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Electronic Braille Blocks: A Tangible Interface-Based Application for Teaching Braille Letter Recognition to Very Young Blind Children

  • Conference paper
Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 8548))

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Abstract

A software solution for teaching Braille letter recognition to very young blind children is presented which allows them to interact with the computer by manipulating NFC-tag embedded blocks with Braille letters embossed on their sides. Braille letter recognition is taught and reinforced through various exercises and games and auditory feedback is provided via a speech interface. By embedding interactivity into physical blocks, our system provides the best of both worlds: the manipulation and exploration of physical objects in accordance with the sensory dependence and developmental needs of young children and the exploitation of the power of digital technology to extend and enhance the learning process taking place through traditional exploratory play. Furthermore, this is a cost-effective solution and does not require children to have previous experience with computers. This system can be easily adapted in the future to teach other concepts such as Braille numbers, shape or texture recognition.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Rabia Jafri

Authors
  1. Rabia Jafri
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute "Integriert Studieren", Johannes Kepler University, Altenbergerstr. 69, 4040, Linz, Austria

    Klaus Miesenberger

  2. Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, M5B 2K3, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Deborah Fels

  3. THIM/EA 4004 CHArt, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint Denis, 2 rue de la liberté, 93526, Saint-Denis Cedex, France

    Dominique Archambault

  4. Teiresias Centre, Botanická 68A, Masaryk University, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Petr Peňáz

  5. Institute "Integriert Studieren", Vienna University of Technology, Favoritenstraße 11/029, 1050, Vienna, Austria

    Wolfgang Zagler

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Jafri, R. (2014). Electronic Braille Blocks: A Tangible Interface-Based Application for Teaching Braille Letter Recognition to Very Young Blind Children. In: Miesenberger, K., Fels, D., Archambault, D., Peňáz, P., Zagler, W. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8548. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08599-9_81

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08599-9_81

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08598-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08599-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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