Braille bricks now available to buy at LEGO.com
Posted by Huw,
Three years ago LEGO launched braille bricks and worked with local local sight loss organisations such as the RNIB in the UK to get them into the hands of those that can make use of them.
Now, they are being made available to everyone and can be ordered at LEGO.com from today.
Here's the press release:
Following an overwhelming response from around the world, LEGO Braille Bricks are now available to purchase online at LEGO.com.
The launch marks a significant milestone in the development of more inclusive learning through play experiences. With both braille and printed letters, numbers and symbols on each brick, and games designed for all ages, the new ‘LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille’ set makes learning braille fun and accessible to everyone.
Available in English and French from 1st September 2023 with pre-order starting today, and additional languages to follow next year.
Ahead of World Blind Awareness Month this October and in response to global demand, the LEGO Group announces LEGO braille bricks are available to purchase for the first time through LEGO.com. The new product - LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille – is aimed at kids aged 6+ and has been designed so that anyone who is curious about braille, be they blind, partially-sighted or sighted, can have fun getting to know the braille system at home with their family members in a playful, inclusive way.
Martine Abel-Williamson, President, World Blind Union, commented: “For blind and partially sighted children, and adults for that matter, it makes all the difference if they can share their journey of learning braille with the people they love the most. For the blind community, braille is not just literacy, it’s our entry to independence and inclusion into this world, and to have LEGO Braille Bricks made available for the wider public is a massive step forward to ensuring more children will want to learn braille in the first place. And because it’s based on a product that so many families already know and love, this is really an invitation for all family members to have fun building tactile skills and getting familiar with braille using the same tool.”
Until now, LEGO Braille Bricks have only been distributed free of charge by the LEGO Foundation to organisations* specialising in the education of children with vision impairment. Since the launch of these educational kits in 2020, feedback from parents, carers, grandparents, children, and educators has continually highlighted the positive impact the bricks have and how they transform the way children with vision impairment can learn braille. This overwhelming response has led to the creation of LEGO Braille Bricks - Play with Braille to give families the opportunity to enjoy the benefits and practice their tactile skills at home.
Lisa Taylor, mum to 7-year-old Olivia and 4-year-old Imogen, commented: “Olivia first discovered LEGO braille bricks at school, and they had such a big impact on her curiosity for braille. Before then, she found it hard to get started with the symbols, but now she’s improving all the time. To have a set at home changes everything. We can play with braille together as a family, and she can introduce braille to her little sister in a way they both love. LEGO braille bricks are accessible for her without being really different for other kids, so she gets to play and learn just like every other child. That makes her feel included which is so important, not just to Olivia but any child.”
LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille includes 287 bricks in five colours: white, yellow, green, red and blue. All bricks are fully compatible with other LEGO products and the studs on each brick are arranged to correspond to the numbers and letters in the braille system, with the printed version of the symbol or letter situated below the studs.
The set also includes two baseplates to build on and comes in packaging with braille embossing. To enhance the play experience and support pre-braille skill development, a series of supporting play starters are available on LEGO.com and will teach players how to orient, attach and stack the bricks through well-loved games such as Rock, Paper, Scissors, which all members of the family can take part in.
Rasmus Løgstrup, LEGO Group Lead Designer on LEGO Braille Bricks said: “Play has the power to change lives; when children play, they learn vital life-long skills, so we were thrilled by the reception that LEGO Braille Bricks received in educational settings. We’ve been inundated with thousands of requests to make them more widely available, so we just knew we had to make it happen!
It’s been a fantastic journey collaborating with children, families and experts from around the world to develop the product and online activity packs. Our partners have been instrumental also in advising on what colourways should be used for the bricks, product packaging and digital experiences to ensure this is optimised for individuals who experience low vision and vision loss. We know this is a strong platform for social inclusion, and can’t wait to see families get creative and have fun playing with braille together.”
With its ongoing commitment to make its play experiences more inclusive, the LEGO Group has also partnered with the free mobile app Be My Eyes. The popular app connects blind and partially sighted people with companies to help with everyday tasks through a live video call. As part of the partnership, LEGO Customer Service colleagues will provide confidential, live visual assistance through the app covering support from a wide range of topics from unboxing, to general product support.
Mike Buckley, Chairman and CEO, Be My Eyes, commented: "The fact that the LEGO Group is investing in inclusion is huge because so many people in the blind and low vision community already love and enjoy LEGO products. Be My Eyes is incredibly honoured to partner with the LEGO Group to enable and inspire the creativity of blind and low vision builders across the globe."
