by Arie Gamliel
Ever since the mid-'90s, the company Virtouch Ltd. has been engaged in an ongoing effort to make computer screens more accessible to people who are blind and visually impaired. At the heart of this effort is a technology which can be described as a kind of tactile mouse. This device, when moved across a flat surface, can reproduce tactile representations of graphics on finger-sized displays.
The concepts behind Virtouch are largely the brain child of one man, Dr. Roman Gouzman. A cognitive psychologist and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union to Israel, Gouzman established Virtouch Ltd. and sought out software and hardware developers and business and marketing strategists. And, equally important, he sought out the views of blind people themselves for whom the product is intended. This is not a common practice in Israel. Many blind children, a crucial target group, have spent many hours playing with the device and rendering feedback. As a blind person myself who is professionally involved in the education of blind children, I have also endeavored to assist with the product's development.
The first-generation Virtouch product, called the VTMouse, was quite a bit larger and more complex than it is today. It certainly was larger than the average mouse. It had three tactile displays on top. Each display, which was designed to have a finger placed upon it, contained 32 vibrating rods or pins. These pins were similar to those found in most current braille displays. In fact, the device could not only reproduce simulated graphics, but braille as well. Gouzman hoped that the product might evolve into a low-cost braille display. In addition, audio feedback was provided.
What could one do with it? First, it could reproduce tactile simulations of images and figures. For instance, it could reproduce images of facial expressions, human organs, graphs and charts. Second, it could reproduce geographical maps, both physical and political. Third, it could add a tactile dimension to already-available computer games which featured audio output. Fourth, the device could provide an dimension to information delivered by existing computer applications such as Microsoft Office, and especially to Internet browsing.
Unfortunately, the full potential of the original VTMouse has not been realized to date and the project had to be put on hold, because the development of a dynamic braille display was more complicated than anticipated. And while the device was less expensive than any other braille display or tactile mouse, it was still expensive enough to prohibit mass sales. Accordingly a reassessment of the product was undertaken and the concepts and design were modified.
At present, the product is called the Virtouch VTPlayer. It was launched onto the market on January 15, 2003 at the ATIA Exhibition in Orlando, Fla. As the name implies, this version is somewhat scaled down. This is true of both the concept and design. The current product looks almost exactly like the average computer mouse. It has two tactile displays on top, each consisting of 16 vibrating pins. There are four controls or buttons, two on each side. In fact, it includes all of the functions of a regular Windows mouse in addition to its unique capabilities as a tactile, immersive, multimedia device. Thus, whatever else might be said of this new mouse, it is more maneuverable than its predecessor.
At the heart of the software currently available is a series of games which I suspect will keep the children enthralled for hours upon hours, and might well get the parents hooked too. These include, but are not limited to, racing a motorcycle over an obstacle course, a shooting gallery where you have to knock off ducks and wolves of various types (but not the technician), a hide-and-seek game where you have to locate friendly and other animals in the fields, a space war game where you have to shoot down your constantly moving opponent, and a mine-sweeping game. All these games have the aforementioned verbal and audio clues, as well as tactile and graphic representations of the action. There are extensive online help files and various levels of increasing complexity and difficulty. Some of these games can be played by two players, such as by blind and sighted siblings. To me this represents a significant leveling of the playing field of which I hope to see more.
The last item I was shown was the tactile maps. These were carried over from the previous Virtouch machine. By moving the device across the map one can keep track of land masses, seas, and political boundaries. For instance, you can move up and down the east coast of the United States and identify which states have coastlines. You can move across the country and check out the size and shape of the various states. You can push one of the buttons on the mouse and get audio information about the various states, such as population and capital city. These maps have yet to be further developed so that they can also display the locations of various cities, mountains and rivers, as was the case with the previous product.
What then is the bottom line? This product is certainly much more affordable than the original VTMouse, costing much less than many common play stations on the market. A nice switch! Even individual families can buy it and not have to go without lunch.
The device is easy to install. You plug it into a USB port, install the software and away you go. The various applications and games are not difficult to learn but they are challenging enough to keep the user busy for some time, while he/she hurls various invectives at the computer. Finally, the software appears to be open-ended, which is to say that more should be coming down the pike in the months to come.
In short, schools and educational facilities serving blind kids should seriously consider purchasing the Virtouch VTPlayer. All of the games are designed from the ground up to serve a "cognitive" role. In playing them, the child gains skills, in terms of understanding spatial relationships, tactile differentiation, a sense of relative direction, comprehension of braille symbols, developing a mental "picture" of complexity and so on.
If you are a parent (or grandparent) of a blind child and the child is nagging you to get a computer game or play station, this is it.
The company management tells me that in addition to the current child-oriented focus, plans are in the works to develop the VTPlayer as a platform for a whole variety of applications, such as software for the reproduction of mathematical equations, graphs, software programming, modeling language skills, and much more.
It would appear that adults and blind professionals should keep informed. For more information, to find a local distributor, or to purchase the VTPlayer directly from the manufacturer, visit www.virtouch.com. The device sells for $695.