Out to lunch at Kiva Han. From right to left, this is me with Meghan Nahass and Hanae Timouli, this year's Pittsburgh-based iSTEP interns (Sarah and Ermine are behind the camera).

by Anna Kasunic, NavPal Research Intern

No, don’t worry.  The lab I normally work in may not have windows, but electricity is thus far operating just fine.  What I mean to say is: since joining TechBridgeWorld this summer as a research intern for the NavPal project, I’ve realized how many things I’ve been in “the dark” about, and how much I still have to learn.

NavPal, a TBW project currently in the development and needs assessment stages, is a smartphone-based navigation tool for blind and deafblind users.  I’m very excited to be a part of this cutting-edge project because I fully support its mission, and the tool itself has so many neat potential features and applications.  Happily, I recently received my official Institutional Review Board approval as a co-investigator, so I’ve been able to start conducting needs assessment interviews.

So the first thing I’ve been in the dark about?  All the technological tools available to individuals who are blind and deafblind.  There are some really cool tools out there that allow people with hearing and vision impairments to access information and navigate their environments in ways I hadn’t even imagined; I’ve learned so much from the interviews.  I encourage anyone interested to do a little googling on the subject.

Darkness #2: Technology, broadly speaking.  In fact, technology in general is an area I’ve been—and still am—very much “in the dark” about.  In my education, I tend to flit between different subjects.  I was a language major in undergrad, and have just completed my first year of CMU’s Heinz College Public Policy and Management Program.  But I’ve shied away from robotics, computer science, and those other more “technical” fields of study, because I erroneously associated technology with… boring.  But as I learn about new technologies through some of my NavPal research and our project meetings, I’m discovering that the tech world is really quite fascinating.   I’m especially interested in the human-computer interaction (HCI) aspects of technology development. Maybe I can squeeze in an HCI class or two before I graduate from Heinz next spring…

And the last thing I’ve been in the dark about?  How awesome CMU is. As a native Pittsburgher, I made a conscious decision to do my undergrad away from the black and gold (or yellow, for Khalifa fans).  But a true home-buddy, I ended up coming back in the ‘Burgh for grad school.  Now I am kicking myself for not applying to CMU for undergrad.  At least based on my experience at Heinz, the people here are likeable, welcoming, and fun, and the academic atmosphere is superb; exactly the type of learning-focused environment I would have enjoyed as an undergrad.  Well, I guess no use crying over spilt milk, but if someone at CMU ever invents a time machine, I am definitely re-doing my undergrad apps, and putting Carnegie Mellon at the top of the list.

Beginning to see the light?  (Thought I’d leave you with an extra bit of cheese to round off the post).  My internship here at TechBridgeWorld is allowing me to explore new frontiers—new ideas, new perspectives, new skill sets.  It’s been a rich experience, but it’s also flying by; only about a month left.  But I hope to stay informed and connected to TBW during my remaining time at CMU and beyond.   I’d also like to try out NavPal once the design is finalized.  Since I notoriously lose my way pretty much everywhere I go, I can definitely use all the extra help I can get!

I basically have two days left in India. Wednesday is my last day — I leave super early on Thursday morning. As much as I love being in India, I’m looking forward to returning to Pittsburgh and having a Five Guys cheeseburger .

On Saturday, I went to the Mathru School for the Blind in the morning to attend “Braille Day” where teachers spend time with weaker students to improve their braille skills. It was awesome to observe one teacher, who is blind, teaching a student how to write braille using our Braille Writing Tutor.

I wish I could upload the video but the file is too big for me to post in India. I’ll definitely post it when I get back to Pittsburgh. Here are some pictures:

Student and teacher

Braille Writing Tutor

Hands

The teacher went through the different modes of the tutor, focusing on Learn Letters (tutor teachers the student the braille writing alphabet) and Letter Practice (tutor asks the student to write a combination of letters). As a treat, she let the student play the Animal Game.

Please write the name of the animal that makes this sound.

Meeeowww!

Abhish* must have figured out the name of the animal right away, but even before he could write “c” on the Braille Writing Tutor, his classmates yelled excitedly in unison, “Cat! Cat!”

He typed in “c”, then “a”, then “t” on the tutor.

Good.

*Name changed for privacy.

