Freedom Machines

September 10th, 2001 - August 31st, 2004 | PROJECT

Freedom Machines is a one-hour special for public television which will highlight the information about the newest technological advances which support over 54 million Americans with disabilities. Through personal narratives, high-impact storytelling, and a comprehensive public education and outreach campaign, the show will inform viewers about assistive technology (AT) being used, and how it is adapted and designed by people with disabilities. The individuals to be profiled, many of them leaders in science and technological fields, will encourage young people with disabilities to pursue careers in the sciences. Many of the devices and approaches to be featured will also show how valuable these technologies are for the able bodied, general public. The sixty-minute documentary is structured around the themes of Pioneers, Partners and Prophets in order to examine the evolving relationship between technology and the disabled, profile emerging technologies and explore the larger societal implications of this growing phenomenon. A companion website and extensive outreach program will continue the informative material, support and create networks, and promote linkages between viewers, either abled or disabled, and the technology that might benefit them. Technological changes have always been influenced by people with needs beyond the ordinary. This dynamic is even more relevant in today's information age. Freedom Machines will dramatically demonstrate that designing a world of inclusion benefits everyone.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Project Products

http://www.freedommachines.com

Team Members

Richard Cox, Principal Investigator, Film Arts Foundation

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0003446
Funding Amount: 554915

Tags

Access and Inclusion: People with Disabilities
Audience: General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals
Discipline: Health and medicine | Social science and psychology | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Media and Technology