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f014 August 18, 2022
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f014 FEATURE
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f014 Seeing Chicago in a different f014 way with iPhone and iPad
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f014 Individuals of The Chicago Lighthouse’s f014 Pictures for All program acquire f014 independence, confidence, and inventive abilities
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f014 Adetokunbo “Toks” Opeifa loves exploring f014 Chicago. She travels town unconcerned f014 about shedding observe of a f014 deliberate route, immersing herself in f014 her surroundings and capturing pictures f014 of her environment along with f014 her iPhone. “Chicago is a f014 grid system,” she explains. “Even f014 in the event you get f014 misplaced, you don’t actually get f014 misplaced, you simply stroll in f014 the wrong way and also f014 you’ll find yourself someplace.”
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f014 Within the first grade, Opeifa, f014 now 18, was recognized with f014 cone-rod dystrophy, a retinal dysfunction f014 that causes progressive imaginative and f014 prescient loss and lightweight sensitivity. f014 This yr, she is taking f014 part in Pictures for All, f014 a program for youth who’ve f014 low imaginative and prescient or f014 are legally blind, launched by f014 nonprofit The Chicago Lighthouse in f014 partnership with town of Chicago’s f014 Division of Household and Assist f014 Providers (DFSS) and Apple. Over f014 the course of the six-week f014 program, individuals have discovered technical f014 images, coding, and career-readiness abilities, f014 however most significantly, they’ve gained f014 instruments to assist them navigate f014 the world round them independently f014 and confidently.
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f014 Pictures for All is a f014 part of town’s One Summer f014 time Chicago youth employment initiative, f014 which offers folks ages 14 f014 to 24 with internships and f014 job alternatives at authorities establishments, f014 community-based organizations, and corporations all f014 through town. Since 2017, Apple f014 has supported town’s One Summer f014 time Chicago program by way f014 of its Neighborhood Schooling Initiative, f014 serving to create alternatives for f014 youth to develop new abilities f014 with Everybody Can Create and f014 Everybody Can Code guides. This f014 summer time, greater than 200 f014 college students skilled alternatives in f014 images, videography, recreation design, coding, f014 app growth, augmented actuality, and f014 extra by way of Apple-supported f014 applications.
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f014 The Chicago Lighthouse supplied every f014 of the Pictures for All f014 individuals with an iPad Air, f014 Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard f014 to assist their creativity. The f014 iPad setup provided an expansive f014 display with instruments to shoot, f014 edit, and share their work. f014 Many individuals, together with Opeifa, f014 additionally used their very own f014 iPhone to seize pictures on f014 the go, seamlessly switching between f014 gadgets relying on their wants.
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f014 Apple consultants skilled the scholars f014 on utilizing the digital camera f014 and images settings they would f014 want, in addition to the f014 accessibility options constructed into the f014 gadgets — together with VoiceOver, f014 Apple’s built-in display reader, and f014 Zoom, which magnifies on-screen components. f014 For these utilizing VoiceOver on f014 iPhone and iPad, Picture Descriptions f014 accessible within the Digicam app f014 makes use of on-device machine f014 studying to assist place a f014 topic and describe the objects, f014 setting, and other people within f014 the area of view.
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f014 Whereas visiting the Adler Planetarium f014 and the encircling Northerly Island f014 Park for a last day f014 of taking pictures, Opeifa double-taps f014 her iPhone display with three f014 fingers within the Digicam app f014 to zoom in with reference f014 to her picture. “Earlier than f014 I found Zoom, I’d simply f014 maintain my telephone up all f014 the best way to my f014 face,” she says. “This fashion f014 I can truly see higher.”
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f014 Opeifa has been utilizing Apple f014 know-how since she was in f014 kindergarten when her dad and f014 mom bought the first-generation iPad f014 to assist her learn her f014 schoolwork digitally. She laughs at f014 a reminiscence of herself working f014 round her household’s dwelling in f014 Nigeria a couple of years f014 later with an iPad mini, f014 excited so as to add f014 to her assortment of Apple f014 gadgets. Having spent a lot f014 of her life utilizing Apple f014 know-how, she is snug utilizing f014 her iPhone to get a f014 greater view of the world, f014 and he or she’s additionally f014 studying tips on how to f014 edit her pictures on iPad. f014 Whether or not she’s navigating f014 from one nook of town f014 to the subsequent, or capturing f014 flowers, town skyline, and every f014 other snapshots of city life f014 round her that pique her f014 curiosity, Opeifa is hooked on f014 visible storytelling.
