Tactile, three-dimensional, multimedia teaching system for the blind, the vision-impaired, and sighted learners: Touch, listen, learn

Abstract

The aim of this invention is to provide a learning system for instructing the blind, those with vision impairments, and the sighted, through independent exploration and understanding of the shape, structure, features, and history of any object. The system is primarily made up of two scale models: - The first is a master multimedia model for haptic exploration guided by audio information; - The second is a non-multimedia slave model for assembly to check comprehension of the features of the master model. The latter is designed to be modular and perfectly analogous to the multimedia master model in size, geometry, and surface finishing, where each individual piece fits into its surrounding continuity. The models portray the Temple of Concordia in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily. Learning takes place through haptic exploration and audio information. The models were devised to exalt haptic and kinesthetic capacity and to foster the construction of mental maps and images by the blind and by those with impaired vision, through tactile and audio stimuli. We took as our reference the ten typical characteristics of haptic perception listed by the psychologist Géza Révész. Exploration of the master model and reconstruction of the slave model are carried out independently by the blind learner, with no help from the tutor or teacher who is instructing them on how to use the models and what to do with them to understand their features. The system is based on the concept of learning to use an instructional tool by using it. The models themselves independently teach the learner to use and understand them. This system has already been successfully tested in Italy at the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano. In addition to easy understanding of the object, results obtained included an increase in personal satisfaction, improved self-esteem, and better psychological well-being. Learners attained these results by interacting with a very simple and immediate self-teaching system. These encouraging results persuaded me to pursue research into optimizing the models to make them more usable and comprehensible.