D ig ital S[Vtuandiesossa o apendni Mngat bthumewpe Sr]hifr in appear on screen sitting at a kitchen table] Can blind people see?

If you have someone like me, who was born blind and who doesnt remember seeing, a lot of your perceptual info is tactile, auditory and smell based.

Would you say that you can see?

Then we go back to the issue of what is seeing.

But I can imagine, yes.

I can perceive what I think might be there.

I can estimate, thats the term.

[Text appears] he blind A short(ish) documentary by Vanessa Hill.

o shot of Vanessa in hotel room speaking to camera] So a couple of months ago I received an email from Matthew Shifrin, a recent high school graduate from Boston who said he enjoyed watching BrainCraft and building complex LEGO sets.

The thing is, Matthew was born with congenital blindness.

He hasnt been able to see since birth.

So I immediately had dozens of questions - how does Matthew experience YouTube and how can he build a complex LEGO set without being able to read the instructions?

Sometimes it takes me weeks and I have excellent vision.

But most of all, how does Matthews brain function different from mine, or yours?

How does he experience LEGO?

And after months of wondering I thought, why dont we just go to meet Matthew and find out?

Also, they have delicious lobster rolls in Boston.

Wer[Ce utgo tino g shtoot B oosf toVan.ne ssa walking through Penn Station in New York and getting on a train] Its so early.

Its 6:30am on a Sunday.

We didnt have time to get coffee.

ravel sequence of Vanessa on the train to Boston] I always travel with a LEGO set.

[Vanessa arrives in Boston and takes a taxi to Matthews house] 105.

105, this should be it.

Oh yeah thats it right there.

Okay, yep cool.

[Cut to shot of Vanessa walking to the door] I hope this is the right house.

[Door opens] Matthew?

Yes, its me.

Hi!

Its nice to meet you.

house - Vanessa having lunch with Matthews family and LEGO sets] tchen table with camera, light and audio equipment] How would you describe LEGO?

Thats a very abstract question.

Its a building system made for children that Ive somewhat adapted.

Its a mobile, portable and accessible way to see the world if you cant see it.

To see what is unseeable LE GO dragoSon] M atthew and his family friend Lilya developed a system to enable blind or visually impaired people to build commercially available LEGO sets.

[Cut to Matthews LEGO for the blind website] the system uses text-based instructions that take you through the entire construction process: it really builds on the power of language.

i s Lilya,[M wathoth fewirsst f ri end Liadlyapa teapd pethare s butaillkd iningst ruct ions to Vanesinsato o tveexr t,lu ancndh] g ave Matthew an 821 piece set for his 13th birthday.

[Image of Helmuts Castle LEGO set] I always liked language and the ability of language.

ThSoe wpohewen r I offi lnaanllguy agthe.ou ght, decided, that language is such a powerful tool that it can describe anything I was really amazed to find out that it did work.

[Timelapse of Matthew showing Vanessa and cinematographer Ella his LEGO sets] Okay, so if we take something like the Hogwarts Castle, the instructions for this step are: [See Hogwarts LEGO set then a print out of Matthew and Lilyas instructions.]

iddle of the front side, on the 16x2 piece, on the first row.

e right of it, clasp to the front and overhanging.

Put one 3-button corner piece at the left back corner, in the shape of the letter F, and the other one symmetrically at the right one, in the shape of the letter D. Put one 1x1 piece on the back wall, skipping one button to the left from the right corner piece, and the other symmetrically on the right.

[Cut to mage of the original LEGO instructions] ere you have these 6 pieces and you put them here.

The thing is, these text-based instructions are so complicated that it can be difficult for a sighted person to comprehend them.

So[C nutat turo alMalytt, heI w waanntd edVa tneo sstra y.at a table in the living room with a set of LEGO between them] Okay so now its my turn.

to build parts of the dragon, with Matthew reading his instructions to her] You need to take a flat 1x1 with a clasp.

Youre going to put that horizontally on the table.

ll need a smooth .. curve and put it on this clasp.

The dragons head is to your left, so if you attach this in there.

I cant wait for me to break the entire thing.

No fronter.

Lefter.

How do you know where it is?

membered from the time I saw it a few seconds ago.

Touch everything, is my solution.

My troubleshooting.

One second, give me your hand.

Help me!

Oh here they are.

Hey, thats a pretty good application.

Thank you very much.

[V oi ce oveAnr]d building with Matthew helped me to understand how the brain of a blind person might function differently to that of a sighted person [Cut to stop motion animation of LEGO person crossing the road] For sighted people, vision is a dominant sense.

Its easy to rely on because its the most accurate way to quickly assess a situation ke c rossin[Cg utth te o roanadim.at thWeen o oftptenic t nhiernkve os f anvid sibronai an sst ru cturesse]ei ng with our eyes, but seeing requires functioning eyes, optic nerves and brain structures.

Blindness has many causes, each with its own way of damaging any of these areas.

[Animation shows how different types of blindness affect the different parts of the eye, optic nerves and brain] s are cataracts, which cloud the lens; age related macular degeneration, the deterioration of the central part of the retina; and glaucoma, e s damacogert tico alth be liopndtinec ssne, rvcae.us ed by damage to certain brain areas.

[Picture fades to black] these cases, people lose their vision over time.

Those whove been blind since birth have never been able to see well, perhaps their eyes cant see.