On Monday, Bea and I collected data and I videotaped teachers’ thoughts on the Braille Writing Tutor. Sanju and Teju trained the Mathru teachers over the weekend to use the Braille Writing Tutor and so far, no major problems. After work, Bea and I went to a nearby mall to buy some gifts for people at Mathru who have been essential to our study. I also treated Bea to some yummy chocolate ice cream from Baskin-Robbins and took a break from Indian food by having McDonald’s for dinner .

On Tuesday, we collected more data, videotaped more teachers and started talking to Ms. Muktha about a long-term partnership and data collection plan with the Mathru School for the Blind.

Wednesday was Bea’s last day in Bangalore and we had a long but  productive day at Mathru. We observed Teju teaching 1st standard students with the Braille Writing Tutor. In the following video, Teju teaches the concept of switching braille cells when writing a word on the slate (each letter should be written in a different braille cell).

We also interviewed eight students, most of whom “grew up” with the Braille Writing Tutor. Here’s a video of one student, who tells us what she thinks of the tutor.

On a personal note, it makes me happy to know that a lot of students — even teachers — like the Animal Game, which is a game I thought of for the second version of the tutor in 2008 .

Bea and I were able to finish all of the work we wanted to do on Wednesday. After work, we presented our gifts and took pictures with Mathru staff.

Ms. Muktha with Bea's super cute gift

Bea and I with Mathru staff

Left to right: Sujatha, Bea, Ms. Muktha, Teju, Ermine

Today, I stayed in the hotel to catch up with work. Tomorrow’s going to be another busy day at Mathru!

Mathru board

Mathru students eating lunch

My good friend and teammate from the 2008 internship, Aysha Siddique, is in Bangalore for the weekend and came with us to Mathru on Friday. She’s visited Mathru twice after the internship, but this is the first time both of us were at Mathru together. It was nice reliving good times with her .

Aysha enjoying a typical Mathru breakfast: Upma and Masala Tea

The BEST chai EVER!

At the end of the 2008 internship, our team made a donation to Mathru. With that donation, Ms. Muktha was able to build cabinets in the Seminar Hall where Mathru hosts competitions and vocational training workshops.

Acknowledgment plaque

One of the cabinets installed

Regarding work, Bea has been collecting secondary data (exam records, cost data, etc.) and looking into potential control data or control schools for the study. So far, the teachers I trained have not had any questions on the Braille Writing Tutor and are planning on training the other teachers this weekend.

We’ve got a busy week ahead. Wednesday is Bea’s last day in India, time flies! We’re planning to interview some students and wrap up interviews in general, continue collecting data, and think of a long-term plan for working with Mathru. I’ll also be working with the teachers to answer any questions they may have on the tutor as well as creating the installation tutorial and training manual.

Dhanyavad (“thank you” in Kannada and also in Hindi) for reading! I’ll leave you with a couple non-work pictures I took at Mathru.

One of the kittens at Mathru

Bird of Paradise flower from the Mathru garden

The purpose of our visit today was to install the four Braille Writing Tutors we brought over from Pittsburgh. After two years of continuous use, the current tutors at Mathru were no longer working properly. We’re not exactly sure what happened but figuring this information out will be valuable to us. We want to create a device that can withstand developing world conditions as well as primary school student conditions.

Current tutor at the Mathru School for the Blind

New Braille Writing Tutors

There was one computer that already had the necessary software so installing the new tutor was as easy as taking out the old one and plugging the new one in. However, for the rest of the tutors, I needed to copy the software onto the computer, install a necessary driver, and change some settings on the computer’s device manager to get them to work. I’ve never had to install tutors before so successfully installing all four tutors was a rewarding experience for me. Every time I got the tutor to work, I did a little dance, which I call the Braille Tutor dance .

I trained Sanju, the computer teacher at Mathru, and Teju, a volunteer, to use the tutor. Because the tutor’s buttons and cells were not working properly, they did not know about the tutor’s other learning and game modes. Training others to use the tutor was another first for me. I’ve demoed the tutor before, but never trained. They caught on very quickly! Here’s a video of Sanju and Teju playing the Animal Game.

Sanju testing the Braille Writing Tutor

I’ve asked Sanju to test the tutor while Bea and I are here and to let me know if he has any questions or runs into any problems. In the meantime, I am planning to create an installation tutorial so that they can install the tutor software onto other computers at Mathru. I will also put together a training manual so they can train others to use the tutor.

Things seem to be going well and on schedule. More later!

