Event Information
Event Dates and Times
Beyond Vision: Share Your Thoughts
Tuesday 23rd June
10:00-1:30
Venue Address
Dorothy Parkes Centre,
Church Rd, Smethwick B67 6EH
Phone: 0121 558 2998
Cost
Free
Booking
Drop-ins welcome but booking reccommended.
The experience runs on the hour and half hour, and lasts approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
Beyond Vision website:
https://www.befearlessuk.com/beyondvision
Dorothy Parkes web information:
https://www.dorothyparkes.org/Event/beyond-vision-black-country-women-spatial-sound-stories-of-joy
A note about the venue environment.
Beyond Vision is exhibiting at the same time as Arts for Wellbeing, a free weekly event held in the Main Hall from 10:00am to 1:00pm. There will be many people using the centre and sitting on the chairs in the foyer. Should you need any assistance, the Dorothy Parkes dedicated Welcome Desk is located on the left side of the foyer and will be staffed throughout the Beyond Vision exhibition.
What The Experience Is About
Beyond Vision is a walking experience lasting approximately 30-40 minutes with an opportunity, half way through, to sit down.
Beyond Vision: Black Country Women – A Spatial Sound Journey is an immersive, guided walking, spatial sound only, experience of Warley Woods. It places you into the body of a visually impaired woman, where you will listen to a story of joy from a woman from Sandwell Visually Impaired. Beyond Vision flips the question from "how do we help blind people to see" to "how do visually impaired and blind people experience the world". The experience takes place in a Meta Quest VR headset, with sound cancelling headphones, your vision will be restricted and you will be supported by a real-life, sighted guide.
Spatial sound allows you to walk forward, crouch down and stand back up. We invite you to close your eyes to fully experience the work.
You will hear:
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Natural woodland sound scape.
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Spatial sounds of birds, woodpeckers, dogs, a bee and a bike.
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An oral history
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This is a calm, mindful journey through sound.
Travel and Arrival
Parking
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Unfortunately, Dorothy Parkes does not have a car park.
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There is on-road parking on Old Chapel Road and The Uplands, next to The Old Church, Smethwick.
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Please do not park on the private estate, Chapel View, or in the cycle lane on Church Road.
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There is a chevron-marked drop-off area and a disabled parking bay directly outside Dorothy Parkes where taxis can drop off passengers. However, these spaces are regularly occupied by members of the public. This is outside Dorothy Parkes’ control, and availability cannot be guaranteed.
Bus
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The number 21 and 89 stop at the side of the Dorothy Parkes Centre.
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When you dismount, turn left and follow the Conifers Day Nursery wall on your right for approximately 16 metres.
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At the crossing marked by blister paving, follow the tarmac pavement and wall to the right for approximately 15 metres, where the wall ends.
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The entrance pathway to Dorothy Parkes is on your right and is marked by four brightly coloured metal bollards: blue, green, yellow, and red.
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The pathway leading to the entrance changes from tarmac to brick paving.
Pedestrian Crossings
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Dorothy Parkes is located on a busy crossroads with several signal-controlled pedestrian crossings.
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The crossings have green man signals and tactile blister paving, but there are no audible beeping signals to indicate when it is safe to cross.
Guide dogs
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Dorothy Parkes welcomes guide dogs and can provide a dog bowl, dog volunteers for when you are in Beyond Vision and a quiet space for your guide dog to rest.
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Unfortunately, there is no designated relief space on the property.
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Dogs will need to use the pavement areas outside.
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Please bring your own poop bags and hand sanitiser.
Entrance and Foyer to Dorothy Parkes Centre
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Dorothy Parkes Centre is in an urban residential area.
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It is a modernised Georgian parish hall. It has a large Hall, a small Hall, a meeting room, an event and function kitchen, dedicated reception and offices.
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The entrance pathway is on Church Road, Smethwick, and is marked by four brightly coloured metal bollards: blue, green, yellow, and red.
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The pathway changes from tarmac to brick paving.
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The main entrance to the building is full-lengthn, white-framed glass divided into rectangular panes, with automatic double doors opening directly into the foyer.
