THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Making playtime more fun for blind children

Making playtime more fun for blind children

THAI PRODUCT designer Natcha Rojviroj plans to officially distribute her BLIX POP imaginative indoor playground for blind children to the mass market soon, after introducing the product via corporate-social-responsibility activities and schools for the bl

Natcha spent more than 10 years abroad before returning to Thailand to eventually set up a business and design her own products, even though her educational background attracted the attention of several well-known companies.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Design and completed a master’s degree in Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University, in San Francisco.
Before gaining a master’s, all students at the US university are assigned the task of designing an inspirational product or products for their thesis.
She decided to make her presentation on products for blind children because when she visited Thailand between semesters, she would go with her mother to donate goods at the Bangkok School for the Blind, as well as offering herself as a volunteer at the school.
“As a volunteer, I saw that blind children here do not participate with toys in the same way as others do, because they don’t know how to have fun playing with toys. I realised that toys did not stimulate their play, and that they should have play activities to help improve their motor skills, cognition and communication interaction. “At first, I planned to propose three product designs for my thesis, but I chose only one product – for blind children,” she explained.
Her professor in the US recommended that Natcha should focus on designing products involving the physical play of blind and partially sighted kids.
She therefore decided to return to Thailand again and spent a year with children at the Bangkok School for the Blind to learn about communications with and between such children.
“Outdoor playgrounds might not match their development, so I made a prototype of a lightweight block brick that was for an indoor playground. The base of the prototype is a square brick, as that shape offers a sense of security when it comes to touch. Children can then transform the block of bricks by using their imagination,” she said.
“I named the indoor playground brand and company BLIX POP, with BLIX derived from the word ‘brick’,” she added.
Her US teacher appreciated the BLIX POP prototype in her thesis and made recommendations on how to market the product and make it well known in the mass market.
“If I were an employee, my indoor-playground prototype would just be a thesis on paper, so I decided to use my professor’s advice to transform it into an actual product for children’s development, and especially for blind children,” Natcha said.
Last year, she initiated a “Can’t See Can Play” project on Facebook to raise funds of Bt500,000 to produce the first batch of 30 BLIX POP imaginative indoor playgrounds, with the objective of making them well-known in schools, and particularly in schools for the blind in Thailand.
The funds were raised within just two weeks of opening the Facebook page, well ahead of the target of achieving it within three months.
Natcha chose to promote BLIX POP via events and activities related to disabled persons, targeting her product among nursery schools and schools for the blind. Recently, she took part in the “Start-up Thailand Expo” to present BLIX POP to several tech-based start-ups.
“Participating in events gives me connections, and participating at the ‘Start-up Thailand Expo’ is just the beginning for BLIX POP in terms of knowing where the demand is for this product,” she said.
BLIX POP can in fact serve as both indoor furniture and indoor playground for young children in general, as well as for kids who are blind or severely visually impaired, she explained. BLIX POP will be distributed commercially soon, with Natcha targeting initial sales of 50 to 100 units.
 

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