DE102016111249B4 - Device for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people, comprising a light panel (1) serving as a bottom wall with a luminous surface (11) that can be illuminated by a light source and at least one side wall (2) which at its lower edge (22) with an edge (12) of the light panel (1) is releasably connected or pivotally connected and thus spans a three-dimensional space in cooperation with the bottom wall.

Description

The invention relates to a device for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people.

In the past few years, a great number of important foundations have been laid for the support of children with impaired vision and perception. Individual branches of education have gained enormous dynamism and content. Early childhood education in particular discussed elements of an inclusive approach to the educational process as early as the 1980s and thereafter. The early childhood education tried again and again to the parents. In particular, education for the blind and visually impaired can refer to a tradition in early intervention that no longer ignores the parents of blind, visually impaired, deafblind and multiply disabled children.

One problem with the continuous implementation of support measures is that parents of visually impaired children are usually very committed when the child attends a support measure organized and carried out by a therapist, but are often overwhelmed by it, the child continues in the home environment between therapy sessions to promote. As a result, the promotion cannot take place with the constancy and intensity that is desirable in order to achieve the best possible results.

1. 1. Das Kind hat die Möglichkeit, seinem eigenen Entwicklungsstand entsprechend zu lernen,
2. 2. Das Kind kann auf verschiedene Arten die Ausführung einer Aktivität beobachten, erfahren und erforschen,
3. 3. Das Kind hat genügend Zeit zum Experimentieren und dafür, Abläufe so oft zu wiederholen, dass sie gespeichert werden können, und
4. 4. Das Kind hat die Gelegenheit, seine Entwicklung in verschiedenen Lernbereichen zu durchlaufen und seine gemachten Erfahrungen und seine Interessen mit jemandem zu teilen.

The aim of the visual stimulation in low-vision promotion is to improve visual perception and visually guided behavior. To achieve this, the following conditions should be created for each child:

1. 1. The child has the opportunity to learn according to his own level of development,
2. 2. The child can observe, experience and explore the execution of an activity in different ways,
3. 3. The child has enough time to experiment and to repeat processes enough times that they can be saved, and
4. 4. The child has the opportunity to go through his development in different areas of learning and to share his experiences and interests with someone.

In "NESTMANN, Miriam: The relevance of visual development in the early childhood development of the sensory modalities - study work, Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2010" an experiment to differentiate between the colors red and yellow in infants is described in which a red object in front of a glowing yellow Light panel was arranged as a background.

Light panels are known, see e.g. DE 203 11 993 U1 , which provides a uniformly illuminated surface on which visually impaired people can play and experiment with mostly two-dimensional, often semi-transparent, differently colored objects of different shapes and thus can train their eyesight. The light panels are designed to lie horizontally or to be set up at different angles so that the figures rest on them and are illuminated without falling off the illuminated surface. However, the possibilities that such light panels offer for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people remain relatively limited. In particular, the simulation of spatial relationships between objects is only made unsatisfactory.

The visual stimulation represents a therapeutically necessary stimulus for the visually impaired child if an active stimulus absorption is not possible for the child to a sufficient extent. If there is a lack of such regular and intense stimulation through visual stimulation, there is a risk that the development process for vision will come to a standstill, which will seriously impair vision.

1. a) die in der Regel einmal in der Woche stattfindende Hausfrühförderung kaum ausreicht und Eltern trotz erheblichen Engagements in Ihren Mitteln beschränkt sind,
2. b) die Fortsetzung der Förderung mit den Mitteln der Kindertageseinrichtungen kaum gelingt und
3. c) die Fördermittel entweder in Ihrer Sinneswirkung nicht ausreichen oder einfach nicht zur Verfügung stehen.

In the everyday life of families with visually impaired children and especially with children with complex disabilities, it can be assumed that

1. a) the home-based subsidy, which usually takes place once a week, is hardly sufficient and parents are limited in their means despite considerable commitment,
2. b) the continuation of the support with the funds of the day-care centers hardly succeeds and
3. c) the funding is either insufficient in its sensory effect or is simply not available.

In essence, these restrictions also apply to daycare centers and kindergartens (also with integrative or inclusive tasks).

In schools and special schools, maintaining the visual functions and perception with the resources available there is difficult even for committed educators.

