Ubiquitous Workshop Service that Delivers Real-Life Experiences to the Visually Impaired

Description

  1. Significance

The author has developed a workshop that combines online meeting and physical tactile materials for the visually impaired (V.I.).

Tactile teaching materials such as maps and models had been used by lecturers to explain complex information to the V.I. in person.

On the other hand, the V.I. have mobility difficulties, so they cannot freely participate in events such face-to-face interactive workshops.

In particular, the coronavirus pandemic deprived us of the possibility of holding such face-to-face workshops, as it had required social distancing and avoided physical contact.

In order to overcome these limitations and constraints, the author has developed a service that sends tactile teaching materials to the V.I. in advance and holds workshops via online meetings.

  1. Performance

The feasibility of this service has been confirmed in the past 10 workshops.

This service provides solutions to the following issues

  • Production and delivery of tactile teaching materials within acceptable resources (cost, time, manpower)
  • Ensuring the audience’s understanding of online lectures, which are necessarily one-way transmissions
  • An accommodation that prevents the computer’s voice output from interfering with the talk of lecturer for the V.I. who must use a screen reader program’s voice to operate the meeting software.
  1. Uses

The author’s practical experience confirmed that this workshop can be used for a variety of purposes, including museum exhibitions, disaster prevention guidance, and tourist information.

More than half of the voluntary participants were people with acquired visual impairments.

This is worth noting, considering that it is thought that they have limited tactile perception and that it is not possible to expect sufficient use of tactile materials.

In particular, people with acquired visual impairments immediately after injury have extremely severe restrictions on mobility, and the author’s workshop service can work as a tool for their rehabilitation.

Presenter

Kazunori Minatani