Famous cities are easily recognized by the readers without much explanation. Commonly known words can bring up similar images such as ‘coffee shop’ which allows people to imagine a cup of coffee, smokey and herbaceous aroma of roasted beans, and sweet pastries. Moreover, people can think of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Statue of Liberty in New York.
What is Sangju famous for? Sangju is well known for sun-dried persimmons! But today the readers will find out something unique about this city other than persimmons.
Gyeongcheondae Cliff, located near the Nakdonggang River, has the most beautiful scenery among 1,300 waterways of the Nakdonggang River originating from the Taebaek Mountain.
Historical background of the city of Sangju
Along with the city of Gyeongju, Sangju is known as the historic town that constitutes Gyeongsang Province since the Goryeo Dynasty(918~1392 A.D). The city has long traditional culture and rich cultural properties.
On November 2nd, 2007, Sangju Museum has been established to preserve cultural heritages and handcrafts of the Korean ancestors.
Sangju Museum has promoted the excellence of local culture through various studies and exhibitions along with cultural preservation and development.
However, Sangju Museum has taken another step to cultivating the vicinity for the visitors and local citizens to enjoy cultural assets freely. You may be amazed by the eco-pond, playground, small forest trails and even by traditional ceremonies to watch.
Collaboration of Dot Inc. & Sangju Museum
Yet, with all these amazing amenities, Sangju Museum has given thought of accessibility and has requested Dot Inc. for collaboration. The result of the collaboration is a new interactive zone with accessibility!
This newly decorated zone includes an ‘interactive desk’ provided by Dot Inc. A tactile graphic display with 800-cells, the ‘Interactive desk’ allows blind and visually-impaired people to touch tactile graphics of exhibited objects within Sangju Museum. Though the tactile graphics are simple outlines of the exhibitions, it opens up a new level of accessibility. And of course, there’s a barrier-free kiosk.
The barrier-free kiosk provides information on exhibition halls within the museum and tourist attractions in the city of Sangju. The kiosk allows visitors to get directions within the building such as exhibition halls, main entrance, information desk, and toilets.
Korea’s first accessible exhibition starting in Sangju
This new interactive system is very meaningful to our society. Compared to the traditional method of the exhibition tour, blind and visually-impaired people can independently enjoy the exhibition with portable tactile graphic displays and 3D printed materials. This is the first accessible exhibition in Korea!
With the newly adapted method, Sangju Museum hopes to have more visitors to learn about the cultural heritage and traditional cultural properties left by our ancestors.
Starting with this collaboration, Dot Inc. is ready to establish an environment wherever anyone can enjoy the exhibition regardless of disability.
Finally, Dot Inc. will continue on the path of research and development of assistive technology so more museums will support barrier-free exhibitions.