ABBI-K: a novel tool for evaluating spatial and motor abilities in visually impaired children

摘要

Vision loss impairs the acquisition of some auditory, motor, and social skills, affecting the psychomotor, social and emotional development of blind people. Despite this, quantitative assessment methods of sensorimotor deficits in case of visual impairments are lacking. The goal of this work is to develop an optimized system for assessing spatial and motor impairments in visually impaired children. This system allows a better evaluation of a rehabilitative therapy with ABBI, the Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction. It is an all-in-one tool, including a wireless and sensitized set of loudspeakers, controlled by a dedicated Android application on a smartphone. The aim of this innovative technological kit was to accelerate and facilitate assessment procedures for clinicians maintaining the same testing quality.