Therapy Device/ Tactile Sensitivity Training Tool for Visually Disabled
Design for Disability, Universal Design
2022
Problem
To design keeping disability in mind and to create an interactive toy for visually impaired kids respecting values of childhood curiosity, free thinking, exploration and unrestrictive play. The product/ toy in this case would be something modular and amorphous in its design being able to accommodate the user’s individual creativity, basically a tool which in no way suggests a correct way of usage but provides a framework for the kids to build and express their creativity.
Outcome
A Tactile Therapy Device for Visually Disabled
Role
As a student designer, I tackled the challenge of creating a complex product focusing on blindness. I chose to design a toy tailored for individuals with visual impairments, merging design for disability with the concept of unstructured play. This project aimed to address accessibility while fostering creativity and inclusivity.
Design Principles
For my design process, I've adopted a methodology that involves exploring two distinct avenues: designing for disability and fostering unstructured play. My product sits at the intersection of these two realms. By intertwining elements of design that cater to individuals with disabilities and promoting unstructured play, I aim to create a solution that not only addresses accessibility challenges but also encourages creativity, exploration, and inclusivity. This approach allows me to consider diverse user needs while cultivating an environment that fosters engagement, empowerment, and enjoyment for all
Unstructured Play
Characteristics of unstructured Play
Unstructured play is characterized by several key features:
Social: Unstructured play often involves interaction with others, allowing children to develop social skills such as cooperation, negotiation, and empathy. It provides opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction, collaboration, and the formation of friendships.
Child-centric: Unstructured play is driven by the child's interests, preferences, and abilities. It empowers children to take the lead in their play experiences, allowing them to explore and engage with activities that align with their individual needs and developmental stages.
Age-unrestrictive: Unstructured play transcends age boundaries, allowing children of different ages to play together. It fosters inclusive environments where younger and older children can interact, learn from each other, and engage in imaginative play scenarios without rigid age limitations.
Creativity: Unstructured play stimulates creativity and imagination by providing open-ended opportunities for self-expression and exploration. It encourages children to think creatively, problem-solve, and innovate as they invent new games, scenarios, and narratives during play.
Imagination: Unstructured play encourages imaginative thinking and fantasy play, allowing children to explore imaginary worlds, roles, and scenarios. It provides a space for children to immerse themselves in imaginative play experiences, sparking curiosity, wonder, and storytelling.
Age Groups
0-2 Years: During this stage, children benefit from toys that introduce simple concepts like cause and effect, encouraging interaction and stimulating the key senses.
2-4 Years: As children grow, toys become more complex, emphasizing decision-making, problem-solving, and the development of fine motor skills. Understanding patterns and basic mechanics becomes more prominent.
4-6 Years: Educational toys play a significant role in this period, capitalizing on children's increased learning abilities and longer attention spans. Toys should focus on sparking imagination, fostering creativity, and enhancing cognitive skills.
6-8 Years (Unstructured Play): At this stage, toys become highly specialized to cater to individual interests and preferences. Social interaction becomes crucial, with toys serving as tools for emotional expression and coping. The emphasis shifts towards improving cognitive and emotional strength, promoting focused play, and facilitating collaborative activities.
Types of Play
Exploratory Play: This involves spontaneous and unstructured exploration of the environment, objects, and sensory stimuli. Children engage in exploratory play to satisfy curiosity, learn about their surroundings, and develop sensory and cognitive skills.
Construction Play: In construction play, children use materials such as blocks, Legos, or other building sets to construct structures, designs, and creations. This type of play fosters spatial awareness, problem-solving, creativity, and fine motor skills.
Physical Activity Play: Physical activity play includes activities such as running, jumping, climbing, and playing on playground equipment. It promotes physical health, coordination, strength, and endurance while providing opportunities for social interaction and teamwork.
Pretend Play (or Imaginative Play): Pretend play involves creating imaginary scenarios, role-playing, and using props or costumes to act out various roles and situations. It enhances language development, social skills, creativity, and emotional expression.
Sports and Recreation: Sports and recreational play involve organized games, team sports, or individual physical activities such as soccer, basketball, swimming, or cycling. This type of play promotes physical fitness, sportsmanship, teamwork, and leadership skills.
Educational Play: Educational play focuses on incorporating learning objectives into play activities. It includes games, toys, and activities designed to teach specific concepts, skills, or subjects, such as math, science, language, or geography.
Media Play: Media play involves using digital devices, apps, or interactive media platforms for entertainment, learning, or social interaction. This type of play includes video games, educational apps, virtual reality experiences, and online communities.
Therapeutic Play: Therapeutic play is used in clinical settings to promote emotional, cognitive, and social development, and to address specific therapeutic goals or challenges. It may include art therapy, play therapy, or sensory integration therapy, tailored to the individual's needs and objectives.
Design for Disability
Universal design, also known as design for disability, aims to create products and environments accessible to people of all abilities. It emphasizes inclusivity and simplicity, benefiting everyone by fostering greater accessibility and usability.
Visual Impairment
Vision impairment means that a person’s eyesight cannot be corrected to a “normal” level.
Vision impairment may be caused by a loss of visual acuity, where the eye does not see objects as clearly as usual. It may also be caused by a loss of visual field, where the eye cannot see as wide an area as usual without moving the eyes or turning the head. It can range from low levels of vision to completely legally blind.
Why Visual Disability?
