The gateway to sight: how a patient conference give courage.
17th Retina International World Congress in Hamburg

Task

800 visually impaired and blind participants from all around the world, a team of scientists and an extraordinary challenge: how do you create an event framework that works without nameplates, signposts, information boards and generally functions without the otherwise common visual cues? That even includes Usher patients who can neither see nor hear?

By offering all visually impaired and Usher patients a community experience which presents alternatives for perceiving the world through acoustic, kinetic and tactile sensations. A chance to get a new lease on life. A goal that was also a personal one for us.

Implementation

A cordial welcome for the arrival of patients from Taiwan, Australia, the US and many other countries was the kickoff. With a large team of helpers, interface was out and about all over Hamburg to personally assist the participants. Specially designed framework programmes created space for meetings and exchanges. Sighted participants entered the world of the visually impaired with special glasses. Lectures and workshops, industrial exhibitions with innovative research results were simultaneously translated. In the evening, with a dinner specifically geared towards the visually impaired, wonderful conversations and contacts blossomed from person to person. Across all linguistic and cultural borders.

Result

Three days, a union of patients, relatives and scientists which expanded horizons. With insights for successful contact with the visually impaired. And an enthusiastic committee which entrusted interface with even more conventions.