Today’s visit was a productive one. We met with Ms. Muktha and had masala dosas for breakfast. It was so good and so filling! I had dosas the first time I visited Mathru in 2008 and Ms. Muktha remembered that it was my favorite .  We were given a tour of Mathru and Ms. Muktha introduced us to the different classes. It was so great seeing the teachers and students again. I saw a lot of new faces as well as many familiar ones. Most of them remembered me too. And it was so wonderful to see the students growing up and making progress.

So much is the same at Mathru but it has also expanded. Mathru is primarily a residential school for the blind (standards 1 – 10) that provides free education and rehabilitation services to students in Bangalore and surrounding areas. Mathru has since created a multi-sensory disability center for students who have multiple disabilities. The center currently rehabilitates students who are deaf, deaf-mute and blind, and blind and autistic. It was really touching to meet the students and to hear how much they have improved. In addition, Mathru also sponsors visually impaired college students and provides them with free food, accommodation and materials.

After the tour, we went over the legal forms (authorization form, consent forms, and research use license agreement) needed for our study and interviewed Ms. Muktha. Tomorrow, we plan to explain the consent forms for our study to the teachers and obtain student test scores (before and after the Braille Writing Tutor was introduced).

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some pictures from today:

On our way to Mathru

Mathru School for the Blind

Bea (right) and I (left) with Ms. Muktha (middle)

Mathru students on their way to the park

Bea and I have got a busy day planned for tomorrow. We’ll visit the Mathru school and talk more with Ms. Muktha and the teachers and get some forms signed. I’ll update again tomorrow but in the meantime, here’s a picture of the wonderful weather in Bangalore. Definitely not missing Pittsburgh weather right about now.

Bangalore

We’re leaving tomorrow night for Bangalore, I’m excited! Bea and I will start working as soon as we get settled, since we only have 2.5 weeks to set up and conduct the study. I’ll update again when we get there. Good night!

Apart from helping to run TechBridgeWorld, part of my role as Project Assistant is to assist with technology field studies. I’m helping TechBridgeWorld graduate student representative M. Beatrice Dias (Bea) to set up and conduct a field study at the Mathru School for the Blind in Bangalore, India to evaluate the effectiveness of our Braille Writing Tutor.

TechBridgeWorld has several projects but the Braille Writing Tutor is more than a just project to me. Right after graduating from Carnegie Mellon in 2008, I did an internship with TechBridgeWorld and traveled to Bangalore, India. I spent 10 weeks helping to field test the second version of Braille Writing Tutor at the Mathru School. I’m so excited to see the children and teachers at Mathru and eager to evaluate the impact of the tutor — it’s been 2.5 years!

I’m stopping by Doha for two days for work and then traveling to Bangalore on Saturday night. I’ll be updating this blog often, so check back every now and then to stay updated on our progress. You can also stay updated on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

For now, I’ll leave you with a couple of videos. The first one tells you more about TechBridgeWorld, our guiding principles, and the Braille Writing Tutor project. The second video describes my most memorable experience at TechBridgeWorld (working with Mathru!)

When the Braille Tutor was being field tested in the Mathru School for the Blind in India, one of our happy surprises was discovering its use as a diagnostic tool – something we hadn’t planned. Since six of the eight teachers at the school are also visually impaired, they often give students exercises in writing braille using a slate and stylus and evaluate their performance based on the end result by reading the braille written by the student.

One of the students who participated in our field study was diagnosed by his teacher as not being able to write braille since his writing usually consisted of a single cell with all the dots embossed, regardless of the assignment. It appeared that he had no conceptual understanding of braille though he had been in braille class for a few years. To the teachers’ delight, this student began writing braille as soon as he was asked to use our tutor. Apparently this student had always been writing every letter in the same cell, thus creating the completely embossed single cell. This was not evident to the student’s teacher because the teacher herself was blind and could only feel the results of the writing on the paper; moreover, the student was unable to communicate well and explain what he was writing.

Because our Braille Tutor is able to interpret and read out aloud each letter as soon as the student finishes writing it, the teacher realized that the student understood how to write braille letters but had not understood that he needed to write each letter in a separate cell. In this way, the tutor acted as a diagnostic tool: it highlighted the student’s unique difficulties and was able to provide insight to the blind teacher.

To see how students and teachers use the Braille Tutor (version 1), please view the following movies:

Student writes the braille alphabet

Student writes “apple”

Teacher shows a student how to use the Braille Tutor