Pick, place, and follow: A ball run for visually impaired children

Abstract

Conventional ball runs are usually made from wood and used with marbles. Their easy handling and comprehensible principle of action and reaction - a marble placed into it will run down the slope - make them a popular therapeutic toy among occupational therapists and related professionals when exercising with impaired children. However, traditional ball runs are often too fast paced and not perceivable for children with low vision, making it impossible to fixate the moving ball with their eyes. We created a virtual ball run with tangible elements to extend it with properties only the digital can afford, for example, magnification of the marbles or change of color or physical behavior of the ball run in order to support visually impaired children in tracking them with their eyes. We report how we conceived the concept in a participatory design process involving four therapists, three children with visual impairment, and one ophthalmologist.