Tactopus -Multi-sensory Learning for Inclusion

Inclusive and Interactive, Audio-tactile Learning Resources for Children with Vision Loss

What kind of books did you enjoy more when you were a child - books full of drawings and pictures, or those with only text? What if we told you that your books couldn't have pictures anymore, while your classmates' books will continue to have images. How would you have learnt geometry, geography, biology or any subject for that matter, using only text descriptions? Would you have learnt as much as others, or had as much fun while learning? Or would you have have lagged behind the class or felt challenged while trying to cope, or worse, would you have dropped out of school?

Nearly 100% of blind children in India face this discrimination in access to information and learning resources. In books written for children, visual concept learning is a very important component, and are designed to make learning fun, easy and enjoyable. Particularly STEM subject books for any age rely heavily on visual representation of concepts. When these books are converted to braille or audio books, the imagery gets left out and are completely inaccessible to children with visual impairment and blindness. The small differences add up to significant inequality in access to quality education, leading to low enrollment, high drop-out rates and avoidably low employment rates

At Tactopus, we design tangible books with textured and tactile image representation, that can be read by the sense of touch. The books are supplemented by a mobile application that makes them interactive using smartphone's camera and advanced image processing technologies.

A smartphone is placed on a phone stand such that the camera scans a comfortable reading area. Our tactile books, when placed within this area, become interactive and touch-sensitive without any electronic or hardware addition to the books. For example, on out tactile atlas, one would be able to hear the names of different regions represented on a map by simply pointing to specific tactile shapes. In Math, we extensively use tactile flashcards for quizzing and practice after concept learning is complete.

We focus on independent learning, as students should be able to learn even when a special educator is not available. Since our learning material is equally enjoyable by all children, we also include multi player and peer learning opportunities, so a sighted child and visually impaired child can learn together on a level playing field. This is particularly important for us as we see it as an opportunity to inculcate inclusive values in children at a young age.

We have designed an experience system that assists readers through an audio guide as they touch and feel the pages of a tactile graphic. The app uses uses image processing technology to be context-aware, speech synthesis and translation technologies. Our innovation lies in the effective use of these existing technologies to serve the needs of blind learners.
For the production of tactile books, we combine thermoforming, swellform, die-cut textured material, pop-ups and flash cards, any method necessary to teach different concepts. We begin with early learning needs and intend to develop more complex material for primary and secondary level education.

Without our core tech, tactile books are of limited utility and requires readers to be largely dependent on sighted assistance. We have developed features that allow for independent, interactive learning and ample practice and evaluation opportunities for every concept.

Our next step is to develop an authoring platform for teachers to be
able to add interactive content to tactile books they create for their
classrooms. It will also be a repository of tactile graphics that can be
adapted and used creatively in classrooms.

Over the next 12 months, our tangible goals are to
a) publish 6 concept sets of books with net sales of 1000 copies for early learning and primary school levels.
b) work with publishers of tactile books to add interactive features to books that are already in print. (Software service model)
c) work with Indian education boards (central and state level) to inculcate tactile learning into prescribed curriculum.
d) prototype and test teachers' tool for editing and creating audio-tactile experiences.

We are building team capacity to
a) design and produce tactile content at the rate of 12-15 books annually,
b) reach Indian and global blind users and target to impact 50K+ learners,
c) develop an authoring tool for teachers to be able to create customized content to be used with the Tactopus app,
d) develop a platform for publishers to adapt books to make them accessible with audio, or autio-tactile features
e) work with marginalized communities to produce tactile books that may require higher proportion manual assembly work.

Our solution consists of 3 parts.
a) tactile books
b) phone stand
c) android and iOS app
A and B will be produced and shipped to schools/parents upon order. C, smartphone apps will remain free to access by anybody. Majority of our customers are expected to be repeat customers because we will continue to produce relevant content for the same specific user group. We are exploring a subscription model once we have team capacity set-up.
We expect to build long term service relationships with tactile book publishers, so we can continue to support new content developed.

We are working towards a pilot with 3 schools, where our books will be available in the libraries for about 250 students to access. The target age group for pilot is 7-12. As part of continued testing efforts, many children and adolescents have experienced our content, but we have not deployed to a library with full features yet.
In the service model, we are working with LETS (http://www.tatacentre.iitb.ac....) on making 10 books audio tactile, to be deployed in 50 traveling libraries in Southern India.

In the next 12 months, we expect to reach 1000 blind users of age group 5-12, with early learning and primary level content. 
In the next 3 years, we should have reached 25K blind users around the world of age group 3-16 with up to secondary level content.
Learners with access to interactive tactile learning resources have proven better learning outcomes, and also display more confidence in learning new concepts and application of knowledge. Particularly in Math and Science, our resources will enable students to be more engaged, interested and confident.

The founding team consists of two designers with proven leadership abilities. We have been able to create an exciting product roadmap with rewarding challenges for our future team to work on.
We have also been successfully partnering with organisations to create (or distribute) content collaboratively as we value collaborations to create sustained impact. At the early stages of work, we are open to experimenting with a variety of use cases that could leverage the tech we've created. We have now identified the models of engagement that create high value for blind users and now we pursue those opportunities aggressively.

Our B2C revenue is through sales of books and phone stands. B2B software service brings us revenue for making publishers' books accessible through our app. For long term sustainability, we have planned a platform for publishers and content creators to make their books compatible. Since our books (in the early learning segment) have a market in the sighted users as well, we're expecting higher book sales from a certain category of books we produce.
Our expansion plans are with the intention of covering K-12 essential content in audio-tactile format and reach schools around the world.

We are seeking to expand our reach to geographies beyond India, and will need to connect with organisations that can extend our impact. We are also open to content creation collaborations. We think the community and network opportunities will be valuable to the work we have planned for the next 12 months.

One of the key challenges has been the need to develop original content. Most existing books have been designed for static print media and digital content is poorly suited for tactile learning. We are planning to produce content in-house, but will benefit from solutions that can crowdsource or maximise the content creation effort.