The InfoVisie Centre

WARNING: our English pages lack updating!

The Infovisie Technical Advice Centre started in 1985 out of a collaboration pact between the Departments of Electrotechnics and Ophthalmology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, together with the "Organisation for visually impaired workers" and several Belgian institutions and schools for visually handicapped persons.

Its main goal was and is to collect and to spread information (to both the users and specialists in the field) about the sophisticated technological aids that are being developed for visually handicapped and deaf blind persons.

Infovisie's advisory function has been a common activity of the vzw InfoVisie, VLICHT, the Flemish Information and Communication Centre for Handicap and Technology, and of the Dutch foundation VISIO until 2002/2003.

Most of its day-to-day activities have now been taken over by the KOC-group (Kennis- en Ondersteuningscentrum), set up by the Flemish Government. The publication of "InfoVisie Magazine" remains under the responsability of the Infovisie foundation.

The current collaboration permits a wide variety of activities:

• information collection (publications, information of manufacturers, user reports, ...);
• input and classification of this information in databases;
• independent advice for individual handicapped persons, rehabilitation specialists, employers, organisations and public services;
• publication of the "Infovisie Magazine" (in Dutch), the only three-monthly magazine in Europe dealing only with technological aids for (visually impaired) persons. It is being published with editorial support of the KOC foundation and several guest writers (o.a. from the Dutch organisation Visio). The full electronic archive will be available soon (in Dutch).
• study contracts with several Belgian companies, ministries and institutes, leading to the creation of employment for handicapped persons;
• Infovisie takes care of the scientific publications-administration of COST219. A large number of publications of COST 219 is available through InfoVisie, (contact Jan Engelen) both in printed and in an accessible electronic format;
• usability studies and evaluations of tools for handicapped persons (in collaboration with the Dutch organisation VISIO);
• participation in several EU funded TIDE, FP4-IST and HORIZON projects.
  In 2002 Infovisie collaborators supported the Belgian part of the international SMART-ON-TOUR exhibition.

People:

Leuven:

Prof. J. Engelen, president InfoVisie VZW and co-ordinator

Prof. L. Missotten, vice-president InfoVisie VZW

Marie-Paule Vandamme, secretariat Infovisie Magazine

KOC:

Mr. G. Van den Breede, technical consultant

Contact details Infovisie VZW:

Infovisie VZW
p.a. Vloerstraat 67
B-3020 Herent
BELGIUM

tel.    +32 16 32 11 23
fax.    +32 16 23 74 31

email   Jan Engelen

(July 12, 2005)