Boston, MA – June 3, 2024 – The National Braille Press has announced that Steve Landau, founder of Touch Graphics Inc., has received the prestigious Touch of Genius Prize for 2024. This accolade is in recognition of Touch Graphics’ innovative educational product, T3 Games, which has been making significant strides in tactile literacy education. Landau is a long-term collaborator of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Smith-Kettlewell, with the T3 platform being developed with support from the current cycle of RERC funding.
The Touch of Genius Prize is awarded annually to honor outstanding contributions in the field of tactile literacy and Braille education. This year, the award highlights the impact of T3 Games, a classroom aid designed to enhance tactile literacy skills. T3 Games includes a set of embossed plastic overlays that fit on a large touchscreen tablet, allowing players to interact with raised-line and textured graphics. Guided by the T3 Narrator’s spoken instructions, players navigate through 40 puzzles and mazes, using only their fingers and hands to decode and respond to tactile cues.
“T3 Games builds tactile literacy by starting with basic shapes and gradually introducing more complex concepts and vocabulary,” explained Landau. “Players are then challenged to demonstrate their skills by identifying and pressing features on the tactile game boards in response to the T3 Narrator's questions.”
The development of T3 Games was a collaborative effort, involving a graphic designer, an interaction designer, a programmer, and a teacher. This multidisciplinary team worked under the leadership of Steve Landau, who has a long history of pioneering work in audio-tactile interactive learning. Seventeen years ago, Landau’s team was awarded the first Touch of Genius Prize for the Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT), and now they continue to innovate with the T3 Platform.
“The recognition from the National Braille Press validates our continued commitment to enhancing tactile learning through technology,” said Landau. “It is incredibly rewarding to see how far we’ve come since the early days of the Talking Tactile Tablet.”
The Touch of Genius Prize for 2024 not only celebrates the success of T3 Games but also underscores the enduring impact of Touch Graphics Inc. in the realm of tactile education. The T3 Games platform exemplifies how technology can be harnessed to create engaging and effective learning tools for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
For more information about T3 Games and other initiatives by Touch Graphics Inc., please visit Touch Graphics Inc.
About National Braille Press
The National Braille Press is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Braille literacy and access to information for the blind and visually impaired. Through various programs and initiatives, they strive to support the educational and professional advancement of individuals with visual impairments.
About Touch Graphics Inc.
Touch Graphics Inc. is a leader in the development of innovative, audio-tactile interactive learning tools. Founded by Steve Landau, the company is committed to enhancing the educational experiences of blind and visually impaired individuals through the integration of touch-based and auditory feedback technologies.
You can learn more about the Talking Tactile Tablet here.