--- title: What to Know About the Seiichi Miyake Google Doodle description: The Google Doodle honors Seiichi Miyake for making the world a more accessible place with tactile pavement. Here's what to know about him. canonical: https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-18T13:14:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:25:32.069Z og:title: Today's Google Doodle Was Under Your Feet This Whole Time og:description: You might have missed this ingenious invention right beneath your nose og:url: https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8adefd81ff9242cd/698946d7656a3f43a8bd6caa/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle.jpeg?branch=production&width=981&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 981 og:image:height: 552 og:image:alt: seiichi-miyake-Google-Doodle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Today's Google Doodle Was Under Your Feet This Whole Time twitter:description: You might have missed this ingenious invention right beneath your nose twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8adefd81ff9242cd/698946d7656a3f43a8bd6caa/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle.jpeg?branch=production&width=981&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME In the Loop: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition In the Loop is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution. In the Loop makes sense of the ideas and technologies transforming how organizations operate, compete and communicate, with essential reporting, analysis, scoops and exclusive conversations. Through TIME's reporting and access to leading voices, readers get a clearer view of the developments shaping AI, technology and the rapidly changing decisions facing leaders today. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=8d8f1056-ed7e-49fd-8ea7-4cf8d5e90770&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Harry Booth, Tech Reporter | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Leaders who navigate change. A professionally influential audience concentrated in communications, reputation, corporate affairs, advisory and technology, helping organizations navigate change, complexity and stakeholder expectations. ### TIME In the Loop: key statements * In the Loop is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * In the Loop is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=8d8f1056-ed7e-49fd-8ea7-4cf8d5e90770&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/subscribe?i=8d8f1056-ed7e-49fd-8ea7-4cf8d5e90770&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's AI newsletter? In the Loop is TIME's twice-weekly AI newsletter, written by tech reporter Harry Booth. It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=8d8f1056-ed7e-49fd-8ea7-4cf8d5e90770&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet [Watch (HLS stream): The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VJKpaL1l.m3u8) (0:55)  _Published 2019-03-18. The latest brightly colorful Google Doodle might make you appreciate what’s beneath your feet for a change._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 18, 2019 1:14 PM UTC The latest brightly colorful Google Doodle might make you appreciate what’s beneath your feet for a change. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 18, 2019 1:14 PM UTC The latest brightly colorful [Google Doodle](https://www.google.com/doodles) might make you appreciate what’s beneath your feet for a change. The latest way Google has enlivened [the search page](http://time.com/5549574/google-doodle-world-wide-web/) is by giving props to the globally influential Japanese inventor [Seiichi Miyake](https://www.cnet.com/news/google-doodle-pays-tribute-to-japanese-inventor-seiichi-miyake/), a man who changed mobility as we know it when he made the world a more accessible place by creating tactile pavement. The [late innovator](http://time.com/5549574/google-doodle-world-wide-web/) created the canary yellow so-called “braille blocks,” or Tenji blocks, to line the roads with cleverly designed slabs that benefit people on the street who are [blind](http://time.com/5552730/thomas-panek-blind-nyc-half-marathon-dogs/) or have visual impairments. > [](https://twitter.com/GoogleDoodles/status/1107522795876114432) The idea was simple but genius: let the bumpy street be your guide. The raised bumps, which you can feel through your shoes or with a walking cane, were a language of their own. The textured design usually maps out as follows: A straight bar helps direct people toward safe zones, while elevated domes warn that there’s treacherous traffic to avoid. The project was personal for Miyake. It all began when he started working on the design out of pocket to simplify getting around for his friend who was losing his sight back in the ’60s, [Google’s Doodle blog tells us](https://www.google.com/doodles).  Google honors Seiichi Miyake with colorful Google Doodle Google And to make maneuvering around public spaces better for everybody, the first tactile pavement popped up in 1965 in Japan, and then in 1967 near the Okayama School for the Blind in Okayma City. Tokyo and Osaka followed suit in subsequent years as Japan really ran with the modification, even going so far as to require that train stations to roll it out on platforms. But it wasn’t until the ’90s that it cracked the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Seiichi’s innovation is so ubiquitous today that you might have traversed along a Miyake innovation today without knowing it. In the U.K. [different bright colors](https://www.rnib.org.uk/rnibconnect/welfare-and-money/tom-scott-tactile-paving) can help people who have some sight, like Miyake’s pal. And in [Scotland](http://www.disabilityscot.org.uk/news/tactile-paving/), they use corduroy tactile paving to tell pedestrians of potential dangers or when they’re reaching a ramp. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/"},"headline":"The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet","datePublished":"2019-03-18T13:14:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:25:32.069Z","description":"You might have missed this ingenious invention right beneath your nose","url":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","History","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8adefd81ff9242cd/698946d7656a3f43a8bd6caa/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8adefd81ff9242cd/698946d7656a3f43a8bd6caa/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"seiichi-miyake-Google-Doodle","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/","name":"The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Google Doodle Honoring Seiichi Miyake Will Make You Think About What's Under Your Feet","description":"The latest brightly colorful Google Doodle might make you appreciate what’s beneath your feet for a change.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VJKpaL1l/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-03-18T17:13:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VJKpaL1l.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/","duration":"PT55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5553290/seiichi-miyake-google-doodle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```