Ultimately, the question of the maintenance and activation of visual functions in the elderly must also be examined, if due to dementia and / or age-related Eye diseases have significant impairment in vision.

One object of the invention is therefore to provide a device for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people, which enables visual stimulation of visually impaired people by arranging and varying the arrangement of different visual objects, even in three dimensions, whereby disturbing influences of the environment should be kept as low as possible. In addition, the device is intended to enable visual auto-stimulation of visually impaired people, i. enable the person affected to stimulate themselves without a trained therapist having to be present.

According to the invention, the object is achieved by a device for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people, comprising a light panel serving as a bottom wall with a luminous surface that can be illuminated by a light source and at least one side wall which is detachably or pivotably connected at one of its lower edges to an edge of the light panel, and as a result, in cooperation with the bottom wall, spans a three-dimensional space - even if it is not completely enclosed or limited, ie forms an angle with the bottom wall which is smaller than 180 °. This angle can be adjustable or fixed, in the latter case preferably a right angle (90 °).

The proposed device enables visual stimulation in three-dimensional space, in which objects can be arranged in this space and perceived by a visually impaired person. The light panel serves as the floor of this three-dimensional space, which is delimited on at least one edge of the light panel by at least one side wall. The three-dimensional space can also be further limited by, for example, two, three or four side walls being releasably connected or pivotably connected at one of their lower edges to one edge of the light panel.

The luminous surface of the light panel can, for example, have a satined or opaque, i.e. the emerging light be formed as uniformly as possible, diffusing plastic plate, which is preferably tread-resistant, so that small children in particular can stay on the light panel forming the floor of the three-dimensional space in order to establish the closest possible spatial relationship to visually and / or tactilely perceptible objects, which can be provided in the three-dimensional space.

In one embodiment, it is provided that the light source of the light panel is an arrangement of LEDs arranged below the luminous surface. LEDs have the advantage that they only generate little heat, so that the luminous surface does not or only slightly heats up. In addition, LEDs can be used to generate light qualities that also achieve special outputs without any special effort.

The miniaturization of electronic devices and components makes it possible today to control and combine light and space in such a way that individual conditions and needs of visually impaired children and adults can be differentiated. The visual stimulation can be both much more individualized and made more intense.

Furthermore, it can be provided that the brightness of the light generated by the light source is adjustable. In this way, the stimulation can be favorably influenced, for example by initially selecting a high level of brightness to facilitate perception, and gradually reducing the brightness as the stimulation progresses in order to gradually consolidate what has been learned in conditions similar to daylight.

In a further embodiment, it is advantageous that the color of the light generated by the light source can be adjusted. On the one hand, different stimuli are set by a changed light color, which can contribute to an improvement in vision, on the other hand, with changing light color, one achieves a constantly stimulated concentration on the content of the stimulation.

In order to facilitate the operation of the device for the therapist and to achieve rapid variations in the stimulation, it can be advantageous for the brightness and / or the color of the light generated by the light source to be adjustable by means of a wireless remote control. In particular when using different colored LEDs, these can be controlled in a simple manner in such a way that different brightness values and light colors are generated at the push of a button.

In order to increase the stability of the device, it can be provided in a further embodiment that two adjacent side walls can be detachably connected to one another with their respective adjacent lateral edges.

At least one side wall can also advantageously have a mirror surface, so that objects arranged in the room can also be visually perceived as a mirror image.

To create the possibility of making objects on the one hand variable and on the other hand also detached of the light panel and the side walls in three-dimensional space is provided in a further embodiment that at least one side wall has at least one fastening element for attaching one or more visually and tactilely perceptible objects. In particular when two side walls each have such a fastening element, rods can be attached to them, cords can be stretched, etc., to which visually perceptible objects in the room can then be attached.

For the mobile use of the device it can be provided for easier transport that the light panel and the side walls are approximately the same size so that they can be stacked on top of one another.

To this end, it is also advantageous to provide that the device furthermore comprises a carrying bag which is designed to hold the light panel and the side walls.

Finally, it can be provided for the proposed device that it further comprises a cover wall, which is releasably connectable or pivotably connected at one of its edges to an upper edge of a side wall.

This cover wall delimits the three-dimensional space at the top, and on the one hand it serves to hinder the incidence of light from outside, and on the other hand it can serve to suspend visually and tactilely perceptible objects from it, i.e. to be arranged "floating" in the three-dimensional space. Such a cover wall can expediently have the same external shape as the light panel.

