Today, I participated in DENPA BUNKASAI cycle4（Radio Festival ）held at the Iruma City Industrial Culture Center as an exhibitor and lightning talk session.
The exhibit booth was next to that of Yoneyama-san (Heartware Lab: https://heartwarelab.jimdofree.com/) This was my first meeting with him after only exchanging a few emails just before the event.
He is not an amateur radio operator, but has been working on communication support for the deaf-blind for some time, and he thought, “Is there any way to apply Morse code communication?” and exhibited at the Radio Festival, even though he thought it was “a bit out of place.” (It’s not out of place at all)
On the other hand, I’ve been doing CW for 50 years, and as I wrote here before, I came across the idea that “Morse is a universal design” by chance, and after thinking “Maybe this will be useful to someone?”, I met a “blind and deaf person”, and through the arrangement of Jingu-san (JI1JDI), I was contacted by Otaki-san (JN1GGZ), who is the organizer of this DENPA BUNKASAI…
In other words, it’s like two people with completely opposite approaches met at the eighth station, aiming for the same summit. Yoneyama-san’s initiative is based on supporting sports for the blind and deaf, and he brought along tools that made me say “As expected of a lab!”, and I brought along various props that made Yoneyama-san say “Ah, I wanted to make something like this!”, so we shared our resources and the “two booths with 4 feet of frontage” was almost like “one booth with 8 feet of frontage”, and there was also a lightning talk in the middle, so the day flew by.
Although the scale was not as large as National Ham Fair, each exhibitor was unique and had their own unique voice, and the 15-minute “Lightning Talks” played a central role in the event, creating a perfect blend of relaxation and enthusiasm. (Yoneyama-san and I, who took turns on stage, ended up going a little (a lot?) over the scheduled time with our “passionate talks.” Apologies to the people who took the stage after us!)
At the venue, I was able to talk at length with people with disabilities, including the deaf-blind, whom Yoneyama-san had invited (I communicated in writing with a deaf caregiver, then the caregiver and the deaf-blind person communicated with finger sign language, and so on), but in the end, we tapped each other on the shoulders in Morse code and were able to understand “- ..-” (=Thank you)” and “…-.-“(Good-bye). That alone gives me confidence to exhibit at the National Deafblind Convention in this autumn. Thank you everyone.
Heartware Lab and the +14db Project are also planning to set up booths at the National Deafblind Convention to be held in Utsunomiya in October.
Although this is the last thing I’d like to say, “Thank Otaki-san and the rest of the Denpa Bunka Festival management staff for creating this opportunity”. Please feel free to contact me again if you have next Fest. (As this is the second time, I don’t think I’ll overtalk too much…)