The LEGO Group is also pleased to announce that LEGO Audio & Braille Building Instructions will now become a permanent offering. Inspired and co-developed by entrepreneur Matthew Shifrin who is blind, this experience gives builders the option of having select LEGO building instructions available as audio or text for braille readers.
LEGO Braille Bricks – Play with Braille is priced at 89.99 USD and now available for pre-order in English and French versions ahead of launch September 1st 2023. In early 2024, the set will also be available in Italian, German and Spanish versions.
The LEGO Foundation will continue to carry out research and distribute LEGO Braille Bricks educational kits free of charge through partnering national blindness associations and other partnering organisations.
Two versions will be available initially, 40656 Play with Braille – English, which will be sold in the following countries:
- United Kingdom: 79,99 GBP
- Ireland: 89,99 EUR
- United States: 89,99 USD
- Canada: 119,99 CAD
- Australia: 149,99 AUD
- New Zealand: 169,99 NZD
40655 Play with Braille – French will be available in:
- France: 89,99 EUR
- Canada: 119,99 CAD
- Switzerland: 109,00 CHF
- Luxembourg: 89,99 EUR
- Belgium: 89,99 EUR
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62 comments on this article
Obviously this is totally the wrong take on this great news, but I foresee a new era of studless-surface-building-potential unlocked here.
Love this innovation, and good to see they are now widely available. Good job, TLG.
Interesting. They should include a Chirrut Imwe minifigure sw0789 with each one! :)
A shame you can only order the relavent language for your country, Canada being the only place to get both because
I have no doubt that predatory LEGO buyers will hoover these up so the people that actually need them can't buy them without paying a 300% mark up.
287 pieces for £80. I was expecting this to have a token price tag to cover basic distribution costs. I’d love to hear the company defend this pricing decision.
30c per piece, ooofff, wouldn't hurt them on having smaller profit margins on this set with their "ongoing commitment to inclusivity", especially since they had 2 billion EUR net profit last year and this set won't be widely sold...
I have to wonder if the price is due to none of the molds involved being standard Lego elements, except for the baseplate. Making this available to the general public means they may have had to cut new molds, because the existing ones weren't enough for the production runs necessary. Even if it is expensive, I consider this a good move on Lego's part. I'll probably also check out the instructions online.
@jsutton said:
"287 pieces for £80. I was expecting this to have a token price tag to cover basic distribution costs. I’d love to hear the company defend this pricing decision."
As with any education set I bet it will come with play ideas and propper adult instructions how to use it.
@johleth said:
"I have no doubt that predatory LEGO buyers will hoover these up so the people that actually need them can't buy them without paying a 300% mark up."
They can still buy them at Lego.com.
Just hope they will be available everywhere soon. Not limited to a few countries.
Another cool set. - Will purchase to have the family names spelled out. - More neat stuff like this please. A periodic table would be fun.
Combining Lego bricks with the Braille alphabet, to teach kids with visual impairments, is such an obvious connection that I kind of wonder why it took this long to make the link, you know?
@LegoBoi69 said:
"Guessing my price comment didnt go down all that well. Lol"
I thought it was funny. Some people just can't take a joke. As if the blind still can't be strapped for cash.
Neat! I'll probably pick this up at some point, because braille seems like it would be interesting to learn. I'm glad this is getting wider availability.
Incomprehensible that these are only available in countries where the language in question is spoken. Very disappointing.
A wonderful initiative for sure, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it: it's going to be pretty cool if these parts start making their way into "normal" sets as well.
@AgentKallus said:
"A shame you can only order the relavent language for your country, Canada being the only place to get both because "
Yeah, as someone who speaks english as their second language I would love the bricks, but cant get them in my region
@jsutton said:
"287 pieces for £80. I was expecting this to have a token price tag to cover basic distribution costs. I’d love to hear the company defend this pricing decision."
I don't know how things go in other countries, but in Australia things like this can be subsidised by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is basically government funding for people with disabilities to pay for things to make their lives more manageable.
If this product is eligible for subsidy under the scheme, the cost will basically be a moot point for families with kids who need to use Braille.
@Rare_White_Ape said:
" @jsutton said:
"287 pieces for £80. I was expecting this to have a token price tag to cover basic distribution costs. I’d love to hear the company defend this pricing decision."
I don't know how things go in other countries, but in Australia things like this can be subsidised by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is basically government funding for people with disabilities to pay for things to make their lives more manageable.
If this product is eligible for subsidy under the scheme, the cost will basically be a moot point for families with kids who need to use Braille."