If, as described above, the proposed device comprises a carrying case for transporting the light panel and the side walls, then it makes sense that the carrying case is also designed to accommodate the cover wall. In this way, the components of the device can be conveniently stowed in a carrying case and transported to a desired location.

• • Spiegeleinsätze,
• • Platten mit guten Gestalten, Bildern und Einzelfarben,
• • Flexible Halterungen (Befestigungselemente) zur Befestigung von individuellem Spielmaterial.

For use in the proposed device, new as well as proven materials are available, for example

• • mirror inserts,
• • Plates with good shapes, pictures and individual colors,
• • Flexible brackets (fastening elements) for fastening individual game material.

The proposed device helps to create a space for learning, play and movement that is unique for the visually impaired person, in which the sensitivity for vision is used as intensively as possible and for as long as possible. With the help of the proposed device, vision is stabilized in such a way that the visually impaired person is able to create new spaces for himself in the family, in the apartment, in the group and for development.

The proposed device is a space construction for developmental stimulation, especially of visually impaired children. It is also an illuminated play and activity area for extended use when working with children at school, in (occupational) therapy and in care for the elderly.

The proposed device is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment and an associated drawing. It shows the only one 1 a perspective view of the device according to an embodiment.

A square light panel 1 with a side length of 0.6m and with one of edges 12 surrounding light area 11 , under which a light source is arranged, serves as the bottom of the device. The brightness and color of the light generated by the light source can be controlled by a remote control, not shown here.

At the edges 12 the light panel 1 are fasteners 13 , 14th arranged. These are used for the detachable attachment of side walls 2 that do this on their lower edges 22nd Have corresponding connecting elements that are not visible in the selected representation.

One of the two side walls shown 2 has a mirror surface 21st on. Both side walls 2 point near their upper margins 24 each an arrangement of fasteners 25th for attaching visually perceptible objects. The top margins 24 are also with fasteners 26th provided, which are used for detachable attachment of a cover wall, not shown here, as required.

It goes without saying that the connecting elements shown and described here 13 , 14th the light panel 1 and the side walls 2 as well as the fastening elements shown and described here 25th the side walls 2 are purely exemplary and can of course also be designed differently within the scope of the invention, as long as they fulfill the functions described.

List of reference symbols

1

Light panel

11

Luminous area

12

edge

13th

Connecting element, tenon

14th

Connecting element, hole

2

Side wall

21st

Mirror surface

22nd

lower margin

23

side edge

24

upper edge

25th

Fastener, tenon

26th

Connecting element, tenon

Claims (13)

Apparatus for the visual stimulation of visually impaired people, comprising a light panel (1) serving as a bottom wall with a luminous surface (11) that can be illuminated by a light source and at least one side wall (2) which at its lower edge (22) with an edge (12) of the light panel (1) is releasably connected or pivotally connected and thus spans a three-dimensional space in cooperation with the bottom wall. Device according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the luminous surface (11) of the light panel (1) is formed by a satined or opaque plastic plate. Device according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the light source of the light panel (1) is an arrangement of LEDs arranged under the luminous surface. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 3 , characterized in that the brightness of the light generated by the light source is adjustable. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 4th , characterized in that the color of the light generated by the light source is adjustable. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 5 , characterized in that the brightness and / or the color of the light generated by the light source is adjustable by means of a wireless remote control. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 6th , characterized in that two adjacent side walls (2) can be detachably connected to one another with their respective adjacent lateral edges (23). Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 7th , characterized in that at least one side wall (2) has a mirror surface (21). Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 8th , characterized in that at least one side wall (2) has at least one fastening element (25) for attaching one or more visually and tactilely perceptible objects. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 9 , characterized in that the light panel (1) and the side walls (2) are approximately the same size, so that they can be stacked on top of each other. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 10 , characterized in that it further comprises a carrying case which is designed to hold the light panel (1) and the side walls (2). Device according to Claim 11 , characterized in that it further comprises a cover wall which is releasably connected or pivotably connected on at least one of its edges to an upper edge (24) of a side wall (2). Device according to Claim 11 and 12 , characterized in that the carrying bag is also designed to receive the cover wall.

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