VITO - Learn Braille by Playing

As August/September approaches, some people look forward to going back to school, others are sad to say goodbye to summer. But on the other hand, there are those who encounter certain difficulties that affect their social development and learning within the educational model. 

Evolving this thinking more and more, we developed an integrative product for the learning environment. VITO arises as an academic project. We are currently two last year of Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development students at ELISAVA University in Barcelona, Spain.

Our goal is to create a tool that helps people learn Braille, but that is also a fun game that anyone can play.

Project in collaboration with QuimG1.

To build the VITO unit:

1. All 3D printed parts
2. NodeMCU Arduino with an ESP8266 Module (ESP-12F WiFi) with CH340 (x1)
3. SG90 Servomotor (x3)
4. Variety of screws

Before we actually get the designing and building part of this project, we have to document ourselves and see what already exists in the market. We essentially started looking for products that were to be used by blind people, but that could allow for better interaction between the two collectives.

We discovered The Polaroid Braille camera. This is just like any ordinary camera, except that it has a built-in Braille embosser. The Polaroid Braille camera gives blind people the opportunity to see the world in a different dimension. It will allow them to collect images in albums and explore the world with new eyes. (Image 1).  

The Bell Mug helps blind people to safely pour a drink without spilling it. The handle of the mug contains three different levels to choose from according to the user's requirements. The device contains a built-in sensor to determine the current water level and will emit an indication sound from the speaker when the water reaches the desired level. (Image 2).

The Dot Watch (Image 3), unlike other devices for the blind that use a speaker to tell the time, offers this option in Braille so they can read the hours and minutes with their finger. It provides direct access to all the practical functions you need so often during the day: time and date, alarm clock, timer and stopwatch.

To gather most of this information, we contacted what is known here in Spain as ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles). This is a non-profit organisation that works with people which have visual problems or are completely blind and integrates them into regular working environments and into society. They do very good things for a collective that is relatively small in Spain. We thought that by contacting them we would gather the best information as it would be coming straight from the most reliable source. 

Additionally, we researched tools that could be used to learn braille, as well as toys in general.

With that in mind, we set off to create a device that checked off all our requirements.

With the analysed concepts, we created a story telling to focus on the use of VITO as a tool for two-way learning for sighted and blind people.

1. As an idea and sequence of use, the toy is initiated and linked to a mobile device which allows a much more immersive and adapted experience for the users.

2. Regardless of the dimensions and design of the product, we believed that it could be used both individually and collectively.

3. Also, taking advantage of the three-dimensionality of an object. We thought of incorporating different interfaces to motivate the different uses of VITO, in addition to being able to create a more complete and larger play and learning environment.

4. Analysed in the story telling itself, the orientation of the device is essential for a correct interpretation of it, therefore this step is not only interpreted as a step but as part of the game and the experience.

5. VITO as a play and learning system is based on the senses of touch and hearing. It must be a pleasant, manageable product.

Derived from all previous research, VITO could be summarised with the following premise:

"Portable game that stimulates synaesthesia in order to learn and play between sighted and blind people".

With the message defined, the development of the device started with the design and development of the individual parts.

First and foremost, all the parts must be designed. We decided to use Fusion360 as the selected software. Fusion360 works great for this project, as it allows not only for the actual product design aspects, but also renders and animations. 

Additionally, part of the challenge of this project is to design all the parts knowing that the manufacturing technology that will be mostly used is 3D printing. This is known as DfAM (Design for Additive Manufacturing). It is important think of the limitations that 3D printing has and design around them. 

Taken from the gen3D website: "Design for Additive Manufacturing is the practice of designing a part or product that exploits the freedoms of additive manufacturing whilst adhering to the process limitations. The aim for all designers should be to minimise the production time, cost and risk of in-build failure, whilst maximising the functionality and quality of the components. We deliver our training and consultancy based on 4 key principles of design for additive manufacturing. An understanding of these principles will allow designers to create new designs that fully exploit the benefits of additive manufacturing and give the part the best opportunity of being a commercial success."

We decided to make some iterations of the possible mechanisms of the mobile part, as this variable part of the interface bases its operation on braille, the combinations of the resulting points are many. So controlling the position of each pivot is somewhat complicated and even more so in a small space.

As such, the first prototypes were the following: With a joint cam system and guides we managed to translate the movement of three motors to all possible combinations of the braille system. Each of the camshafts running transversely through the system occupies four positions, making all combinations between raised and sunken pins possible.This system due to a space-saving and optimizing size in the cams can only be applied at two points.

Bearing in mind that the movement system would be through the camshafts, we propose how to transmit the rotation of the engines to the cams.

We have designed our game as a single part. The user interacts with our toy through an interfaces consisting This surface has to be on flat faces, in order to be able to differentiate well the letters of the braille writing. In addition to this requirement, we have to take into account that the electronics must fit inside our toy. With these two requirements we are going to shape our toy.

The first prototype we made, had a cube shape where the faces of the surfaces were placed in parallel. In this way, when playing with one of the surfaces, you do not pay attention to the other one because it was placed against the surface of the table where the toy rested. We liked this system because it makes you focus on the six buttons or cams you are playing with. Even so, the shape was not very attractive and did not invite you to touch and hold it, so we wanted to change the shape to make it more friendly, and to make it look more like a toy. To do this we put together several pieces of plasticine and made these two flat faces that we knew would work for us. From there, we gave it a way to make the grip as ergonomic as possible.

