Museum of Possibilities: The first steps to an equal world Premium

A Prabhakaran, one of the managers at the Museum of Possibilities (MoP), possesses a latent talent for modelling. Here is clear evidence of it. He eased over the first hurdle to it: Self-consciousness in front of the camera.

Without any inhibitions, Prabhakaran wheels himself over the tactile flooring to demonstrate its efficacy. He would show up in other frames as The Hindu Downtown documented the various props at MoP for the benefit of those challenged in body, variously. (MoP is located at the State Commissionerate for Welfare of the Differently Abled, No. 5, Kamarajar Salai, Lady Wellington College Campus, Chennai — 5)

At the entrance, a tactile schematic ground plan shows what lies ahead.

A stand of revolving “books” is at the reading zone. The reading material are shaped like books, but on both sides they provide only sketchy details of the content that is on tap. At the bottom of each cover page, a QR code is printed. Hethal Solanki, also a manager at MoP, scans the QR codes with the Museum of Possibilities app (available only on the Android platform) and the contents of the pages are played as audio files.

Prabhakaran and Hethal are part of a bigger team that includes other managers, a physiotherapist, a speech therapist and a museum assistant. If anyone comes with a need, the physiotherapist and the speech therapist would offer consultation, carrying out an assessment.

The next stop are shelves for products, some utilitarian and others, jazzy tchotchkes, made by persons with disabilities under the aegis of non-profits. These products are up for sale.

Tactile board games pack a couple of shelves. Regular playthings that are much-handled (example: the rolling dice) come with greater surface area to enable persons with impaired motor functions to get a grip on them.

The next stop are products that give persons with disabilities a leg up over the challenges of everyday living. They include smart glasses. Powered by Artificial Intelligence, these glasses interpret to the visually-challenged the world around them. Lazy glasses, tactile and speaking watches, a magnifying glass, a tactile and speaking blood pressure monitor and calculator are among other props.

MoP offers a complete list of these items appended with the critical and useful information of where to source them. The prices are mentioned too.

Other products include tactile and Braille-enabled Children’s books. Adapted musical instruments, including a xylophone with a stand, which is adjustable and can be brought on par with any wheel-chair.

The technology zone lines up gizmos adapted for easy use by persons with disabilities.

To give an example, for persons with cerebral palsy and other conditions that disrupt motor functions, a special mouse, one where the regular functions — scroll wheel, left and right buttons among other parts — come in different sizes and shapes, is showcased.

What does it take to have a home friendly to the disabled?

A living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom together serve as a model of an assisted-living home. The in-house “model” — Prabhakaran — swivels into action in the kitchen. He operates a hydraulic system that lowers each unit in a cabinet at the kitchen for the wheel-chair bound to access its contents.

The model assisted-living home packs many features, a good number of them offered by startups operating in the inclusion space. However, in the interest of brevity, and being particularly mindful of restricted attention spans, we present highlights from each room.

In the bedroom, the provision of wheelchairs are defined by essential movements. A study is tucked into the bedroom. A transfer wheel chair that can be adjusted for height and one that keeps a bedpan under a removable cushion, facilitates the movement to the study. It can also be used for movement to the bathroom. The transfer hoist (something of a hanging cradle with wheels giving it mobility) helps the disabled person reduce their reliance on the caregiver. The person can just roll into the cradle before being wheeled away to any room of their choice.

Another wheelchair features a 180-degree inclining wheelchair aimed at exercising the option of sitting relaxed in the bedroom.

The bathroom is well-appointed with a raft of assistive features, which can also help seniors with restricted movement and those suffering from temporary disability. The highlight is the clutter-free air that pervades it despite the crowd of assistive devices. The placement of grab bars (which include mobile grab bars) is something to be watched closely by anyone seeking to replicate the model in their bathroom.

In addition, there are wheelchairs that can be tried out — most remarkly, “a neomotion to ride out on the road”.

Museum Cafe: An eatery with a view

On the day The Hindu Downtown visited the Museum of Possibilities, Hethal seemed to have the office with the best view, in town. One of the managers at MoP, she had parked her laptop at one of the tables in the Museum Cafe, which functions on the first floor.

The cafe has a spacious balcony, one washed generously by the sea breeze and more significantly, one overlooking the beach. It has a new chef in KR Mohanakrishnan.

Hethal observes a majority of the customers are those who visit the MoP, and the fact that it does not mind rolling out the red carpet to just about anyone is not widely known.

The cafe is run by Winners Bakery and it also serves as a space for training persons with disabilities who want to make a career as chefs.

Museum Cafe marks the second level of training for them, the advanced level, after they are initiated into culinary art at: #1, the cafe at Vidyasagar, Kotturpuram.