[accessibleimage] MICOLE

Hi,
Article about MICOLE, project about, technology, interaction and
multimodal learning. Link to article and  link to MICOLE site.
Links:
http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/ID/81631/BrowsingType/Features
http://micole.cs.uta.fi:8080/Plone/about
Regards,
Lisa

Technology to improve learning for visually-impaired children 

Supporting learning for blind and visually-impaired children in schools is
the goal of a system that offers collaboration, data exploration,
communication and creativity based on a common software architecture.
Already interfaces and application prototypes are being tested. 
Partners in the IST programme-funded [
http://extranet.istresults.info/ASP_Forms/EntityEdition/rr@xxxxxxxxx
]MICOLE project, the teams responsible are working in close contact with
national and local associations and organisations of visually-disabled
persons, as well as schools. Their main task is to design the system
itself. However, project coordinator Roope Raisamo, University of Tampere,
Finland, describes several supporting activities emphasising users and
their real needs. 
?We are experimenting with how to use different senses to partially
replace missing visual capabilities, especially in tasks that are central
in the construction of the system,? he says. ?Empirical research of
collaborative and cross-modal haptic interfaces for visually-impaired
children is one of the most important research activities.? 
Haptic technology interfaces with the user through the sense of touch.
This emerging technology adds the sense of touch to previously visual-only
solutions. MICOLE?s software architecture and applications are multimodal,
that is, they use hearing and touch to complement different levels of
visual disability. 
Their work extends beyond developing an assistive tool. ?In addition to
MICOLE?s immediate value as a tool, the system will have societal
implications by improving the inclusion of the visually disabled in
education, work and society in general,? explains Raisamo. 
Collaborative learning brings benefits 
Initial field studies involved interviews with teachers, children and
related user organisations as well as observations of actual group work in
schools. The objective was to determine how visually-impaired children
collaborate in school with peers and teachers, and to understand to what
extent they engage in group work. 
?The interaction among the pupils, with teachers and with their peers is
very important for learning,? says Raisamo. ?We know that collaborative
learning has benefits because the pupils learn through a dialogue with
their peers and construct their own knowledge by doing tasks together with
others.? 
Field study results from Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland,
Lithuania, Sweden and the UK showed major differences in the education of
visually-impaired children, however, they revealed many similarities
regarding aspects of collaboration. Based on these results, a prototyping
workshop was held in Stockholm where the school situation for such pupils
was addressed. Various hapitc and auditory applications developed within
MICOLE were assessed and new designs formulated.
He notes there are no specific requirements for the users of the system.
?The system adapts to the users. It is aimed at visually-impaired
children, but because it facilitates collaboration among sighted and
visually-impaired children, it also supports sighted children.? 
A multimodal system with visual, audio and haptic feedback can support
many kinds of users with disabilities because missing one of the
modalities does not make the system unusable, Raisamo adds. 


Prototypes being tested 
Project partners have developed or tested 16 different interfaces and
application prototypes, such as explorative learning of the earth?s
internal layers, rhythm reproduction, a tactile maze game, virtual maracas
(percussion instruments), post-its with a haptic barcode, an electric
circuit browser, a haptic simon game, memory games, a haptic turtle and a
haptic game of the classic first video game, pong. 
For example, to better teach natural phenomenon, such as seasons, gravity
and the solar system, project partners constructed a system using
proactive agents that offer the pupil help when necessary. The user
decides whether to accept help comprised of visual, auditory and haptic
feedback to present content. 
King Pong is a fully accessible remake of pong, supporting a spatially
localised 3D audio environment, force feedback (translating sound into
haptic feedback), recording and playback. It also offers a high level of
configurability concerning the auditory grid. 
Their MAWEN prototype software demonstrates how blind and
visually-impaired children can be helped in mathematical exercises.
Geometry is a difficult subject to teach to visually-impaired pupils, yet
one of the most useful as it is necessary for the construction of their
mental space representation. It is also essential for general education as
well as for everyday tasks. Classic geometry teaching is based on visual
modality: drawings, graphs, lines and curves - all unavailable to visually
impaired students. 
The underlying technology of their SALOME system is a haptic force
feedback device. A software application uses this device like a pen,
writing with friction on a virtual horizontal plane, much like a notebook
page. Geometric figures are coded as haptic magnetised grooves that
attract the pen toward the different elements of the diagram. 
Each element has an audio description (voice synthesiser) that enhances
the perception of the element. This sequential audio-haptic scheme shapes
a spatial representation of the figure. 
Software architecture is being developed in parallel with the prototypes.
The next phase will be defining and programming the agents. More than 100
visually-impaired test users in the partner countries are part of this
research process. 
Building on Europe?s strengths 
Project partners include European and world leaders in the area of haptics
and multimodal-human-computer interaction. For example, Reachin
Technologies AB is a world leader in haptic technology; France Telecom has
experience in developing applications for the blind. 
?MICOLE offers an outstanding opportunity and the critical mass for the
consortium to integrate and realise results of their earlier work and to
test the most novel ideas to meet the needs of the visually impaired,?
says Raisamo. ?The results are expected to make a valuable European
contribution to the development of the information society and real-world
equality for visually-disabled children, empowering them as future
citizens.? 
The multimodal software architecture to create new applications is under
construction. Scientific results from multimodal navigation and
cross-modal presentation of information are being fed in to the team?s
work. The three-year project is scheduled to end in August 2007. 
Contact: 
Roope Raisamo 
University of Tampere 
Department of Computer Sciences 
Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction (TAUCHI) 
Kanslerinrinne 1 
FIN-33014 Tampere 
Finland 
Tel: +358-3-3551-7056 
Fax: +358-9-3-3551-6070 
Email: [ mailto:rr@xxxxxxxxx ]rr@xxxxxxxxx 


Lisa Yayla
Huseby Kompetansesenter 
Oslo Norway
lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx

Other related posts: