Dancing Dots Music Touch TTT: Multi-modal Teaching System for Blind musicians. T

描述（由申请人提供）：项目摘要/摘要的Talking Tactile平板电脑（TTT）是一个完善的，多媒体PC外设教学文学盲文。本项目探讨在TTT硬件上显示印刷乐谱和盲文音乐符号的触觉图像的可行性。所产生的课件将教盲人音乐家如何阅读和写作盲文音乐，以及如何理解印刷乐谱的结构和使用，以改善与有视力的教师，同龄人和学生的沟通。大多数盲人音乐家不明白视力正常的老师、同学或他们自己的视力正常的学生如何阅读印刷品上的音乐。因此，他们在集体或教室里作为唯一的盲人可能难以发挥作用。大多数盲人学生都被“纳入主流”，即他们在当地的公立学校上学。然而，即使盲文是其他学科领域的主要交流媒介，也很少有文学盲文的主流年轻读者被教导阅读盲文乐谱。TTT Music Touch解决方案为TTT增加了向盲人读者展示音乐概念和读写技能的功能。盲文阅读的学生和他们的老师将有一个全新的和强大的资源集学习印刷音乐的概念，并学习如何阅读和写盲文音乐。产品名称：舞蹈点将市场的新音乐触摸TTT课件，其建立的客户群，学校，机构，图书馆和个人和转售TTT硬件的客户谁还没有自己的一个。课件将包括专门开发的软件以及相关的盲文和印刷材料。 公共卫生相关性：项目叙述具体目标及相关问题和里程碑注：在以下部分中，A =目标，Q =问题，M =里程碑。 答一：增加声音播放功能TTT活动o M：能够关联的声音效果或音乐段落与触摸屏上的任何X-Y位置。 A2：开发新的课程内容，向盲人读者教授五线谱的概念o问：使图像足够大以进行准确的触觉辨别的最小放大倍数是多少？o M：创建的课程活动，用于使用触觉覆盖来教授印刷乐谱的结构。 A3：目前摘录从Taesch的介绍音乐为盲人学生在TTT平台o问：目前Taesch摘录出版的书籍形式或修订，以利用多媒体的可能性？o M：新的TTT活动测试用户对盲文音乐符号的了解。 A4：接受盲文音乐输入，并使用新的盲文到盲文软件播放它o M：用户听到播放的音乐输入的盲文音乐的形式，以响应活动指令。 A5：初步可行性测试o M：技术表现良好，足以让受试者报告喜欢和不喜欢。 答6：根据初步的用户测试修改软件工具或内容演示。o M：系统根据用户请求的修订执行。 A7：在费城的奥弗布鲁克盲人学校进行结构化用户测试。o M：根据能力倾向测试前后的应用记录的测试结果。技术创新和商业应用的潜力福斯特提高了学生和专业人士的盲文音乐素养。 更好地装备盲人音乐家与有视力的同龄人，教师和学生一起工作。 为其他人创建平台，以创作新的教学材料，互动音乐游戏等更广泛的应用潜力最终，跳舞点可能会发布相同或非常相似的内容在一些类似的设备，如触觉图像增强器从Reprotronics和IVEO从ViewPlus。该项目提供了一个新的工具，以促进没有被教授盲文的人口的盲文扫盲。全国盲人联合会和其他机构的研究表明，尽管盲人作为一个群体有70%的失业率，但80%的就业盲人会读盲文。令人震惊的是，在美国，只有10%的学龄儿童正在学习阅读盲文。该项目增加了盲文音乐的教学资源，以弥补由于盲人学生主流化而造成的这种专门知识的损失。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary/Abstract The Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) is a well established, multimedia PC peripheral for teaching literary braille. This project explores the feasibility of displaying tactile images of print music notation and braille music symbols on the TTT hardware. Resulting courseware will teach blind musicians how to read and write braille music and how to understand the structure and usage of print music notation in order to improve communication with sighted teachers, peers and students. Problem Definition Most blind musicians don't understand how sighted teachers, classmates or their own sighted students read music in print. Consequently, they can have difficulty functioning in ensembles or classrooms where they are the sole blind person. The majority of blind students are "mainstreamed", that is, they attend their local public school. However, very few mainstreamed young readers of literary braille are being taught to read braille music notation even when braille is their primary communication medium for other subject areas. The TTT Music Touch Solution Add functionality to TTT to enable presentation of music concepts and literacy skills to blind readers. Result Braille-reading students and their teachers will have an entirely new and powerful set of resources for learning about concepts of print music and for learning how to read and write music in braille. Product: Dancing Dots will market the new Music Touch TTT courseware to its established customer base, schools, agencies, libraries and individuals and resell the TTT hardware to customers who do not yet own one. The courseware will consists of specially developed software together with related braille and print materials. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Project Narrative Specific Aims with Related Questions and Milestones Note: In following section, A = Aim, Q = Question, and M = Milestone. A1: Add Sound Playback Functionality to TTT Activities o M: Capability to associate sound effects or musical passages with any X-Y position on touch screen. A2: Develop new course content to teach concepts of staff notation to blind readers o Q: What is minimum magnification to make images large enough for accurate tactile discrimination? o M: Lesson activities created to teach structure of print music notation using tactile overlays. A3: Present excerpts from Taesch's An Introduction to Music for the Blind Student on TTT platform o Q: Present Taesch excerpts as published in book form or revised to exploit multimedia possibilities? o M: New TTT activities test user's knowledge of braille music signs. A4: Accept Braille Music Input and Play It back Using New Braille-to-MIDI Software o M: Users hear playback of music entered in the form of braille music in response to an activity directive. A5: Preliminary Feasibility Testing o M: Technology performs well enough for subjects to report likes and dislikes. A6: Revise software tools or content presentation based on preliminary user testing. o M: System performs per user requested revisions. A7: Conduct structured user testing at Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia. o M: Results of test recorded based on application of before and after aptitude tests. Potential for technological innovation and commercial application Foster increased braille music literacy among students and professionals. Better equip blind musicians to work alongside sighted peers, teachers and students. Create platform for others to author new teaching materials, interactive musical games, etc. Potential for Wider Application Ultimately, Dancing Dots might publish identical or very similar content on a number of similar devices such as Tactile Image Enhancer from Reprotronics and the IVEO from ViewPlus. Relevance This project provides a new tool to promote braille literacy for a population that is not being taught braille that should be. Studies by the National Federation of the Blind and others have shown that although as a group there is 70 percent unemployment among the blind, 80 percent of those blind people who are employed read braille. Shockingly, only 10 percent of school-age children in the U.S. are now being taught to read braille. This project adds a teaching resource for braille music to counteract the loss of such expertise that has resulted from the mainstreaming of blind students.