This book is based on the papers presented at the Workshop on "Rehabilitation of the Visually Impaired" held in Flo rence at the Institute for the Research on Electromagnetic Waves of the Italian Research Council on April 4-6, 1984. The Workshop, sponsored by the Committee for Medical and Public Health Research of the Commission of the European Communities, was meant to exchange ideas about the need, importance and feasibility of a European cooperation in the field of visual impairment and to identify promising research areas, where current national activities could take advantage of such a collaboration in order to increase their efficiency. In particular, it dealt with the develop ment and use of technical aids (mainly based on computers and signal processing techniques) and with the elaboration, evaluation and standardization of new methods and tests. The attendance was multidisciplinary, including researchers from the fields of technology, medicine and psychology and representatives from organizations involved in the rehabi litation of the visually impaired. Five technical sessions were organized, dealing with the following topics: automatic production of Braille and systems for paperless Braille, aids for reading and for the interaction with coded informa tion sources, low vision aids, transduction of visual infor mation into a tactile representation, mobility aids. Three different application sectors were mainly considered: education and culture, vocational training, mobility. A final session was devoted to a discussion in working groups. The results are briefly outlined in the following concise report of the Workshop.

Equal accessibility to public places and services is now required by law in many countries. For the vision-impaired, specialised technology often can provide a fuller enjoyment of the facilities of society, from large scale meetings and public entertainments to reading a book or making music. This volume explores the engineering and design principles and techniques used in assistive technology for blind and vision-impaired people. This book maintains the currency of knowledge for engineers and health workers who develop devices and services for people with sight loss, and is an excellent source of reference for students of assistive technology and rehabilitation.

This book is dedicated to wearable and autonomous systems, including devices, offers to variety of users, namely, master degree students, researchers and practitioners, An opportunity of a dedicated and a deep approach in order to improve their knowledge in this specific field. The book draws the attention about interesting aspects, as for instance, advanced wearable sensors for enabling applications, solutions for arthritic patients in their limited and conditioned movements, wearable gate analysis, energy harvesting, physiological parameter monitoring, communication, pathology detection , etc..

Written by a leader in the field, this book discusses the role of vision in reading. The author describes the influence of physical properties of text on reading performance and the implications for information processing in the visual pathways. He explores different forms of low vision that affect reading, text characteristics that optimize reading for those with low vision, principles underlying the legibility of text, and guidelines for displaying text. Special topics include the role of the magnocellular pathway in reading and dyslexia, Braille reading, and fonts for highway signs. An accompanying CD contains reprints of the seminal series of articles by Gordon E. Legge and colleagues published between 1985 and 2001.

"Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility, the second edition of 2008's Assistive Technology for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: A Guide to Assessment, uses clear language to describe the range of technology solutions that exists to facilitate low vision and nonvisual access to print and digital information. Part 1 gives teachers, professionals, and families an overview of current technologies including refreshable braille displays, screen readers, 3D printers, cloud computing, tactile media, and integrated development environments. Part 2 builds on this foundation, providing readers with a conceptual and practical framework to guide a comprehensive technology evaluation process. As did its predecessor, Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility is focused on giving people who are blind or visually impaired equal access to all activities of self-determined living, allowing them to be seamlessly integrated within their home, school, and work communities"--

Intended as a text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses (B.Ed./M.Ed.; B.A./M.A. Education) and diploma level courses in Education as well as for courses in Special Education, this compre-hensive and accessible book provides a sound base for understanding Special Children through an insightful and incisive discussion on Special Education. The text dwells on exceptional children, or children with special needs, who either suffer from various deficits or disabilities, or are gifted. Such children include the mentally retarded, the visually and hearing impaired, the emotionally disturbed, those with autism, cerebral palsy, and the deprived, as well as the gifted and the creative. This well-organized and pedagogically rich text should be extremely useful to students as well as professionals—special education teachers, those engaged in guidance and counselling, educational policy makers, and field workers, who have an abiding interest in the education of exceptional children and in special education. KEY FEATURES  Includes student-friendly features like illustrations, examples, tables, and research-based experimental findings.  Provides a complete picture of exceptionality, from the early years of human history to the present day.  Gives case histories to practically illustrate the subject.