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joshua miele

Join us in Celebrating the Publication of Connecting Dots: A Blind Life by Joshua A. Miele

03/06/2025 LightHouse Staff

Join LightHouse for the Blind and the San Francisco Public Library as we celebrate Josh Miele and the publication of his new book, Connecting Dots: A Blind Life. Enjoy a reading by the author and interview by fellow author, Jason Roberts, small bites, beverages, and networking with the literary and BVI communities. Copies of Connecting Dots: A Blind Life will be available for purchase at the event.

Book Party – Celebrating Connecting Dots: A Blind Life

When: Thursday, March 27, 5:30 – 7:30

Where: LightHouse HQ at 1155 Market St., 10th Floor, San Francisco

What: Author reading and book party

RSVP on Eventbrite for Celebrating the Publication of Connecting Dots: A Blind Life by Joshua A. Miele.

** This is a free event **

Synopsis

Connecting Dots, written in collaboration with veteran journalist Wendell Jamieson – tells the story of Dr. Miele’s personal and professional blind life. From Brooklyn to Berkeley, from childhood to parenthood, from student to scholar, and beyond, this book describes Dr. Miele’s experience growing up, coming of age, and establishing a life and career as a blind person in a sighted world.

Connecting Dots tells the very personal story of Josh’s growth and development while offering his professional take on widely-shared challenges of blindness, such as access to maps and graphics, access to video content, and the challenge of managing uninvited “assistance” from sighted strangers. It also explains some of his unique approaches to solving accessibility challenges, such as automated tools for generating tactile maps, a somewhat shady scheme for crowd-sourcing descriptions of YouTube videos, and a brief but brutal sabotage campaign against inaccessible ATMs in the late 90s. Along the way, he talks about canes and dogs, braille and babies, screen readers and spacecraft, and the rebellion and romance throughout his life that ties them all together.

Reviews and Praises

“An instant classic. Like its author, Connecting Dots is brilliant but approachable; irreverent without losing touch with the seriousness of his subject; and accessible in every sense of the word. Miele’s funny, moving, and absorbing account of his life and work demonstrate the truth behind the proverb about innovation and necessity: disabled people are the true mothers of invention.”

– Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind

“This is not a single book, but several wonderful books wrapped up into one. It’s a science book, a romance, a riveting history of the disability movement, a book about New York, an advice book. And, of course, it’s a memoir—fascinating, honest, and inspirational in a delightfully un-sappy way.”

– A.J. Jacobs, author of The Know It All and The Year of Living Constitutionally

“This is the story of a singular life, one shaped by violence but also by a devoted family, dedicated teachers and an array of fellow blind people who refused to accept the limitations imposed on them by others.”

– Georgina Kleege, author of More Than Meets the Eye: What Blindness Brings to Art

About the Author

Josh Miele has a lifetime of achievements as a trailblazing scientist, inventor, and community leader whose groundbreaking work has transformed accessibility for blind individuals. As a longtime advocate for independence and innovation, Josh has played a pivotal role in advancing technology that enhances the lives of blind people worldwide.

Josh’s enduring contributions to LightHouse include the development of Tactile Maps Automated Production (TMAP), a revolutionary web application that allows for the creation of tactile street maps suitable for braille embossing. First conceptualized in 2003 during his tenure at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, TMAP became a reality through a four-year implementation process at LightHouse, launching for distribution in 2014. The impact of TMAP has been far-reaching, with the maps showcased in a 2018 exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and earning LightHouse the prestigious Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind.

Beyond his technical contributions, Josh Miele has been a guiding force within LightHouse leadership. Serving on the LightHouse Board of Directors from 2008 to 2019, he founded LightHouse Labs and served as Board President for two terms. His commitment to fostering innovation and accessibility has left an indelible mark on our community.

About Jason Roberts

Jason Roberts, a University of California Santa Cruz alumni, worked as a software engineer at Apple before leaving to write a series of books on both hardware and software topics, then to serve as a technology reporter for the Village Voice. Roberts is the author of A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler, as well as Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life. 