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f014 “I like when photos inform f014 a narrative,” Opeifa says. “This f014 program is a pleasant place f014 to begin for writing precise f014 scripts as a result of f014 I’m studying [how] to truly f014 painting visuals.”
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f014 Opeifa prefers movie and tv f014 as a visible medium to f014 convey her tales to life, f014 and he or she sees f014 picture modifying as a approach f014 to hone her screenwriting abilities. f014 “Screenwriting and modifying pictures are f014 type of the identical factor f014 — particularly working with different f014 people who find themselves blind, f014 you need to be very f014 descriptive,” she explains.
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f014 “I by no means get f014 to see myself represented in f014 tv as a Black lady f014 who can be a visually f014 impaired, legally blind particular person,” f014 provides Opeifa, who’s heading to f014 California this month to attend f014 Chapman College to pursue screenwriting. f014 “Tv is a approach for f014 folks to see themselves in f014 several lights and completely different f014 identities.”
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f014 Opeifa is only one of f014 a number of Pictures for f014 All individuals with daring, huge f014 concepts for his or her f014 future. Lance Gladney, who’s enthusiastic f014 about pursuing a profession in f014 artwork, hopes to provide his f014 personal anime franchise. Gladney joined this f014 system to experiment with a f014 brand new type of visible f014 artwork. John Johnson — taking f014 part in this system for f014 a second yr — is f014 focused on electrical engineering or f014 recreation design. And Alaula “Aihua” f014 Sprecher is contemplating faculties the f014 place she will research pc f014 science, physics, and astronomy.
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f014 Shelle Hamer, The Chicago Lighthouse’s f014 director of youth transition, and f014 Lisa Davis, the previous director f014 of One Summer time Chicago f014 who introduced the thought for f014 Pictures for All to The f014 Lighthouse, are excited in regards f014 to the development each participant f014 experiences.
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f014 “Confidence and vanity are arduous f014 — or I believed could f014 be arduous — to zoom f014 in and train,” says Davis, f014 who additionally served as director f014 of youth employment at DFSS f014 earlier than she retired. “However f014 this program helped them open f014 up and expose their confidence. f014 It takes away the concept f014 they will’t do that.”
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f014 An artist herself, Hamer has f014 loved a four-decade profession equipping f014 people with disabilities with instruments f014 and training to assist them f014 lead extra unbiased lives. When f014 she and Davis launched Pictures f014 for All 4 years in f014 the past, she was intrigued f014 by the prospect of how f014 folks see in a different f014 way and categorical themselves creatively f014 — and noticed a chance f014 to make use of Apple f014 know-how and Everybody Can Create f014 sources to assist that work.
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f014 “The instrument of images has f014 an actual profit to folks f014 with imaginative and prescient loss,” f014 Hamer says, “from each the f014 creative aspect and the useful. f014 The entire youngsters really feel f014 that they’ve expanded their capability f014 to really feel that they f014 will journey anyplace, go to f014 locations they’ve by no means f014 been earlier than. The coaching f014 they acquired on the accessibility f014 options accessible on their iPhone f014 and iPad has given them f014 the arrogance to navigate town f014 and really feel unbiased in f014 touring round unfamiliar areas on f014 their very own.”
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f014 And that’s the overarching purpose f014 of this system, in spite f014 of everything: supporting youth of f014 their quest to be unbiased f014 and instilling in them the f014 arrogance to take their future f014 into their very own fingers. f014 “It’s simply opened the world f014 for them,” Hamer says.
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f014 Press Contacts
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f014 Chloe Sanchez Candy
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f014 Apple
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f014 Apple Media Helpline
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f014 (408) 974-2042
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