{"id":448596,"date":"2023-06-06T09:40:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T07:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=448596"},"modified":"2023-06-06T09:40:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T07:40:36","slug":"revolutionary-tactile-book-transforms-reading-for-visually-impaired-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/revolutionary-tactile-book-transforms-reading-for-visually-impaired-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionary tactile book transforms reading for visually impaired children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) collaborated with Universit\u00e9 Lumi\u00e8re Lyon 2, Universit\u00e9 Paris 8, and publishing house &#8220;Les Doigts Qui R\u00eavent&#8221; to create an innovative tactile book for visually impaired children. The book features tactile illustrations based on touch and hearing, rather than vision, providing a more inclusive reading experience, says UNIGE in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unige.ch\/medias\/en\/2023\/un-livre-tactile-et-immersif-pour-les-enfants-aveugles\">press release<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prototype book, &#8220;Petite main se prom\u00e8ne&#8221; (&#8220;Little hand goes for a walk&#8221;), includes 4 pages with action prompts and sounds, enabling easier and quicker object recognition. Eleven children with varying degrees of visual impairment participated in the design process. A new immersive prototype with conductive fabrics, foams, and electronic circuits to trigger sounds in response to readers&#8217; gestures is currently in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"io-block io-block__summary\"><ul><li>The tactile books for visually impaired children that exist today, rely on prior visual experiences<\/li><li>The new prototype book contains actions for children to perform with their hands, replicating real-life interactions with objects<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Breaking the boundaries <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional tactile books for visually impaired children rely on prior visual experiences, limiting the understanding and enjoyment of blind children. The UNIGE team, led by Dannyelle Valente, a research associate at the University of Geneva&#8217;s Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and a lecturer at Universit\u00e9 Lumi\u00e8re Lyon 2, aimed to &#8220;offer an experience that better matched the sensory experience of children with visual impairment&#8221;. This groundbreaking approach allows visually impaired children to experience books in a more inclusive and engaging manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers had previously designed 3D modules, such as miniature slides and swings, for visually impaired children to explore using their index and middle fingers. The present study combines these modules with sounds to create the prototype book.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"vlp-link-container vlp-layout-basic wp-block-visual-link-preview-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/hable-one-keyboard-enables-blind-people-to-use-smartphones-again\/\" class=\"vlp-link\" title=\"Hable One keyboard enables blind people to use smartphones again\"><\/a><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-side\"><div class=\"vlp-block-2 vlp-link-image\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vlp-layout-zone-main\"><div class=\"vlp-block-0 vlp-link-title\">Hable One keyboard enables blind people to use smartphones again<\/div><div class=\"vlp-block-1 vlp-link-summary\">When you&#8217;re blind, it&#8217;s hard to use your smartphone. Fortunately, Hable One has a solution for that. They developed a small smartphone keyboard with various &hellip; <a href=\"\">Continued<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Engaging the senses through actions and sounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 4-page book contains actions for children to perform with their hands, replicating real-life interactions with objects. Sounds are used to encourage manipulation, for example, &#8220;You too, climb the stairs with your fingers&#8221; prompts children to climb a small staircase while footstep sounds play. This combination of gestures and sounds enables easier and quicker object recognition, making the reading experience more enjoyable and accessible for visually impaired children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The book was designed with the participation of 11 children aged 5-11 with varying degrees of visual impairment. Tests were conducted comparing the reading of a group of completely blind children with a group of children with some visual abilities. The results, published in the British Journal of Visual Impairment, demonstrate the effectiveness of the combination of gestures and sounds in the tactile book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.ioplus.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-20230602151959-1-1004x440.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-448602\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One of the 3D modules in the book: a miniature staircase to be climbed with the index and middle fingers. A footstep sound is made each time the fingers touch the module.\u00a0\u00a9 Dannyelle Valente \/ SMAS \/ Les Doigts qui r\u00eavent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Towards a more inclusive and effective tactile book<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Edouard Gentaz, full professor and director at the University of Geneva&#8217;s Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, emphasizes the importance of creating &#8220;more inclusive and effective tactile books, regardless of children\u2019s visual experience&#8221;. The success of the &#8220;Petite main se prom\u00e8ne&#8221; prototype is a significant step towards achieving this goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new prototype is currently in development, incorporating conductive fabrics, foams, and electronic circuits to trigger new sounds and soundscapes in response to readers&#8217; gestures. This more immersive book is expected to be released soon, further revolutionizing the reading experience for visually impaired children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) collaborated with Universit\u00e9 Lumi\u00e8re Lyon 2, Universit\u00e9 Paris 8, and publishing house &#8220;Les Doigts Qui R\u00eavent&#8221; to create an innovative tactile book for visually impaired children. The book features tactile illustrations based on touch and hearing, rather than vision, providing a more inclusive reading experience, says UNIGE [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2580,"featured_media":493922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34665],"tags":[28449,78627,78629,61790],"location":[52892],"article_type":[36684],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-448596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-children","tag-tactile-book","tag-university-of-geneva-5","tag-visually-impaired","location-switzerland","article_type-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"An innovative book features tactile illustrations based on touch and hearing, rather than vision, providing a more inclusive reading experience for blind children.","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Laio","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/laio\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/boy-2604853_1280.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">children<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">tactile book<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">University of Geneva<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/category\/health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">visually-impaired<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">children<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">tactile book<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">University of Geneva<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">visually-impaired<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 6, 2023","modified":"Updated on June 6, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 6, 2023 9:40 am","modified":"Updated on June 6, 2023 9:40 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2580"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=448596"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=448596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}