But their brain can.

[Animated brain appears, then a LEGO superman] appear and are blindfolded to demonstrate study] ory and tactile abilities may be enhanced in blind individuals theyre like sensory superheroes.

In one study, researchers blindfolded participants who were normally-sighted, vision impaired and totally blind; and they we asked to point towards the source of a sound.

The totally blind participants performed significantly better than the other groups they could create the most accurate spatial map without any visual input.

s ay ing It“sbe ihampivoroutarantl tsto udnoietes t”ha]t further behavioural studies have found conflicting results of this sensory compensation, maybe due to differences in age and types of visual impairments of those tested.

appears carrying sign saying “image studies ”] the brain of blind individuals repurposing itself.

Weve seen activity in the visual cortex when blind children hear words, process speech re ad BrailA lere.ce nt study asked people who were blind since birth to solve algebra problems.

As the problems became harder, activity in the visual cortex increased, something that was not seen in the sighted participants.

p ar ticulaWhr ilste udouier s]br ains have a huge amount of plastic, I mean plasticity, those who have been blind since birth can have trouble with spatial awareness, spatial reasoning and orientation.

But there are ways to improve these skills.

[print-out of research appears on screen] As one study found, an audio version of the video game DOOM - thats right, DOOM - improved blind subjects spatial cognition how people use information about their environment to figure out where they are.

And it just so happens that LEGO helps with this too.

[Cut back to interview with Matthew] LEGO is able to give you all of these different opportunities be you blind or sighted to perceive your world in a different way.

Its like this minituarization of the real world that you could potentially recreate in real life.

allows to give the blind person a sense of scale.

It allows you to see what you would be unable to feel.

You cant climb on the Taj Mahal or the Tower Bridge or any of these famous landmarks, but with these sets youre able to recreate them in their full glory.

[Shot of Matthew showing his LEGO Tower Bridge] Because now that I have a there dimensional model if someone says hey were passing the Empire State Building I can be like “I know what that looks like, Ive built that!

” Its just this idea that the impossible or improbable is now possible.

And its just a great feeling to know that you have been a part of making it possible for a group of people.

s, and a screen recording of the LEGO instructions nd since Matthew has uploaded the LEGO instructions online, blind and vision impaired people around the world have used them too.

Others send back feedback and comments so its like a big collaboration.

That is, when Matthew is following the instructions.

This is my favourite version of Hogwarts because theres just a croissant on the table next to the letter and also, a shark.

I wa s stil[Cl utwo bndacerk intog.

M atthew and Vanessa at the table] How do you experience YouTube?

So blind people have this thing called a screen reader, which is basically a robotic voice in the background that reads everything on the page.

You go to the search box and it says “search box ” so you just type as you would then you get the list of results and you arrow down to the one you want and you click on i t plays Anaud tothmaenti ycaoull ry.ea d the comments section and you get kind of horrified and disappointed.

So its yeah, thats what I experience as a sighted person feel too.

So yeah you get the full experience.

[cut to shot of Matthew on his phone] Okay, I found VSauces DONG.

We click on this.

[from video] with mister nice Hands dot com I think Michael is really descriptive when he speaks, do you find that?

Yeah its very relaxing, and very therapeutic.

Yeah he has a very interesting cadence, its like, its nice to listen to.

It would be very interesting if he just started, like teaching yoga slash meditation I think he would be very good at that.

There you go Michael Stevens, a yoga channel.

This is your future.

Hey why not!

[Cut to new scene] We want comments.

Youll get comments.

e Matthew tapping the iPad to get to the comments] Okay you tap this.

go sh , some31bo41dy59 h26as53 l58ef97t93 23 846264a 33co83mm27en95t 0th at is just all of pi and your poor screenreader woman had to read through every digit of pi.

Hey at least I stopped her in the middle of it.

[Vanessa present Matthew with a big yellow LEGO bag.

Its the STAR WARS millennium falcon.]

We got you a new lego set.

Thank you!

Oh look theres Rey!

Pleasure working with you Matthew.

Thank you.

Of course!

[Vanessa leaves the house.

sequence in Boston, Vanessa eating lobster roll.

Fade to black] [Cut to scenes of Sydney airport.

Vanessa driving a car through Sydney] had come up with a system to build IKEA furniture.

[Voice over] Since we met Matthew Ive been thinking about his comments on LEGO as a way for him to understand what big buildings and landmarks look likeits something so simple that I take for granted.

in New York, where the Opera House set is for sale] she just got the Sydney Opera House set and has started to adapt it to text the set is 2,989 pieces.

ing through the LEGO instructions for the Sydney Opera House] Its their biggest challenge yet.

The Opera House is also my favourite building, so Im excited for Matthew to get to see it.

Vanessa walking towards and around the Opera House] [Cut to Vanessa sitting on the Opera House steps] So Matthew cant look at a picture of the Opera House, or even look at the sails in real life to experience it.

But by using a model, he can then create a spatial map, feel it and imagine how beautiful it is.

little differently to how a sighted person would.

And then he can take that information and construct other buildingshe can be a LEGO architect.

, were all only limited by our own imaginations.

And how many bricks you have.

[Cut to end card - then credits] Id like to thank Googles Making & Science team for supporting this video.

You can find more videos like this by searching with the hashtag #sciencegoals Braincraft Directed, Produced and Animated by Vanessa Hill.