Science is about visualising realities through various mediums. Students, especially the visually impaired, interact with the world by creating sounds using various objects.
Scientists and researchers are working to use this inclination of students to experiment with sounds as a way of making Science learning more accessible. Especially with the advancements in AR and VR technologies, there has been an attempt to create immersive realities or sound labs to bridge the learning gap.
At a recent event, students in various schools engaged in experiments that used Augmented Reality (AR) to explore the sounds of a chocolate’s journey from the mouth to the alimentary canal and beyond. They had an immersive experience of how the female reproductive system works from when the sperms meet an egg, its division, embryo formation, and the ultimate cry of a baby. The fascinating world of AR and Virtual Reality (VR) can make Science education more accessible to the visually impaired. It is a step towards inclusivity for children with all abilities.
Sound sculptors
Hemachandran Karra, Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, has coined the expression Sound Sculptors to honour all children who love to make sounds to connect with the world, particularly children with visual impairment. All children like to create sounds. They keep tapping the bed or the walls or do mimicry as their form of self-expression. This way they create realities that don’t exist, just by sound.
More importantly, visually impaired children love to create sounds as it is their way of connecting with the world. “We want to call children who imagine and want to create their world as the Sound Sculptors. They are the ones using sound to stack and create new realities”, says Dr. Karah.
Science too is all about visualising realities. How the world works, how gravity works, how Nature works, how laws of motion work, how the heart functions, how electricity is conducted. “Why not use this beautiful capacity of children to understand science? So we can teach them science or visualise science with their own native techniques which is Sound Sculpting”, says Dr. Karah.
Experiments with AR and VR
The Accessibility Research Centre (ARC), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre recently organised a day-long event, ‘Sound Sculpting for Sciences’. The theme was, ‘Scientific innovation through sound’, bringing together a team of scientists, resource persons, disability scholars and students from 16 schools together at the Periyar Science and Technology Centre.
The ARC experiments with AR and VR technology to teach Science at the foundational level. It is the brainchild of a visually impaired teacher, Dr. Hemachandran Karah. They have set up an Accessibility Corner at the Periyar Science and Technology Centre to make Sciences reachable free of cost to students of all abilities and the public at large.
The Centre is working on two projects, one aims to use VR headsets with sensors like metal devices and another is immersive sound on headsets. For the first, the Centre has created some touch objects for the students of Ocean Sciences. Through these, students can feel objects like coral and marine reefs. When students touch these objects, the voice on the headset guides them. “We want to integrate touch with sound. It is beginning to happen, but not fully. It’s an immensely challenging technical exercise involving lots of technology with numerous trials and errors,” says Dr. Karah.
Dr. Karah explains that the immersive visual experience is already a reality due to the last 20 years of work done to improve it. However, the immersive sound on the headset has not yet been introduced at the foundational level even though Dolby sound and other technologies with sophisticated hardware exist. The Dolby stereo system used in theatres is not feasible and too expensive to replicate in a classroom.
Impact of AR and VR in sound sculpting
By leveraging sound as a primary medium, AR and VR can provide an immersive and interactive environment that transcends visual limitations, says Sonia Khan, who is on the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, a London registered charity, and is an advisor to the UPSC on Arts and Music.
Ms. Khan says that in sound sculpting, AR can be used to create three-dimensional soundscapes that students can navigate and explore using audio cues. The impact of AR and VR in sound sculpting on challenged students is multifaceted. Firstly, it provides equal access to learning opportunities, regardless of visual or auditory abilities. Secondly, it fosters creativity, self-expression, and confidence. Finally, it prepares students for a future where technology is increasingly integral to daily life, she notes.
Moreover, AR-powered sound sculpting can provide real-time feedback, enabling students to adjust and refine their creations. VR, on the other hand, can offer an even more immersive experience allowing students to step into a virtual world of sound in a fully interactive and experiential manner. “This can be particularly beneficial for students with visual impairments, as it enables them to see sound in a way that was previously impossible, “ she says.
Ms. Khan says that while we have only scratched the surface of this technology’s potential, the initial results are promising. There has been extensive research at some universities that have seen students with visual impairments create complex soundscapes, and students with auditory processing disorders develop improved auditory skills.
Asutosh Pathak, music director and founder of True School of Music and BlueFrog from Karjat, Maharashtra, believes that music and sound need to be taught as proper subjects in schools. “If schools allocated spaces for sound labs and a curriculum to explore and understand sound more meaningfully through music, physics and other sciences, I believe it can open up avenues for students to explore, in both, the practical, as well as the creative fields,” he says.
Zarna Maheshwari, a visually challenged teacher of Comparative Literature and Translations from the Central University of Gujarat, admits she was sceptical regarding the uses of AR and VR technologies. “Students in our department are not yet exposed to these technologies. But I think in the coming years they will be exposed since the focus is now on interdisciplinary studies teaching and learning. So students in future will be exposed to Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies,” she says.
Ms. Maheshwari was not aware of sound sculpting and only learnt about it at the ARC, IIT Madras. It was the result Dr. Karah’s efforts, who proposed a competition across India and introduced teachers to sound sculpting. They do not have sonic spaces in the Central University of Gujarat but plan to introduce them gradually. “Science is considered Ocular Centric wherein vision is required and considered mandatory but we forget blindness does not take away vision”, she says.
Students can face various challenges in sound sculpting. Ms. Maheshwari says students are not taught or encouraged to listen to sound around as multi-sensor teaching and learning is not so prevalent in institutions. Through these students will be challenged to pay attention to sounds around. It will be challenging to relate the sounds to the scientific concepts
The challenges are at two levels: how one makes others understand the concepts and how others visualise the concepts. How one selects and co-ordinates sounds makes a huge difference. “These challenges can be overcome once you get feedback from students. But the use of these technologies is very promising”, she says.
Published – March 12, 2025 02:55 pm IST