Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo ngu-Nuoran Chen, Yilin Niu and Siming Jin

Uyilo olubizwa ngokuba yi-Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo olwenziwe ngu-Nuoran Chen, Yilin Niu and Siming Jin ngumwini obekekileyo webhaso elinobukhazikhazi le-2026 Ibhaso Lebhronzi le-A' Design Award Kudidi Lokhuphiswano lwe-Uyilo lweMfundo, iziXhobo zokuFundisa kunye nokuQulatheyo kokuQeqesha.

IbhronziImfundo· 2026

Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo

ngu Nuoran Chen, Yilin Niu and Siming Jin

Umxhasi: Nuoran Chen

Umwini we-Ibhaso Lebhronzi le-A' Design Award Kudidi Lwe-Imfundo

7,220

Umwini Webhaso Oqinisekisiweyo

Qinisekisa Isimo Sebhaso se-#177478

Jonga kwi-A' Design Award Uxwebhu Lweendaba Ibheji Yembasa

Imibala

Uyilo

Malunga ne-Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo

I-Tactilelink yinkqubo yemfundo yegrafikhi ephathekayo eyenzelwe abafundi abangaboniyo nabo banobunzima bokubona. Ufundiso lwesiqhelo lokubamba isandla ngesandla luthintela ukuzimela kwabafundi kwaye luxhomekeke kwinani elincinci lootitshala abaziingcali. I-Tactilelink idibanisa isakhelo setablet esishicilelwe nge-3D, iigrafikhi zemigca ephakamileyo yeediyagram zesekethe kunye nesoftware esebenza kumaqonga ahlukeneyo. Ukusetyenziswa kwesandi kukhokela umfundi ngamnye kwicandelo ekujoliswe kulo, njengoko iphimbo namandla esandi etshintsha ngokomgama womnwe. Abahlohli banokulandela abafundi abaninzi ngexesha elinye kwaye balungiselele amanqaku eaudiyo okuphononongwa ngokuzimeleyo emva kweklasi.

Ukuqatshelwa

Malunga ne-Ibhaso Lebhronzi le-A' Design Award

Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo ngumphumeleli weIbhaso Lebhronzi le-A' Design Award, ukuqatshelwa okuhlonitshwayo kakhulu okunikwa imiyilo ephawulekayo eyahlukaniswa kukuyila, ubukrelekrele nobukrelekrele. Abaphumeleleyo beBhronzi ziimveliso ezinobuchule obukhulu nezidala ngokumangalisayo ezingqina amava aphangaleleyo, ukucinga nokwazi ukuzenzela kwabayili bazo. Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo iyathenjwa ukuba ibe yimpahla exatyiswa kakhulu, edunyiswayo nethandwayo enobungcali obuphawulekayo nezinto ezintsha. Lo myilo uphumeleleyo weIbhaso Lebhronzi le-A' Design Award ubandakanya iindlela ezilungileyo kakhulu kubugcisa, inzululwazi, uyilo kunye nobuchwephesha kwaye ugqwesile ngenxa yokunikela ingqalelo kwiinkcukacha. Tactilelink Inkqubo yeMfundo yeGrafikhi ePhathekayo iyanelisa iimfuno ngokumangalisayo, ichukumisa iinqwenelo, ikhwebela iimvakalelo kwaye itsala umdla.

Emva Koyilo

Ikhithi Yeendaba

Iziqinisekiso, amalungu eqela kunye neenkcukacha zobugcisa ezinikezelwe ngumyili.

Iimpawu Ezizodwa: Tactilelink is an affordable tactile graphic education system for blind and visually impaired students. Traditional hand-over-hand instruction limits students' independence and strains an already scarce specialist workforce. SoundPath lets a single instructor guide multiple students at once through sonification and voiceover annotations, making tactile graphic learning accessible, scalable, and independent.
Imilinganiselo nePakishini: The physical components include a 3D-printed tablet frame (290 × 226 × 7 mm) and several tactile graphics of Arduino diagrams (279.4 × 215.9 mm). The digital component is cross-platform software that works as both a tablet app and a desktop web app, creating a flexible teaching system.
Iithegi: Accessibility, Tactile graphic, Education system, Inclusive education, Blind Arduino
Ubuchwepheshe Bokuvelisa: Tactilelink is built with simplicity, affordability, and accessibility in mind. For student’s system, it combines 3D-printed tablet frames with software optimized for common educational tablets, ensuring easy setup and scalability. It uses sonification to guide students in exploring and learning raised-line graphics. For instructor’s system, it’s an one-step, AI empowered software help they instruct multiple students easily, reducing their workload, expanding the educational capacity to more underserved blind students.
Umngeni Woyilo: The hardest part was shifting from designer to facilitator. Co-design challenged us to suspend our assumptions, especially as sighted designers. We wrongly assumed blind users would prefer vibration cues over sound. In reality, sonification was less fatiguing and more effective. This required overcoming internal bias, embracing user knowledge, and adapting to insights often overlooked due to our own perspective.
Uphando: This research is user-centered design. Our goal was to create an affordable system for teaching tactile graphics to visually impaired students. We observed Blind Arduino sessions and collaborated with the East Bay Center for the Blind, then used co-design workshops, Wizard of Oz prototyping, and usability testing with teachers and students. Results showed sonification on existing hardware best supported group learning, offering insights that impact education, accessibility, and inclusive design.
Inkuthazo: The idea came from observing an Arduino class at the East Bay Center for the Blind, where one instructor had to physically guide each student's hands through circuit diagrams one by one. With nearly 5,000 specialist teachers short across the U.S., this one-on-one model is unsustainable. Inspired by sonification, we use continuous pitch changes to guide students to target components independently, enabling one teacher to instruct multiple students simultaneously, in person or remotely.
Ubude Beprojekthi: This project started in August 2024 and finished in December 2024.
Ukuhamba Komsebenzi: During class, the instructor taps a selected component on the tactile graphic for students to explore. Students navigate to the component following sonification guidance: the pitch and intensity of the sound shift based on how close their finger is to the target. Teacher can observes their progress on their interface to provide real-time support. After class, teachers could use the software to create detailed audio annotation and design the component-learning sequence, publishing it to student’s device. Students could review the knowledge independently without teacher’s presence by following the sonification guidance.
Amalungu Eqela: Nuoran Chen
Yilin Niu
Siming (Susie) Jin