“Most people do not realise the importance of light to the vision impaired. 90% of people who are blind see light. There is a real need for cBraille as it opens up the market to new possibilities of wayfaring signage that can assist people of all vision types better traverse through the public domain,” says cBraille founder Rob Caslick.

cBraille is a pop-up exhibition slightly different to most. Conceptualised by Rob Caslick, its prime focus is to raise awareness about the importance of light to the vision-impaired. Designed by e2 within a custom built shipping container, it’s made up of 16 panels – 14 art-focused and two specifically focusing on Braille signs. It follows the idea that “a vision impaired person can locate Braille with their eyes and read the tips of the LEDs with their fingers, like regular Braille.”

It runs from now until 7 October at The Sydney Customs House, Forecourt. We caught up with Caslick to find out more.

Rob, what prompted you to initiate this exhibition?
I met an inspirational lady who who was completely blind.  She spoke often about light and for me this was a contradiction. Why would someone who is blind need light?  This played on me and I started to research about light and blindness. It was then I found out that 90% of people who are blind can see light. I decided to dedicate an exhibition to this fact, to hopefully teach a few others about the importance of light for people who are blind.

The custom-built shipping container

How did you get the exhibition off the ground?
Doing an exhibition that has charitable content has a big advantage. You can get an opportunity to pitch to any company you like. e2 was the first company I approached.  I loved the way they didn’t just design, they create experiences. They would be the perfect fit to help design the exhibition space and flow. I pitched to them and they jumped on board.  Together we approached Built Constructions. They used their connections to help put together the construction team. Signaction helped with the signage and Royal Wolf donated a brand new shipping container.

What response have you had from those within the vision-impaired community?
At first they were a bit hesitant. Quite understandably, a lot of people who are blind don’t like change. This is now the third time I have exhibited the concept. And there is a lot of momentum building. At the Melbourne exhibition we had a young boy, who is completely blind in one eye and has only partial light perception in the other, see braille for the first time and by using his light perception he could read the braille with his better eye. Check out the cBraille Facebook page for the photos.

CBraille exterior

What’s the next step for the exhibition? Touring? Are there any plans for something similar?
cBraille will continue to travel on demand. Due to the success of the cBraille exhibition we are launching the practical application. cSigns. A wayfinding system that uses illuminated text and braille to help all people (with or without vision impairments) better traverse a space.