Enhancing general spatial skills of young visually impaired people with a programmable distance discrimination training: a case control study

Abstract

Background The estimation of relative distance is a perceptual task used extensively in everyday life. This important skill suffers from biases that may be more pronounced when estimation is based on haptics. This is especially true for the blind and visually impaired, for which haptic estimation of distances is paramount but not systematically trained. We investigated whether a programmable tactile display, used autonomously, can improve distance discrimination ability in blind and severely visually impaired youngsters between 7 and 22 years-old. Methods Training consisted of four weekly sessions in which participants were asked to haptically find, on the programmable tactile display, the pairs of squares which were separated by the shortest and longest distance in tactile images with multiple squares. A battery of haptic tests with raised-line drawings was administered before and after training, and scores were compared to those of a control group that did only the haptic battery, without doing the distance discrimination training on the tactile display. Results Both blind and severely impaired youngsters became more accurate and faster at the task during training. In haptic battery results, blind and severely impaired youngsters who used the programmable display improved in three and two tests, respectively. In contrast, in the control groups, the blind control group improved in only one test, and the severely visually impaired in no tests. Conclusions Distance discrimination skills can be trained equally well in both blind and severely impaired participants. More importantly, autonomous training with the programmable tactile display had generalized effects beyond the trained task. Participants improved not only in the size discrimination test but also in memory span tests. Our study shows that tactile stimulation training that requires minimal human assistance can effectively improve generic spatial skills. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12984-019-0580-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Parallel Form Reliability Analysis of a Tactile Mental Cutting Test for Assessing Spatial Ability in Blind and Low-vision Populations

“…In line with this, Hill et al [19] found that BLV individuals who utilized spatial skills, such as object-to-object relationships or perimeter/gridline patterns, were able to effectively explore a new space and locate objects. One error seen in tactile interpretation, which was identified in a study by Leo et al [13], was the overestimation of short lengths and the underestimation of long lengths.…”

“…Spatial skills have been identified as factors that contribute to retention rates and improved grade and course performance in STEM fields [10]- [13]. Wai et al discussed the consistency of heightened spatial skills in those who excelled in STEM domains but recognized that spatial ability is often overshadowed by mathematical or verbal skills when predicting success in STEM fields [3].…”

“…In a study by Lahav & Mioduser [16], participants were successful in completing orientation tasks when they were physically present in an environment that they had only previously experienced through virtual exploration. It has been suggested that one's level of visual impairment does not influence the amount of improvement seen as a result of spatial skills training, and that training in one specific area of spatial ability, such as distance discrimination, can transfer over into other areas of spatial skills [13].…”

“…There have been multiple findings that spatial skills are not fixed and can be improved through intervention [10]- [13], [16], [17]. Intervention does not have to be a complex process, it can consist of short spatial exercises conducted once or twice a week, and still be effective in boosting students' spatial skills [11].…”

“…In BLV populations, a study by Leo et al [13] showed that individuals who received tactile stimulation training were able to improve distance discrimination skills and succeed at a higher difficulty level. Instruments such as tactile maps or virtual environments, which provide haptic and audio stimulation, help BLV individuals develop an accurate interpretation of a space [12], [16].…”