abstract

• The traditional educational process of blind people is a complex practice that relies on the haptic perception (tactile perception) of physical models. However, physical models may be costly, inaccessible or may require a large storage space. To overcome these difficulties, in this paper a virtual haptic perception approach to support the teaching and learning process of blind people is proposed. The proposed approach combines the use of virtual reality and haptic technologies. The research aim is to objectively evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using virtual haptic perception in the education of blind children. For this purpose, an experimental methodology was defined and used to teach maths, in particular fundamental 3D shapes, to blind children. The results are analysed in terms of the participants%26#x2019; ability to explore and recognize virtual objects, and the knowledge gain after the virtual perception learning period. From this analysis it is concluded that haptic virtual perception is a valid and effective assistive technology for the education of blind children. IEEE

authors

• Espinosa Castañeda Raquel
• Medellín Castillo Hugo Iván

publication date

• 2020-01-01

published in

• IEEE Transactions on Haptics  Journal

keywords

• blind children; haptic perception; learning performance; task completion time (TCT); virtual haptic Computer applications; Haptic interfaces; Human computer interaction; Assistive technology; Educational process; Experimental methodology; Haptic perception; Haptic technology; Inclusive education; Tactile perception; Teaching and learning; E-learning

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1109/TOH.2020.3001586

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