Visual disability can be considered one of the most challenging because approximately 80% of our interactions rely on sight. This dependence on visual cues makes tasks like reading signs, accessing information, and communicating difficult for those with visual impairments. Accessibility barriers in the built environment and digital platforms further compound these challenges, limiting opportunities for independence and inclusion. Addressing these barriers is crucial for promoting equity and social participation for individuals wih visual disabilities.
Understanding Visual Function
Visual function refers to the ability to see and interpret visual information, while blindness indicates a significant loss of vision. There are various levels of blindness:
Total blindness: Complete absence of light perception.
Functional blindness: Some remaining vision but not enough to perform daily tasks without assistance.
Legal blindness: Defined by certain criteria that vary by country, indicating severe visual impairment even with corrective measures.
Interview with Neer Savla
A Blind Physiotherapist
In an interview with a blind physiotherapist, he emphasized the critical importance of braille education for the blind community. Despite advancements in communication devices, there's a concerning trend of neglecting braille learning. Braille literacy empowers the blind by providing access to information, independence, and communication.Despite advancements in communication devices, there's a concerning neglect of braille learning.
Braille literacy is crucial for empowering the blind, providing access to information and communication.
There's a need for a device that enhances tactile senses and facilitates braille learning.
This device could combine tactile feedback technology with interactive braille lessons.
It would create an immersive learning experience, empowering blind individuals to master essential literacy skills.
Toys for The Visually Impaired
Toys designed for individuals with visual impairments can serve two primary purposes: compensation and enhancement.
Compensation involves creating toys that help compensate for the limitations of their disability. This could entail emulating sensory experiences or activities through their existing senses or modifying activities to make them more accessible and meaningful. By bridging the communication gap between individuals with visual impairments and their peers, these toys enable them to participate in activities previously inaccessible to them, fostering inclusion and enjoyment.
On the other hand, enhancement involves designing toys that enhance the senses individuals with visual impairments possess. These toys focus on refining auditory and tactile feedback to train individuals to perceive subtle variations in these senses better. By optimizing their existing senses, these toys help individuals with visual impairments navigate and interact with the world more effectively, empowering them to make the most of their situation.
Inaccessible Activities
Identifying activities, toys, and games that children their age typically engage with but are inaccessible to blind children, or experienced differently due to their visual impairment, is essential. This recognition highlights the communication gap that exists between blind children and their peers during playtime. By understanding these disparities, we can develop inclusive solutions that allow blind children to fully participate in recreational activities and interact meaningfully with their friends
Things to Note
When designing toys for children who are blind, it's essential to consider several factors to ensure a positive and enriching play experience:
Sensory Considerations: Since children who are blind rely heavily on their other senses, including touch, sound, and smell, incorporate multiple sensory elements into the toy design. Textures, sounds, and scents can enhance engagement and accessibility.
Safety and Durability: Ensure that the toy is safe and durable to withstand rough handling. Smooth edges, non-toxic materials, and sturdy construction are crucial to prevent injuries and ensure longevity.
Accessibility: Design the toy with accessibility in mind, considering ease of use and manipulation for children with limited vision. Use tactile markers, Braille labels, or auditory cues to make the toy inclusive and navigable.
Emotional Sensitivity: Recognize that children who are blind may experience frustration or emotional distress if they encounter barriers or challenges during play. Design the toy to be intuitive and user-friendly, minimizing potential triggers and frustrations.
Inclusive Representation: Ensure that the toy reflects diverse experiences and identities, including characters, themes, and narratives that resonate with children who are blind. Representation matters in fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment.
Engagement and Learning: Incorporate opportunities for skill development, learning, and exploration within the toy design. Interactive features, educational content, and open-ended play experiences can stimulate cognitive development and foster creativity.
Consultation and Feedback: Involve children who are blind and their caregivers in the design process to gather insights, preferences, and feedback. Collaboration with experts in accessibility and blindness advocacy can also inform design decisions and ensure inclusivity.
Addressing Additional Challenges: Be mindful of the potential impact of blindness on children's overall development, including the risk of emotional, social, and cognitive challenges. Provide resources, support, and opportunities for holistic growth and well-being.
Painting
For the blind, painting shifts from a visual medium to a tactile and sensory experience. Rather than focusing on the final visual product, painting becomes about the process—the feel of the brush strokes, the texture of the canvas, and the interplay of colors and shapes.
Painting for the blind may involve using raised lines or textures on the canvas to guide their brushstrokes, allowing them to create tangible compositions that they can explore through touch. Additionally, artists may incorporate scented paints or materials to engage the olfactory senses, adding another layer of richness to the experience.
In this way, painting becomes a multi-sensory journey, where the act of creation and exploration is just as meaningful as the visual outcome. It's not about replicating visual narratives but rather about expressing oneself through tactile sensations and immersive sensory experiences.
Art Blocks
The idea was to create a framework in which given certain constraints the user can create their own artwork/ pattern using the given blocks and by setting them down on the given wooden grid.
The blocks fit seamlessly together to form a complete cohesive pattern and they also fit into the board with little to no pressure being applied. Just as effortless it is to paint.
Each individual block has groves of lines that flow into each other making the product tactile and sharable. Being able to be experienced by people of the same visual impairment as the user.
In short how do we make a system of artingby taking away the colourand giving more emphasis to tactility, experiencing the art throufhtouch and sharability.
