This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction (ABBI) system for improving mobility and spatial cognition in visually impaired children. The bracelet is worn on the wrist and the key feature is to provide an audio feedback about body movements to help visually impaired children to build a sense of space. Nine early blind children took part at this study. The study lasted 12 weeks. Once per week each child participated in a 45-minutes ABBI rehabilitation with trained professionals. He also had to use it one hour per day at home alone or with one relative. The mobility and spatial cognition abilities were measured before and after a 12-weeks rehabilitation program with three different tests. Results showed that the use of the Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction allowed the early blind children to significantly improve their mobility and spatial abilities. Although an extended study including a larger number of participants is needed to confirm these data, the present results are encouraging. They do suggest that ABBI could be used for rehabilitate the sense of space in visually impaired children.

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This paper presents the process and results of a set of studies within the ABBI EU project, with the general aim to co-design wearable technology (an audio bracelet) together with visually impaired children, starting at a young age. The authors discuss user preferences related to sounds and tactile materials and present the results of a focus group with very young visually-impaired children under the age of 5, together with their parents. They find that multisensory feedback (visual, tactile/haptic, auditory) is useful and that preferences vary - also the drastic and potentially unpleasant sounds and materials may have a role. Further studies investigate the possibilities of using the ABBI wearable technology for social contexts and games. In a series of game workshops children with and without visual impairments created games with wearable technology employing very simple interactivity. The authors report the created games, and note that even with this simple interactivity it is possible to create fun, inclusive and rich socially co-located games.

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