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- Breidegard, Björn
(author)
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Att göra för att förstå - konstruktion för rehabilitering
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Based on the results of two rehabilitation engineering design projects, this thesis aims to present and analyze: ? What is required for genuine engineering knowledge and expertise to come into its own in rehabilitation engineering when the entire effort starts and ends with the person for whom it is intended. ? How the work of an engineer not only can improve the conditions for the actual doing, but can also contribute to the understanding of situations and people, their capabilities, desires and needs. The two projects, The Minimeter and Reading with Hands, are both based on and contribute not only to rehabilitation but also to the engineering context. My thesis comprises the work of an engineer from the earliest idea stage up to the final results that are first realized when the implementations are used by other people and can be assessed by them. The Minimeter is a communication tool for people with severe brain injuries. It enables communication, starting at the yes-no level, for people with exceedingly limited mobility and extensive cognitive difficulties. Standard hardware combined with specially designed software is used to detect even minor movements and for example to make them steer a rolling ball on a computer screen. This yes-no interface inspires the user to act and yields continuous feedback and control. Reading with hands is a system for computer based recording and automatic tracking of finger movements when reading Braille and in tactile picture recognition. It makes it easy to analyze the process and to draw conclusions, among them pedagogical ones with implications for future tactile reading training for children or adults who are blind. For the first time it is possible to automatically follow how the fingers move over the Braille text while the person is reading (aloud or silently). The finger movements can be compared to sighted persons? eye movements while reading standard print. Comparisons can also be made between the finger exploration of a tactile face picture by a blind person and the corresponding eye movements by a sighted person.
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- Breidegard, Björn
(author)
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Computer based automatic finger and speech tracking system
- 2007
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In: Behavior Research Methods. - 1554-3528. ; 39:4, s. 824-834
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article presents the first technology ever for on-line registration and interactive and automatic analysis of finger movements during tactile reading (Braille and tactile pictures). Interactive software has been developed for registration (with two cameras and a microphone), MPEG-2 video compression and storage on disk or DVD as well as an Interactive Analysis Program to aid human analysis. An Automatic Finger Tracking System has been implemented which also semi-automatically tracks the reading aloud speech on the syllable level. This set of tools opens the way for large scale studies of blind people reading Braille or tactile images. It has been tested in a pilot project involving congenitally blind subjects reading texts and pictures.
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- Breidegard, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Disclosing the secrets of braille reading: Computer-aided registration and interactive analysis
- 2006
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In: Visual Impairment Research. - 1388-235X. ; 8:3, s. 49-59
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The pilot project reported here utilized the first technology ever developed for the computerized on-line registration and analysis of finger movements during Braille reading. Five congenitally blind subjects performed tactile reading of pedagogically carefully selected texts. Two specialists in visual impairments analyzed the computer-registered reading activities using specially designed interaction software. The subjects themselves were interviewed and contributed to discussions about their own individual reading styles. The analyses of this first handful of subjects reveal a number of important strategies and preferences with regard to on-line tactile reading. Further, the results challenge several assumptions and practices in Braille teaching. This pilot project lays the foundation for more comprehensive large-scale studies - both cross-sectional and longitudinal ones - studies long wanted in the domain of tactile reading.
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- Breidegard, Björn
(author)
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En datorexekvarbar modell för lärande
- 2000
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Denna uppsats markerar ett nytt och kompletterande spår i Certecs verksamhet: att i datormodellens form simulera mänskligt lärande. Förhoppningen är att det därigenom skall komma fram nya idéer både om lärande och om pedagogiska möjligheter kring hur man kan stötta lärandet. Certec kommer att medverka till att den nya kunskapen i första hand skall komma människor med inlärningssvårigheter till godo. I detta första steg, min licentiatuppsats, har det huvudsakliga arbetet bestått av att göra själva den datorexekverbara modellen samt implementera denna som en interaktiv, visuell och audiell Windowsapplikation. Modellen, Den Lilla Lyssnerskan, bygger på SOM:ar - Self-Organizing Maps. I sin IN-SOM tar Den Lilla Lyssnerskan emot ljud och bearbetar informationen så att hon hela tiden lär sig mer och mer. Med hjälp av sin UT-SOM kan hon visa oss vad hon uppfattat. Hon har alltså både mottagningsförmåga och beteende. Det tekniskt mest utmärkande med arbetet är troligen att jag inte bara låtit vinnaren i en SOM vara den ende som påverkar en efterföljande SOM. Jag har istället fört vidare all information från en SOM till efterföljande SOM, varigenom också de svagare aktiverade SOM-delarna har inverkan på utfallet i den följande SOM:en. Detta steg och ett antal andra landvinningar har möjliggjorts främst genom att jag själv utfört hela det omfattande programmeringsarbetet - jag har haft möjligheten att bestämma allt in i minsta detalj. För att demonstrera modellens värde redovisar jag i denna uppsats ett antal inledande provskottskörningar. Utfallet av dessa har stora likheter med vad man vet om mänskligt lärande: minne, glömska, generalisering, betingning, härmning etc. Somliga av de inledande experimenten har dessutom, precis som jag hoppades, gett resultat som leder till eftertanke: kan det vara så här för människor också?
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- Breidegard, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Enlightened: The art of finger reading
- 2008
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In: Studia Linguistica. - : Wiley. - 1467-9582 .- 0039-3193. ; 62:3, s. 249-260
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For some forty years the eye-tracking technology has facilitated the study of eye movement patterns for sighted people during reading and other visual activities. Today – a newly developed automatic finger tracking system makes it possible to reconstruct blind people’s tactile reading in real time and to automatically analyze finger movements during Braille text reading and tactile picture recognition. In this case study, the very first automatic finger tracking system is presented together with results indicating how Braille readers can increase awareness of their own reading styles. This opens up for future Braille education to become more evidence-based and, at the same time, for a new research field: contrastive studies of language in its auditory, visual and tactile manifestations.
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| 8. |
- Breidegard, Björn
(author)
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Miljonbelopp till unikt handikappsprojekt
- 2004
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In: Skånes Fria Tidning.
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Allmänna arvsfonden har beslutat att ge nära fem miljoner kronor till Lunds Tekniska Högskola för utveckling av ett kommunikationsredskap för svårt hjärnskadade. Initiativtagarna bakom projektet Minimetern tror på stora utvecklingsmöjligheter.
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| 9. |
- Breidegard, Björn
(author)
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Minimetern hjälper hjärnskadade att kommunicera
- 2002
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In: Elektronik i Norden. - 1103-2944. ; :17, s. 56-58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Specialutvecklad elektronik för rehabilitering avhjärnskadade är tidsödande och dyrbar att utveckla. Björn Breidegard från Certec, Lunds tekniska högskola, berättar här hur man i stället kan använda enbillig TV-kamera i kombination med dator och programvara. Resultaten är mycket lyckade.
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