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The foyer is grey carpeted, flat and step-free.
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On the left is a welcome desk and the accessible toilet.
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Opposite the toilet, on the left of the back wall is the entrance to Beyond Vision.
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Low grey club chairs and circular wooden tables line the back wall and in the centre of the back wall is the door to the Main Hall.
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On the right is a small bar serving tea and coffee and a door to the community kitchen.
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The foyer entrance and welcome desk sits on a ribbed, dark grey carpet and the chairs and tables are on a light grey, woven carpet.
Overview of the exhibition space
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Beyond Vision will take place in The Small Hall, a rectangular room measuring approximately 6 metres by 9.3 metres with a smooth laminate wood floor and pitched roof ceiling.
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The main entrance to the small hall is through a wooden double door with long narrow windows running vertically down each door. There is a slight lip where the carpet changes to laminate flooring.
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In the middle of the left wall is a set of double wooden fire doors and on the back wall is a second set of double fire doors but with four glass panes.
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The right wall is a large wooden foldable partition which can open into the Main Hall and is closed for this experience.
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In the far corner of the left wall, are two long windows with roller blinds and
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Long double panel radiators span the length of the windows.
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On the floor is a white taped rectangle measuring 3 metres by 4 metres.
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Two chairs are placed next to each other, approximately halfway along the back 4-metre line.
During your VR experience:
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All doors will be closed.
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There will be a technician and a sighted guide in the room with you for the duration of the experience.
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No other visitors are permitted to enter the room once you are in the VR headset.
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After Beyond Vision you will leave the small hall and into the foyer and be invited to chat about your experience with community feedback facilitator Ashwin.
Accessible Toilet
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The accessible toilet is on the left of the foyer and opposite the entrance to Beyond Vision.
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The toilet and sink are on the left.
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The hand dryer is on the left, next to the door.
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Two bins are against the back wall, to the right of the toilet.
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A fold-down baby changing table is fixed to the right-hand wall.
About the VR equipment and headphones.
Beyond vision uses a Meta Quest headset and sound cancelling headphones.
The VR headset:
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Is placed over your head
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Covers your eyes completely.
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May allow you to see your feet beneath the headset.
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Some participants may find the headset feels heavy.
The sound cancelling headphones
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Are worn over the VR headset
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Cover your ears fully.
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Some participants find the sound cancellation headphones affect their balance.
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A sighted companion will assist you at all times.
Onboarding: What to Expect
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You will be greeted by our technician, John, and your sighted companion, Sarah-Ann or Rachel, who will talk through the experience, what to expect, the route, the technology, your safety, and how to communicate with us throughout the experience. They will answer any questions.
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You will walk the route first with your sighted companion without the VR headset or headphones, to familiarise yourself with the path and to practice communication while in the experience.
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Once you are comfortable, John will put on the VR headset and headphones. Once they are on, please do not touch the headset or headphones, as this affects the tracking and the experience.
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Your sighted companion will gently turn your body so that the VR headset aligns with Beyond Vision's head-tracking system. This allows the spatial sound in the VR headset to align with the route on the floor.
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There are no visuals, illustrations, or graphics.
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First, you will be in a virtual waiting room and listen to an introduction which repeats the information from your onboarding.
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Beyond Vision begins when you hear a woodland soundscape.
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Your sighted companion will walk you to six specific sound points, where you will pause and hear a different spatial sound. Waiting room, Parakeets, a story, woodpeckers, a bee, cars and a push bike.
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The chair is at point three, where you will sit and listen to a story of joy from a woman from Sandwell Visually Impaired.
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At the end of the experience, the soundscape stops and you will return to the waiting room. John and your sighted companion will remove the VR headset and headphones.
Walking while in the VR Headset
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Once in the experience, John and your sighted companion will be able to hear you, but you will not be able to hear them.
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You can speak to your companion at any time. When you are ready to walk to a new sound point, tap your companion’s arm twice.
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If at any point you feel anxious, need technical support, or would like to stop, raise your arm in the air, or tell your companion that you would like to stop or that there is a technical issue. Your sighted companion will respond and assist you.