Using Haptic and Auditory Interaction Tools to Engage Students with Visual Impairments in Robot Programming Activities

The robotics field represents the integration of multiple facets of computer science and engineering. Robotics-based activities have been shown to encourage K-12 students to consider careers in computing and have even been adopted as part of core computer-science curriculum at a number of universities. Unfortunately, for students with visual impairments, there are still inadequate opportunities made available for teaching basic computing concepts using robotics-based curriculum. This outcome is generally due to the scarcity of accessible interfaces to educational robots and the unfamiliarity of teachers with alternative (e.g., nonvisual) teaching methods. As such, in this paper, we discuss the use of alternative interface modalities to engage students with visual impairments in robotics-based programming activities. We provide an overview of the interaction system and results on a pilot study that engaged nine middle school students with visual impairments during a two-week summer camp.