For their graduation theses, design students typically create magnificent products, from furniture to kitchenware. But Natcha Rojviroj has opted for something else: toys for blind kids.
The idea came to her a few years ago, when she had a chance to teach and read books for visually impaired kids at the Bangkok School for the Blind during her school summer break. Natcha, who was studying at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, came up with the idea to create toys for these children.
She was questioned by her adviser, who doubted the commercial feasibility of the project. but Natcha insisted on her idea even though she didn't really know how to answer her adviser's query.
"It was totally just my passion to give blind kids something that they could play with and that can enhance their development both physically and mentally," she said.
She asked for permission to return to Thailand and do more research with blind children. (She could not do so in the US, due to a legal constraint that allowed her only one hour's visit at a child centre per week.)
According to the designer, there are those who are born blind and those who suffer visual impairment. The way these two groups interact with the world is different. The totally blind are more likely to be alone and passive, which often leads to weak physical development.
Natcha Rojviroj.
"They tend to be inactive. To encourage them to move and be happy, I realised, should start with basic development."
For normal kids, actions like lifting an object or running can help develop motor skills, but these actions are not so easily performed by disabled kids. So she tried with a playground, using stuff that kids can play with and touch, and that they can feel safe with.
She transformed an outdoor playground into an indoor one. It's a playground the kids assemble on their own by putting the pieces together. Called BLIX POP, the set she's designed is comprised of 40 flat blocks, 30cm² X 30cm², coming in four colours: blue, yellow, red and green. The blue is the foundation layer. Each blue piece has a rounded mortise and tenon, embedded with a small magnet on the concave portion. When kids put them together, the foundation layer becomes strong enough to support the weight of the kids. "The mortise and tenon are designed in a round shape because that makes them easy to attach, compared to squares or triangles," said Natcha.
The kids can make the playground into two or three layers, depending on their imagination. Some blocks are covered with grass; others are pure wood.
"This is expressly designed to give blind kids a sense of touch, so they can create a space based on their own imaginations," said Natcha.
Questions arise as to why the toys have bright colours when the kids cannot even see them. But Natcha maintains that the world of the blind doesn't have to be strictly black-and-white. The bright colours enliven the atmosphere of the whole project.
With the playground the kids make, they can walk, climb, sit or move around, effectively developing their motor skills. The toys have been designed to allow the kids to practise stepping and balancing, since the blind often experience physical instability.
On the day we visited the children at the Bangkok School for the Blind, four kids were enjoying the experience of assembling the blocks and spending time on a playground they had created themselves.
Designed for kids aged six to eight years old, the toy has proven effective in allowing kids to improve their physical development, and they can play on the blocks for longer than 20 minutes continuously.
Natcha has raised funds from the public to make BLIX POP available for blind kids at different places, and so far the project has been very well-supported. "At first, the fund was supported via my parents' circle of friends, as they found it's useful for blind kids, not only in Bangkok but anywhere in the world."
Natcha has also founded a social enterprise called BLIX POP, created to provide the toy to underprivileged kids throughout Thailand. So far sets have been shipped to more than 20 schools in several provinces around the country.
"The more I work with the kids, the more I see the extended network of the blind," said Natcha. "I had never known there are so many blind kids who need help with their learning."
