourists for whom a local language is not well known, economically and socially disadvantaged groups who are unfamiliar with or alienated by traditional ways of experiencing and engaging with art, and people who do not process information in a primarily visual way.

In general, any public will benefit from multimodal initiatives such as audio-tactile accessibility to the "visual arts" ; this includes both blind and non-blind visitors. This requires a necessary move beyond ocularcentric assumptions about artworks’ perception towards a truly inclusive enriched experience for all (« post-ocular centric art perception »).
Trials of tactile presentations of artworks exist in research laboratories and are evaluated in some museums.

Issues such as new multi-modal stimulation devices, models of perception emerging from stimulations, the simplified presentation of objects whilst still achieving the “conservation of meaning”, multimodal data fusion, etc. are frequently investigated around the world.

However, museums are not only interested in multimodal presentations of artworks, but also in the physical accessibility of exhibition halls and self-guidance through collections. Specific wearable technologies and specific adaptable guides for indoor (and outdoor) navigation are necessary.

Therefore, the objective of this session is to provide a state-of-the-art of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) based solutions for accessible artworks, museums’ space and possible progress beyond.

Contributions are invited on the following topics, including but not limited to :

• State-of-the art in ICT technologies for artwork representations.
• Representations of artworks and associated electronic format.
• Methods for images of paintings/frescos/tapestries segmentation.
• Emergence of qualia and their sharing.
• Stimulation techniques and supportive technologies for perception generation.
• Experimental validation of the representations (from stimulations to an abstract concept (percept) emergence).
• Rehabilitation of the percepts’ emergence from perceptions.
• Mobile assistances for self (indoor, outdoor) navigation.
• Models of interactions for man-machine wearable platform.
• Technologies for mobility assistance of visually impaired people/visitors in museums.
• Approaches to experience art without sight.

Chairs

• 
  Edwige Pissaloux, University of Rouen Normandy - LITIS
• 
  Katerine Romeo, University of Rouen Normandy - LITIS
• 
  Marion Chottin, IRHIM ENS Lyon/CNRS