ES2245865B1 - ARTIFICIAL HEAD FOR EXERCISES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. - Google Patents

Abstract

Artificial head for special education exercises. With this head, due to its configuration and the combination of certain devices or mechanisms, a simile with the natural head is established. Certain psychological processes (perceptual, cognitive, etc.) are visible, as the functioning of two representation systems similar to those that take place in the human head can be observed: the visual system and the cognitive system. You can study the operation of each of these two systems, and their corresponding contents, visually and graphically. For which it has an "eye" or dark camera with "retina" that forms a bright image, and a "brain", where objects from the outside world are graphically represented. These representations can be shown or covered, for pedagogical purposes, by two gates in the eye and head, respectively.

Description

Artificial head for exercises in education special.

Technical sector

It is an instrument developed to be used in special education, specifically for what you can denominate as an area of "theory of mind", in autism and other developmental disorders, although it can be applied in other educational areas

State of the art

There is a great variety of heads artificial, either alone or as part of the rest of the body human, of didactic material as anatomical models, in the toy industry, mannequins for clothes or hairdressers, etc. But what is needed is a kind of instrument with a specific configuration that allows establishing a simile between the artificial head and the human head, whose purpose is not represent their anatomy, nor study physiological functions of circulatory, endocrine systems, etc .; but the idea fundamental is to show and study psychological aspects such as perceive, know, believe ...

To fulfill its function, this head has that properly combine several instruments or mechanisms that the configure specifically for specific purposes. A very important purpose is to emulate the human head in their internalization or representation functions of the objects of the outside world These representations are made within two systems: one of them is the eyeball with the image projected on the retina; it is a representation system visual. The second system, which can be referred to as a system cognitive, is that of the representations of these objects of the world exterior that are stored in the brain for processing and other uses. Therefore this artificial head has to offer The following features:

a) That the people who use this head can look inside to see: on the one hand the operation of each representation system and, on the other, the contents to Study within each system.

b) Have an eyeball simile in where you can see the image projected on your "retina". That in its use, the object to be projected is easy to focus and center in this "retina".

c) That it also has a "brain" or "brain zone" where you can represent, observe and study different mental functions and, within them, the different contents

d) That the internal representations, both of the "image of the retina", like those of the "contents Mental Cognitive "can be displayed or, conversely, hide at the will of the one who manipulates the instrument, according to require at the time of use.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1.- Representation of the head, where the numbers indicate: 1: Head; 2: Gate; 3: Hinge that open the gate (2); 4: Knocker; 5: Eyebolt; 6: Zone of hair; 7: Eye. 13: Metal Support.

Figure 2.- Head with the gate closed.

Figure 3.- Element representing the globe eyepiece, where the numbers indicate: 8: Eyeball, 9: Gate; 10: Hinge; 11: Circular hole; 12: "Retina";

Figure 4.- Element representing the eyeball closed.

Figure 5.- Representation of the head with the element representing eyeball placed properly. 13 indicates the location of the metal support.

Figure 6.- Rear view of the head, where the Numbers indicate: 14: Rear hole; 15: Eye that allows the exterior view from the hole (14).

Figure 7.- Element that represents the brain. The numbers indicate: 16: Piece that represents the brain; 17: Nails or fastening system

Figure 8.- Head open with the element that represents the eyeball and the element that represents the brain located correctly inside.

Figure 9.- Example of placing the data to try. 17 represents the nail or clamping mechanism and 18 represents the circle that contains the image or data.

Description of the invention

Head 1 (fig. 1) has gate 2 which is articulated with hinge 3 and fixed with knob 4 and the eyebolt 5. It can remain open or closed (fig. 2). This painted the face, lips, eyebrows and even eyelashes with colors that They mimic reality. Hair zone 6 is made by adhering thread thick brown wool, although it could be imitated in other ways. For The eye is a hollow 7 with the natural oval shape.

The "eyeball" 8 (fig. 3) is made separately. It also has a gate 9 that rotates through the hinge ring 10. It has a circular recess 11 where the lens of the same diameter that forms the image on the "retina" is adhered 12. Gate 9 closes (fig. 4) to Do not see inside. The eye adheres in its corresponding position inside the head (fig. 5) so that the gate can open upwards (fig. 3) without difficulty. The gate is held open upwards at the edge of the head hole, or another way (wire hook ...). For the movements of the head there is at the base a metal support 13; It is a washer or square metal drilled with the screw diameter of a photographic tripod. During the didactic exercises, to know what "the eye sees" you can see the light image projected on the retina 12; but it can also be known (fig. 6) by looking through the hole 14 since the other eye 15 is open for external vision. In this eye 15 a white cardboard with the circle of the eye is glued inside the head to imitate it better. The hole 14 aligned with the eye 15 can also be used to find or "frame" the desired object, although its visual field is very small.
do.

