In studies testing blind adults’ identification of 2D representations of familiar objects (utensils, animals, etc.), the success rate was less than 20%. This specialization is probably due to the simplicity of optimal exploratory procedures for perceiving texture or hardness, while those adapted to geometric properties require movements that are coordinated in time and space. Thus, the haptic sense is very efficient in the perception of the texture and hardness of materials, but it is less so regarding spatial qualities. Each sense excels in processing certain properties. Ĭomparing vision and touch, several researchers now support the idea of a functional specialization of the senses, instead of a hierarchical vision of the senses. Several studies have shown that this content based on visual reality can be difficult to understand for children and adults with visual impairments. Tactile illustrated books for blind children generally contain tactile illustrations that are transferred from visual illustrations through different techniques such as thermoforming or textures. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.ĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.įunding: Grant: Edouard Gentaz (EG) Swiss National Science Foundation (FNS) FNS N° 100019_162688 The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ORDER OF THE STICK MINIATURES FREE
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. Received: Accepted: DecemPublished: February 3, 2021 PLoS ONE 16(2):Įditor: Tiago Guerreiro, University of Lisbon, PORTUGAL Moreover, it means that only the ASFG procedure has a very inclusive potential to be relevant for a larger number of subjects, regardless of their visual skills.Ĭitation: Valente D, Palama A, Gentaz E (2021) Exploring 3D miniatures with action simulations by finger gestures: Study of a new embodied design for blind and sighted children. Taken together, our study provides evidence of the contribution of sensorimotor simulation in the identification of objects by touch and brings innovative solutions in book design for blind people. Results confirmed that almost all objects obtained lower recognition scores in tactile pictures than in 3D miniatures by both groups and showed surprisingly higher scores in blind children than in sighted children.
Experiment (control) 2 studied identification of tactile pictures of same action objects by 8 different early blind and 15 sighted children, aged 7 to 12. Results confirmed hypotheses that ASFG procedures are relevant in the identification process regardless of the visual status of subjects. Results revealed that objects were very well identified by the two groups of children. the toboggan, trampoline) by 8 early blind and 15 sighted children, aged 7 to 12, who explored with the ASFG procedure. Experiment 1 examined the identification of 3D miniatures of action objects (e.g. The aim of the present study was to show how the ASFG procedure facilitates the identification of objects by blind and sighted children. This “Action simulations by finger gestures–ASFG” procedure has a symbolic relevance in the context of blindness. Following embodied approaches and evidence about the advantages of manipulations in tactile processing, we examined 3D miniatures that children explored using their middle and index fingers to simulate leg movements.
This study investigates an innovative way to present content to be explored by touch. Tactile books for blind children generally contain tactile illustrations referring to a visual world that can be difficult to understand.