Publishing Details

On Sale: March 4, 2025

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

ISBN-13: 9780306832789\

RSVP on Eventbrite for Celebrating the Publication of Connecting Dots: A Blind Life by Joshua A. Miele.

LightHouse News

Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award will help support our new on-demand mapping software for the blind

07/09/2018 LightHouse Staff

On Sunday we accepted a national award for a new technology that’s got the blindness community talking – and walking.

The National Federation of the Blind distributed six Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards for accomplishment and innovation in the field of blindness this week – including to outdoor program Ski for Light, Navajo braille creator Carol Green, and Danish startup Be My Eyes. Among them was LightHouse’s mapping project known as TMAP (Tactile Map Automated Production).

“Blind people profit from access to maps as much if not more than their sighted friends and family,” said LightHouse CEO Bryan Bashin, himself blind and an avid map user. “That’s the reason the LightHouse is commercializing accessible, automated map production.”

TMAP was developed by LightHouse in partnership with the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute over the past year and is the culmination of many years of iterating and testing. The system allows a blind user to type in a point of interest, auto-generate a specially formatted map file, and print a tactile (raised line, braille) map on an embosser in one simple workflow.

“The internet gave sighted people the ability to generate a street map of anyplace they wanted,” said Dr. Joshua Miele, the blind scientist at the Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute who conceived TMAP. “I wanted blind people to have that, too.” Lighthouse’s T-Map project stems from original work conducted by Dr. Miele in 2011 and has been transformed into a consumer-facing service by the LightHouse’s Media and Accessible Design Lab.

Those interested in obtaining tactile maps for their locality can e-mail adaptations@old.lighthouse-sf.org and will soon be able to purchase the maps through an online store.

The Bolotin award was presented during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, the largest gathering of blind people held anywhere worldwide. LightHouse’s Senior Director of Programs Scott Blanks accepted the $5,000 honor.

“At the LightHouse, we are passionate about connectivity, community, and the power of autonomy through access to information,” says Blanks. “Tactile street maps embody these tenets, giving each blind person the agency to decide how they wish to interact with the world around them. When a person can touch, or look at, a top-down streetscape, so much can be unlocked: the orientation of an intersection, directionality of streets, and a better overall understanding of how a neighborhood fits together. With TMAP, we are just getting started.”

About the National Federation of the Blind’s Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award

The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards are presented annually by the National Federation of the Blind with support from the Santa Barbara Foundation to recognize outstanding individual and organizational achievements in the blindness field. For more information, go to nfb.org.

LightHouse Media, LightHouse News

Blind Soldering: See Photos from Our First-ever Electrical Workshop

11/14/2016 LightHouse Staff

On November 6, the LightHouse held its first-ever soldering workshop for people who are blind or have low vision. It was a huge success, and we have the photographs to prove it! Scroll down for more.

Soldering is a fundamental skill in electronics work that involves using a hot iron to fuse metal to form a permanent connection between electronic components. The aim of the workshop was to help students make their own accessible continuity testers – one of the most fundamental tools for students working in electronics without vision.

While most continuity testers use lights to indicate the strength of electric currents, accessible continuity testers emit a range of tones — high for a free path and low for an impeded path. Unfortunately, accessible continuity testers cannot be purchased, and previous manufacturers have ceased production. Each student left the workshop with a fully-functioning accessible continuity tester for use in their future work; and the skills to solder it themselves.

LightHouse extends a special thanks to Dr. Joshua Miele, Associate Director of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, for facilitating the workshop.

“Blind people are makers. We can do things like soldering and building robots and woodworking,” says Dr. Miele. “We might use slightly different techniques, but the outcome is the same. The LightHouse is all about teaching these alternative techniques so that people can engage in the activities they love, whether they’re sighted or not.”

Here are a few lovely shots from the workshop, by photographer Erin Conger:

The workshop was held in LightHouse's Innovation Lab on the 11th floor. A close-up of the sign outside the STEM lab in room 1145 reads “Innovation Lab Sponsored by Toyota”. A large window reveals a few students hard at work inside the lab. — The workshop was held in LightHouse’s Innovation Lab on the 11th floor. A close-up of the sign outside the STEM lab in room 1145 reads “Innovation Lab Sponsored by Toyota”. A large window reveals a few students hard at work inside the lab.

A diverse array of students, instructors, and volunteers are hard at work in the LightHouse’s Innovation Lab. A Be My Eyes poster stands out in the background as an indicator of the space’s many uses. — A diverse array of students, instructors, and volunteers are hard at work in the LightHouse’s Innovation Lab. A Be My Eyes poster stands out in the background as an indicator of the space’s many uses, including as a home base for two accessibility start-ups.

Baskets hold some of the essential components for making continuity testers: stainless steel forceps, insulated handle-wire strippers, wire cutters, wrenches, and Phillips-Head screwdrivers. A few spools of insulated wire — also essential — sit to the left.

Red, green, black and white insulated wire spools sit on a table. Color indicators help sighted individuals distinguish between wires, while vision impaired students use a system of knots to differentiate between them.

A close up of a student’s hand resting on the table near a soldering iron set in its station. A soldering iron is a handheld tool with an insulated handle and heated metal tip used to melt solder.

A group of 13 students, instructors, and volunteers are hard at work around the long central table in LightHouse’s Innovation Lab.

Six students and volunteers sit around two tables, hard at work. The grey work surface is scattered with castaway bits of wire and solder. The lab’s large windows offer a view of neighboring grey buildings.

A student’s fingers slide down the length of a pair of stainless steel forceps to find the point of contact on the circuit board. This technique helps students who are blind create landmarks for soldering throughout the process.

A curl of smoke rises from the tip of a hot soldering iron as a student melts points of solder onto his circuit board.

A female soldering student wearing reflective sunglasses and a colorful headband leans over her work station, deep in a concentration. A steel vice is used to steady a yellow circuit board for ease of work while soldering. — A female soldering student wearing reflective sunglasses and a colorful headband leans over her work station, deep in concentration. A steel vice is used to steady a yellow circuit board for ease of work while soldering.

Workshop facilitator Dr. Joshua Miele of the Smith-Kettlewell Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Low Vision and Blindness oversees the work of a male soldering student. — Workshop facilitator Dr. Joshua Miele of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute oversees the work of a male soldering student.

A man in a grey shirt and suspenders clasps a yellow circuit board. Behind him, the student with the tawny shirt is hard at working with his soldering iron in hand. A smattering of tools are sprawled across the table next to a folded cane. — A man in a grey shirt and suspenders clasps a yellow circuit board. Behind him, a student in a tawny shirt is holding a soldering iron in hand. A smattering of tools are sprawled across the table next to a folded cane.

Clasping a pair of yellow wire-strippers, a female student in a teal shirt uses the instrument’s notched jaws to remove the insulation from a section of yellow wire. Her other tools are scattered on the table in front of her. Other students are hard at work in the background. — Clasping a pair of yellow wire-strippers, a female student in a teal shirt uses the instrument’s notched jaws to remove the insulation from a section of yellow wire. Her other tools are scattered on the table in front of her.

Two older male students collaborate at a busy soldering station.

A middle-aged blonde male bends over his workstation. — A middle-aged blonde male student bends over his workstation.

A grey-haired student in a black polo shirt glides his hands over the notches on his circuit board.

A man with long gray hair and a purple shirt sits facing away at one of the high top work surfaces in the Innovation Lab. His glossy black guide dog is on the floor at his feet, staring directly into the camera.

A smiling grey-haired male student wearing a black hoodie and a white button-up sits at the table grasping a completed continuity tester.

The LightHouse’s Innovation Lab will continue to offer workshops in STEM fields, so stay tuned. It is part of our mission to strengthen the representation of people who are blind or have low vision in the tech industry and other STEM fields.

For more information about future workshops visit the LightHouse Calendar or contact Director of Community Services Lisamaria Martinez via email at info@old.lighthouse-sf.org or by phone at 415-431-1481.