# Designing Pedagogically Effective Haptic Systems for Learning: A Review
## 3 Haptics Applications for Learning
### Visual Disability Instruction
investigated the initial use of a tangible user interface (TUI) math application, TanMath, to teach arithmetic operations to a visually impaired student. In a TUI, physical objects, instruments, surfaces, and spaces work as physical interfaces for manipulating digital information [43]. Users interact with TUI systems by manipulating physical objects, referred to as physical icons or \"phicons\", which are tracked by the computer systems and represented digitally. It is thought that limited access and ability to do mathematics may be one of the biggest challenges for students with visual impairments [43]. Traditional methods of teaching visually impaired students involve having the students recognize the shape of a number, and teaching them to perform basic addition and subtraction operations with the physical number shapes. Concurrently, the students begin to learn numbers in braille. Once the students have mastered those mathematical techniques and their concept of numbers is concrete, they begin to work with a Japanese abacus. A Japanese abacus is a calculating tool that was used to perform calculations and represent numerical values prior to the written numerical system [45]. The researchers tested their concept program on a blind 5 th grader who attended public school. The findings were positive and promising, as the subject completed the mathematical tasks well and navigated the program with ease [43]. The study conducted by [PERSON] et al. illuminated space for innovation in teaching mathematics to visually impaired students and suggests the need for digital augmentation [43; 44]. Haptics and TUIs offer a digital, yet embodied, learning experience that can greatly benefit the visually impaired. [PERSON] et al. [40] conducted a user centered design study that analyzed visually impaired participants' interactions with an electrostatic haptic touchscreen system. Electrostatics is a subfield of surface haptics and produces haptic effects via the application of voltages to a conductive surface, which created friction on one's fingers. [PERSON] et al. first interviewed 6 individuals as to identify the technological needs of visually impaired students and their educators: a technology expert from the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind (IBTC), the president of Maryland chapter of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and the principal, vice-principal, and two elementary math teachers from the Maryland School for the Blind (MSB). Questions such as \"What categories of technologies are most widely used?\" and \"Which technologies receive the most criticism from educators and users? Why?\" were asked during the interview. Common interviewee responses addressed several problems, including: the size and cost of high-tech devices, cross-compatibility problems between assistive devices and their various operating systems, and a lack of portability. A usability study was then conducted that measured participant accuracy and efficiency as the primary metrics while using [PERSON] et al. 's haptic device. The participants were recruited from the National Federation of the Blind and the Maryland School for the Blind. Participants were asked to locate a haptic dot on the device. The study included 30 different displays with the dot being located at one of the 30 predetermined locations on the screen. Response accuracy and time to dot location (indicated by a verbal response) were recorded by video. If a participant located five correct dots consecutively, the test was concluded. The videos were analyzed afterward to confirm responses, and to also investigate user strategy for exploring the haptic screen. Of the 12 participants, 11 gained mastery of the simple haptic task of dot location within the 30 trials, with the average participant only needed 8.27 trials to do so [40].