Initially, we thought to use steppers motors aligned to the cam axes of the mechanism, since they offer 360 degrees of rotation. This degree of actuation allows us to align the braille dots in each position within the four cam positions (where each position is at 45º). The problem with these motors is the inability to control and remember their position, so they need encoders. In this aspect the integration of so many components and technology conflicted with the intention of making a product of contained dimensions within one or both hands, plus the large number of motors and encoders occupy more port space than is available within an arduino board. We need to rethink the drive system and do an integration exercise to adapt the components.

With the above problems, we thought about how to reduce the number of components and their connections. And we came up with the idea of using servo motors, because unlike the steppers these are able to remember their position and movement without the need for encoders. But they have a problem and is its degree of action as it is 180 ° and we need a range of at least 270 °. This transmission problem was solved by applying a gear system with a transmission ratio 1 to 2, that is to say that with half a turn of a servo we get a full turn on the axis of the cams.

With the mechanics and electronics solved, we must now focus on the coding. This is to be flashed on the NodeMCU. The code is commented so as to ensure that all wires are properly connected.

Next, you want to 3D print all the files. 

VITO_01 (x1)

VITO_02 (x1)

VITO_03 (x1)

VITO_04 (x1)

VITO_05 (x1)

VITO_06 (x4)

VITO_07 (x2)

VITO_08 (x3)

VITO_09 (x6)

VITO_10 (x3)

VITO_11 (x3)

If you want to, you can print it in any color combination you want.

For the application, a slightly different dynamic has been followed, although in the same line of design chosen so far. Specifically, we have opted for a very simple application with few options within each screen to simplify navigation for smaller users or those who are blind. The colors chosen are basically two, black and light purple. Black is used as a background and covers most of the screens, making the app more pleasant to view and less harmful to the eyes by acting as a dark mode. On the other hand, the light purple color provides that touch of contrast that brings psychological nuances such as independence, dignity, wisdom and creativity.

Games that can be played with VITO:

We have come up with two basic game modes to teach how Vito works. One mode is linked to the cam face and the other to the button face.

LEARNING MODE

In learning mode we will position Vito so that we can access its cam face. Then, a letter will be heard from the speakers of the cell phone. Immediately, the cams will form this letter. In this way the user, by touching this combination of cams, will learn how to write in Braille what the cell phone has communicated to him or her, and can add difficulty to this game mode by making words instead of letters or even sentences instead of words.

PRACTICE MODE

In practice mode we will position Vito so that we can access his face from the buttons. Then, a letter will be heard from the speakers of the cell phone. The user will have to replicate this letter by pressing the buttons that make up the letter. If it is correct you will earn one point, if it is wrong, you will have to retype the letter. If you fail 3 times, the letter is changed. You can add difficulty to this game mode by executing words instead of letters or even phrases instead of words. We have proposed these two games in pro-fundidad, to demonstrate that the game works and is viable at the project level. It should be noted that this game has infinite possibilities and game modes. Only the new games would have to be programmed, everything else is already prepared to play the new game mode. These two games are the most basic ones, since there is no multiplayer and no more than one Vito is used to play. The point is that this would be possible and more than one Vito could be connected to play the same game - the possibilities are endless!

INDIVIDUAL

Writing a word on the face of the cams, you have to write it on the face of the buttons

You can add difficulty to this game mode by making words instead of letters or even phrases instead of words.

You can increase the difficulty by reducing the time of understanding the word or the time of writing the word

Write in the game any word or phrase and the mobile reads you what you have written.

The cell phone says a riddle and the user has to write the answer on the buttons

A kind of dictation, the cell phone dictates a text and the user has to write the text.

At the end, the cell phone will tell you where and how much you have failed.

You can increase the difficulty by speeding up the dictation.

The cell phone records a phrase that the user says, and the cams produce it.

The cams write something, and the user says it to the phone, if he guesses it a point, otherwise he has to try again. 

MULTIPLAYER WITH A VITO

One person writes on the buttons, and the other reads it on the cams (letter, word, phrase)

The mobile is saying letters, words or phrases and when a player fails, he has to let the other player take his turn, whoever has more points at the end of the game wins.

Conversation. One person writes something, the other reads it and answers. And so on. 

Because it is a toy oriented mainly to children we were clear that it should be a short name with few syllables. As well as, to have a cheerful and vivid pronunciation adapted to the orientation and context of the project. In our case we found a name that we liked quickly, it is VITO. The name comes from the combination of VISUAL + TOUCH, which reminds above all the context of the project and the senses that we have worked more. Mainly, the first two letters of each word have been extracted to form the name of the product. VITO is easy to pronounce and with a lot of personality that allows it to be easily mentioned by a wide range of users, this factor plays in favor of the repercussion that a clear name can have in a market.

With our prototype completed, we would like to take this further and test it out even further. What we propose is a game-system, so we want to continue testing the different game modes and possible end up marketing a variation of this idea.

We know this tool isn't suited for everybody, but we hope that it will be useful for somebody or that it will maybe spark the curiosity of someone and they learn this very interesting thing called Braille.

I hope you at least found it interesting!