Allen Samuels Designs Play Spaces for Children

Stamps Professor Emeritus Allen Samuels is currently designing play devices to enable all children, including non-sighted children and children in wheelchairs, to engage and play seamlessly together safely while accommodating special needs when required. 

One example, shown here, is a horizontal plane with a walk-through path that accommodates wheelchair users, and contains tactile cues for non-sighted children. Along the pathway, children come upon hands-in stations that provide tactile-touch experiences, including hot, cold, smooth, rough, moving, static, fury, breezy, and more. 

The photo shows a scale sketch model. The center pathway accommodates children who are walking or rolling in a wheelchair. Non-sighted children follow the inner edge as they find their way to tactile-touch experiences.