Network For Inclusive Distance Education

Haptics Periodic Table

The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto has combined haptics technology with an electronic version of the periodic table in order to give students `a feeling for chemistry`.

Haptics technology adds a sense of feeling to computer-generated images or text. By holding a haptics tool, like a haptics mouse or joystick, images that appear on the computer screen can also be felt by the user.

Students with visual disabilities have traditionally run into barriers when studying subjects that require the graphical representation of materials. The periodic table is a good example of this - much of the information in the table is conveyed to the student by the relative position of elements within the chart. Although Braille versions of the table can offer students a sense of position of the elements, a great deal of other information on the table must be omitted simply for the sake of clarity. The Haptics Periodic Table currently in development will allows students to hear the relative locations of elements within the periodic table. It will also be possible to "feel" the relative atomic weight of an element, hear about the element's uses and history and learn about relationships represented within the structure of the table.

Accessibility features of the Haptics Periodic Table include:

• Self voicing
• Fully keyboard accessible
• Haptics enhanced learning experience through use of Wingman mouse or joystick
• Wide range of audio-cues supplement navigation system and information about each element
• High contract graphical interface for low vision users

For more information about this project, please contact the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto.

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The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre

J.P. Robarts Library, First Floor, University of Toronto Information Commons
130 St. George St. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H1
Telephone: (416) 978-4360 Fax: (416) 971-2629

For additional information please e-mail Laurie Harrison