Iain Borden @Iainborden needs no introduction, so we were fascinated to see what ideas one of our skate dot kits might spark in Iain’s mind.
Inspired by adaptive skater Dan Mancina’s @Danthemancina excellent Youtube videos, Iain’s design takes a classic street spot and adds enhancements to make it better for visually impaired skaters.
Subtle cracks in the floor (shown here by the black lines) help to signify the obstacle is nearby, via feedback through the wheels of the skateboard. The ledge is also bordered by brick area to provide further sensory feedback, to allow the skater to sense when the ledge is close by.
Further strips of brick pavers arranged in a grid pattern also allow visually impaired skaters to navigate their approach lines more easily.
The ledge itself also has bright yellow edging strips, to make the critical areas of the obstacle as visible as possible. Finally the design is backed by a City Mill Skate logo tombstone flanked by trees, so make the whole skate dot as visible as possible within the landscape.
With all these fantastic ideas ready to go, we’d love to see this obstacle built and tested out for real by adaptive skaters!
