Tactile Stories: Interactive E-textile Wall-hangings created by blind and visually impaired makers

We present Tactile Stories - a collection of interactive wall-hangings that were created by participants who are visually impaired. Each art piece conveys a story or association personal to its maker, created by combining e-textile circuits and switches, sound boards and traditional crafting. The result is a tactile auditory object, consisting of different textures, colours and shapes which conveys a special story for the user to explore. We demonstrate our approach to such an accessible form of making, how the e-textile technologies were used to enable this, and encourage audiences to engage with touch based forms of interaction.