On a roll to educate on empathy

June 24, 2018

Rigid gloves and blurry goggles are key tools of the Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Fund's roving interactive exhibition which raises awareness of the difficult lives faced by the underprivileged.

 

The exhibition, installed in a truck and called the Social Innovation Flow, uses innovation to spark new ideas in tackling poverty.

 

The truck travels to various districts, visiting public housing estates, universities, parks and other locations.

 

Simulating symptoms

Visitors can experience the world as a senior citizen or as someone who is visually impaired by touching, viewing and listening with the truck's exhibits.

 

Hard gloves simulate the limited movement caused by arthritis, a condition causing pain in the joints.

 

Goggles emulate glaucoma and cataracts, conditions commonly impairing the sight of the elderly.

 

Fanling Rhenish Church Secondary School student Kary Liu, who visited the truck when it parked at her school recently, said she could not open her hands while wearing the gloves.

 

"I experienced the difficulties the elderly face when trying to hold chopsticks. I felt there was something binding my hands. I could not open them."

 

It allowed her to appreciate how it feels to be old, she said, adding she will now more readily help older people in need.

 

Tactile learning

Visitors use the truck's Tactile Audio Interaction system to understand how the visually impaired experience the world by touching and hearing.

 

The Social Innovation Flow's specially made tactile version of the Mona Lisa painting helped Fung Hoi-yin, another student from the school, understand what it was like to be visually impaired.

 

She closed her eyes, touched the special images, including a rendition of Victoria Harbour, and listened to an audio narration describing the image.

 

"I did not understand what it was like to be visually impaired before, but after participating in this exercise I have learned that people with visual impairment also need to understand what they are touching through narration."

 

The truck's Augmented Reality Playbook lets visitors learn about students with special education needs through a mobile application.

 

Fanling Rhenish Church Secondary School Head Chan Chun-ping said the truck's interactive exhibits encourage students to take care of people in need.

 

"They allow students to know more about the needs of the visually impaired, underprivileged elderly and special-education-needs students."

 

Innovative ventures

Innovation & Technology Bureau Efficiency Office Marketing & Public Relations Manager Brandie Chan said people will be better equipped to develop innovative ideas to address social needs by visiting the truck.

 

"By interactive experience and also direct touch of the innovative ventures, people can know more about social innovation and also gain more insights and ideas to develop more social innovative ideas to address social needs."

 

The Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Fund was set up with $500 million from the Lotteries Fund.

 

It provides resources to people and organisations to support innovative ventures that address poverty and social exclusion.

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