The "brain" 16 (fig. 7) is located in the vertical plane that passes through the maximum circle of the eye 8. This piece 16 surrounds part of the eye and adopts its shape; the rest of its outline It adopts the interior shape of the head by the plane mentioned. One time it has adhered inside the head (fig. 8) a compact set The "brain areas" here have been drawn are five but may vary and correspond to different mental functions that are treated in the corresponding educational program. It has nails 17 (or other system) where paper circles 18 (or other system) are hung or placed (fig. 9) with the graphics or data to be treated.

To get to show and study aspects psychological mentioned above the device is used proposed so that the functions performed can be visually observable, with easy manipulation:

a) The head is hollow and open to be able to Look inside. Similarly, the eyeball simile also It is open to see your "retina". That way and with visual representations ("retina" image) and graphics (drawings or labels) the operation of these two is observed representation systems (visual and cognitive) and their corresponding contents.

b) The eyeball is a dark shaped camera spherical whose objective forms in the "retina" the image or Luminous representation of the objects of the outside world. He objective is a simple lens that you don't have to focus on or have diaphragm. This makes the most of the light and the focal length it is fixed, calculated according to the average separation of the objects with the You are going to exercise. This balloon, to avoid more difficulties, does not It is mobile but remains fixed inside the head. TO change, to replace the immobility of the eye, this head has in its base of a mounting bracket to a photographic tripod, for thus being able to center the image of the object on the retina. This search mainly it is done, first, by directing the approximate direction of eye gaze to the object to project; and then with a final adjustment observing the retina, after which the tripod position. It also has another system to search or center the object, which can also have other functions pedagogical; it's about using the other eye of the head, with its corresponding optical axis and correcting parallax errors, of mode similar to the direct framing system (without any system optical) of some old cameras.

c) When designing the "brain zone", it has not made a realistic imitation of the anatomy of the brain but it has opted for a structured graphic organization where they make operations or mental functions visible. Different mental functions are designed as separate areas, where locate their corresponding contents, materialized graphically in interchangeable paper circles. Psychological functions or mental operations are not exposed here because it is not a matter of industrial protection However, it can be said that in parallel an educational program is being developed, which in its state current has already been subject to intellectual protection (and is pending to publish), in part of which this head is used, having treated perceptual functions by sight, hearing ... and others cognitive as knowing (knowing) or believing; but there are other "areas brain "where other functions could be treated psychological or mental such as reasoning, planning ... or others within the emotional domain.

d) Two gates are used: one for the eye and another for the head. Both can be opened or closed, stable or momentarily, during exercise to hide or show optionally the luminous representations of the eye and the corresponding to the "brain."

e) This head mimics a natural head but It also presents non-imitative or strange elements. So, it paints the face, lips, etc. with naturalistic colors, or the hair is imitated natural; but, on the other hand, it has been inserted in the head tomillería and ironworks, or the brain appears as a graph of Changing drawings This facilitates the construction of the instrument, and  pedagogically it's fine because with this image "contradictory", on the one hand, its imitative aspect helps establish affinities between the artificial and the natural head, and on the other hand, its non-imitative elements help to conceive them as different

Embodiment

The construction procedure that has been followed in the realization of the prototype can serve, except small modifications, for a production in quantities little.

To make the head, first prepare a cardboard mask with eye holes, which can be made on mold using paper pulp, cardboard strips or paper, glue, etc., or use masks of this material existing in the market. This mask, already dry, is attached to a swollen balloon, of proportional size. With this same material and carefully leaves covering the swollen balloon so that it is attached to the mask. At the base of the head is the hole where the mouth of the balloon, and where it can be punctured and removed once it has hardened cover. This hole is then used to couple the support for the photographic tripod.

The eye is also made similarly: it a small balloon swells that will be almost spherical, with the diameter according to the focal length of the lens; it is also covered with the same material and, already hardened, the balloon is removed through the hole that remains, which will serve to place the optical lens, once tight. The gate of the eye is trimmed and the hinge ring.

Once the hatch of the head is open paste the eye in place. Then the corresponding piece is pasted to the "brain" that has previously been painted "brain areas" and placed the nails. The rest does not present special difficulties Variations can be made as long as the head is configured to fulfill its functions.

If the production of the artificial head is major, it would be built in plastic material, always taking care that some non-imitative elements appear to those made reference above.

Claims (4)

1. Artificial head for special education exercises, characterized by containing a device that imitates the natural eyeball for its appearance, shape and color, and its location on the head and allows you to observe an image thanks to a gate that opens at will allowing to form a clear luminous image in the place that would correspond to the retina. 2. Artificial head for special education exercises, characterized by having a device that mimics the natural eyeball that is open to the outside and allows you to look through a hole in the back of the head. 3. Artificial head for special education exercises characterized by representing the cognitive system through a graphic representation of certain mental functions, designed by separate areas, presented as interchangeable paper circles, with the corresponding graphic representation, which are temporarily fixed in the area in question 4. Artificial head for special education exercises characterized by presenting imitative elements of the real head and non-imitative foreign elements.