Android, haptic technology and a tablet. That's what it took for two American researchers to design an app that will teach math the visually impaired.
Vanderbilt University MED Lab student Jenna Gorlewicz and her mechanical engineering professor Robert Webster have created an app that takes advantage of the sense of touch so that the blind can learn geometry, algebra and other exercises that require a visual representation to be well understood.
The student has programmed the application, supported and awarded by the National Science Foundation, so that a tablet vibrates o generate a specific tone depending on the student's touch, a straight line, a curve, or any other shape. The app plays hundreds of sounds and tones and complements with . It even allows you to create or read X/Y type graphs, assigning one frequency to the horizontal axis and a different frequency to the vertical axis. The points in space correspond to distinct tones.
“If one of the tablets is wirelessly connected to the teacher's computer, when the teacher projects a graph or equation onto the whiteboard, the same graph will appear on the students' tablets. They will be able to use their sense of touch and the ear to follow the content of what the teacher is presenting,” explains Gorlewicz.
The app will allow blind people not only learn mathAlso engineering and other branches of science and technology. It is already being tested with students at a Nashville high school where blind people attend regular classes accompanied by a classmate. Until now, they had to use physical objects and calculators specially adapted for the visually impaired. Furthermore, the teacher had to pay special attention to them. Now, with this app, which is still in the testing phase, they hope to keep up with sighted students.
Complementary tools already used in classrooms: LAMBDA and EDICO
To reinforce this tactile and auditory learning, there are consolidated solutions that facilitate the editing, reading and sharing of mathematical content between blind students and sighted teachers:
- LAMBDA (Linear Access to Mathematics for Braille Devices and Audio-synthesis): editor that relates braille y visual representation, allowing each user to work on their own code. Compatible with the standard MathML for exchange with other editors (INFTY Editor, Matlab, Maple, Mathcad, Math Input Panel, Mathematica, MathMagic or the FireMath plugin).
- EDICO (Scientific Editor ONCE): free tool for mathematics, physics and chemistry which offers linear editing, graphical display y Braille display synchronized in real time. It incorporates modules of Statistics y Financial mathematics, with tables, matrices and matrix operations in a linear editor.
LAMBDA: license, requirements, accessibility and installation
Developed by VEIA, LAMBDA can be complemented with screen readers: JAWS (Scientific Freedom) and NVDA (NV Access). The LAMBDA module for NVDA was created by Alberto Zanella with the participation of Ivan Novegil, Jose Manuel Delicado y José Enrique Fernández del Campo. The license offers evaluation during 30 days and indicative prices of about 310 € (main license) and €120 (additional license), subject to change.
- Requirements: Windows 10/11, Internet connection to validate/recover license, associated email account, screen reader JAWS or NVDA, competition in braille and basic system management.
- Accessibility: Use with keyboard, mouse, screen reader, and Braille display; conversion to other formats; support for residual vision and magnifiers; Braille display recommended for better tracking.
- Installation: Run the main installer (e.g., "LambdaSetup"), choose the language, destination folder, and create a shortcut. Optionally, install JAWS scripts using "JawsSetupLambda.exe". To view MathML in a browser, install MathPlayer and enable the plugin.
- Activation and transfer: Activate with email and serial number; supports deactivation online to transfer license to another computer. There is a way to offline registration when there is no connection.
Daily work with LAMBDA: editing, visualization, calculation and profiling
The editor supports navigation by arrows, jumps with Enter and help with F1. The symbol ^ indicates power (example: 3^4). To display: F2 opens 6-dot Braille; F4 shows the graphical display and allows you to refresh; it is also possible to see the graph in the navigator and save it as HTML page.
incluye una calculator of expressions: select with Ctrl + B (expand selection by repeating), calculate with Ctrl + F9 and paste the result with Ctrl + Shift + F9. For structures: insert complex root From Insert > Algebra, type -25/4, close with Ctrl + K and view with F4.
Good practices: differentiate multiplication by aspa o point according to level; for fractions, use numerator/denominator commands instead of “divided by”. The use of Braille keyboard eight-point can speed up the flow in certain profiles.
LAMBDA has profiles by educational level and updates that optimize menus and commands. Among the typical changes of a patch Recent: Import/Export simplification; new combination to open calculator; adjustment of verbalizations broad/brief; improvements in denominations (direct sum, scientific notation, parallel, included/contains); relocation in Insert (delimiters, algebra, vectors, analysis); rationalization of trigonometric functions inverse/hyperbolic; and creation of the group of SI units. Teaching units in stages and examples of basic itineraries are included.
Integration with JAWS and NVDA
With JAWS, LAMBDA adds scripts to verbalize correctly (e.g., “three to the power of four” instead of “three circumflex four”). With NVDA, the complement It is installed from Tools > Manage Add-ons. It is essential to verify the Braille display and the synthesis before starting.
EDICO: accessible scientific publishing in the classroom
EDICO allows blind students to work in mathematics, physics and chemistry with linear editing, graphical display and luminous braille synchronized. The activation is Delivery to Italy takes one or two business days by requesting a key from CIDAT after installation. Its new features include: statistical symbology y Financial mathematics; tables with data import; matrices, determinants, and operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, trace, inverse, transpose, and adjoint); and teaching structures such as the rule of three or polynomial division.
Other useful apps for the autonomy of blind students
- VoiceAccess: control by voice of the Android device to navigate and open apps.
- lazzus y GPS Guide: orientation with environment information and accessible routes.
- Be My Eyes y TapTapSee: collaborative visual support and object recognition.
- Linguoo y Storytel: reading aloud of web and audiobooks for study and leisure.
- Medication Accessible: query of prospects and pharmacological information.
- Map4all: references on urban accessibility and critical points.
- Glasses Off: exercises of visual gymnastics as a preventive supplement.
Combining haptic app for Android with editors like LAMBDA y EDICO, blind students can follow classes at the same pace, exchange documents with the teacher and benefit from an ecosystem of apps that enhances the autonomy, mathematical understanding and classroom participation.
