World Access for the Blind is bringing the pieces together. We are taking a lead position to mobilize resources and expertise to make the right things happen for blind people. We are moving beyond hit and miss solutions to problems that either don't exist or are too little understood. We are drawing together people who really know about blindness, people who really know about human perception, people who really know how to build things, and people who know how to obtain the resources. Here are a few of our collaborative endeavors.

World Access for the Blind, Alcon Labs Corporation, NEC Foundation, and J.R. Control Corporation have established a philanthropic partnership to address the needs of blind people whose vision cannot be preserved or restored. Alcon Labs leads the medical field world wide in the design and production of surgical instrumentation to preserve and restore vision. NEC Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of computer accessories, best known for their exquisite monitors. J.R. Control is a lead company in circuit board manufacture. Alcon Foundation contributed a $50,000 grant, and NEC Foundation $20,000, to complete and distribute the next version of SoundFlash (our FlashSonar enhancement device), together with instructional materials. J.R. Control Corporation agreed to design and produce all prototype SoundFlash circuit boards, resulting in a potential savings of thousands of dollars. Dozens of Alcon volunteers from all expertise including engineers, graphics designers, communication technologists, and human resources have joined our ranks. Over twelve thousand dollars have been graciously donated by Alcon staff including donations in memory of Jack Prescott, one of our volunteer engineers.

As the result of providing a total of 3 weeks of instruction to blind students and instructors in México, World Access for the Blind has established a formal partnership with El Centro de Estudios para Invidentes A.C. - CEIAC - (Study Center for the Blind). CEIAC is the only nonprofit organization in México known to provide training and equipment to support mainstream education, recreation, and vocation for blind people. besides promoting much needed professional exchange between México and the U.S. regarding blindness, this partnership will spawn the first mobility certification preparation program in México. It will also open the Spanish speaking America's to innovative alternative perception approaches, and mobilize a long awaited campaign to bring the needs and strengths of blindness into the eye of the Hispanic public. This will be done by garnering press coverage and by disseminating information about blindness education, rehabilitation, and child-rearing to key agencies and service clubs throughout Spanish speaking America.

We have partnered with Cal. State University, Fullerton in the design and execution of pilot research to study the relationship of mobility competence to physical fitness in blind people.

The Future of State-of-the-art Instructional Technologies

World Access for the Blind has aligned in partnership with the well established Oregon Research Institute (ORI) to exchange expertise in human sonar and virtual reality computer models.

World Access for the Blind has joined forces with the Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation (IIBN) and the Cybernetics Research Center (CRC) of Toronto University to lay the ground work to design a fully functional, high definition alternative perception system.

IIBN, Directed by Dr.