I think the point @justton is making is a vaild one: is it right that LEGO should profit from them? Until now they have not.
@nushae said:
"Incomprehensible that these are only available in countries where the language in question is spoken. Very disappointing."
Well, one option is to focus efforts on developing the sets to be available ASAP for people in English and French speaking countries (I'm guessing the Anglosphere was chosen because it's Lego's largest market, and French was chosen because the Braille system was developed in France, and it just so happens that Canada speaks French as well) and get it out now while *also* developing a set for use in other languages.
Or the other option is to delay the release of the English and French versions until all major languages are available, such that it's not widely available to anyone until everyone can access it.
@Huw said:
" @Rare_White_Ape said:
" @jsutton said:
"287 pieces for £80. I was expecting this to have a token price tag to cover basic distribution costs. I’d love to hear the company defend this pricing decision."
I don't know how things go in other countries, but in Australia things like this can be subsidised by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is basically government funding for people with disabilities to pay for things to make their lives more manageable.
If this product is eligible for subsidy under the scheme, the cost will basically be a moot point for families with kids who need to use Braille."
I think the point @justton is making is a vaild one: is it right that LEGO should profit from them? Until now they have not."
I do hope the price is set to only cover costs, but we can't know for sure without seeing their books.
I would have been excited about this if they weren’t all basic single-letter characters. I really wanted to get both a “CH” and “ER” character, which exist in English Braille.
@johleth:
I have no doubt that TLG is capable of producing more, until the market is sated, plus it says the LEGO Foundation will keep giving them out for free to those groups with legitimate need.
@jsutton:
Would you be okay with the price if it was subsidizing the free copies they give out to schools for the blind? I’m not saying that’s what’s happening, but it’s a possibility.
@TheOtherMike:
The actual Braille bricks are not only exclusive molds, but there are 56 different molds, and all the parts also have to be decorated with the text values. And until now these molds have produced 0% profit.
My son has several disabilities. This summer I’ve been looking at adaptive bikes for him. The best bikes available for his particular needs are very expensive. Upwards of $1500 - $2000 US and higher. Having had a manufacturing career I know what materials costs are like, generally, and I can guess at what they are on things and get an idea of what costs and profit margins are on consumer products.
My experience up til this summer on consumer products that serve this community (persons who have one (or more) disability) is that the items that are more profit driven are higher quality and last longer. It’s been driven home big time on this bike quest. The bikes produced by companies claiming they are non-profit or in it for reasons not driven by profit are lower in quality and features (he’s tested quite a few earlier this year), while the bikes made by companies who just “were” and went about the business of making good bikes were really good.
I suspect that these are profitable for LEGO, like most of their product is, but I also don’t believe that anyone should look at that as a negative thing because it is a product designed for a community for persons with a disability or disabilities.
All of LEGO's good intentions that may have at some point stood behind this product get lost without a trace in the 90 dollar price tag, insane and just straight up predatory.
That price just seems morally wrong.
I don't care what the justifications are. You can't earn any praise for inclusivity if you are ripping a group off compared to other groups of customers.
Its half hearted at best.
We'll make them........but it'll cost ya.
Really happy that TLG are making these but would strongly ask them to re-consider their pricing.
It's not fair.
This feels like a very important innovation for LEGO. Perhaps the real world impact will be small, though, due to lack of penetration into this special market. But to me it feels like an important and monumental step for LEGO.
As for the price: I'm not sure it is overpriced. Keep in mind that the volume for such a product is smaller than for "normal" toys, and the development costs must have been relatively enormous. The cooperation with institutions was part of the development here, and that is costly.
@Huw:
When they first announced these, AFOLs were upset because they were exclusively being made to give, for free, to organizations for the blind, meaning MOC builders and brick collectors needed to have them fall off the back of a truck if they wanted to acquire them.
The free program isn’t going away, so the only impact organizations for the blind should see is this will (hopefully) replace or prevent any black market for Braille bricks, and they won’t have to ask for replacement parts as often, or ever. Where, then, does the outrage come from? Should AFOLs reasonably expect to get these free, or at cost, because they were originally designed for a charitable purpose? Should they be priced normally, and the free copies come completely out of TLG’s pocket? Or should they have a high price so needy collectors are basically making a charitable donation, however resentful they may be about it? If AFOLs go to a charity auction, like Brickworld Chicago holds, do they expect to be able to get rare sets at MSRP? That seems equivalent in this case.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Huw :
When they first announced these, AFOLs were upset because they were exclusively being made to give, for free, to organizations for the blind, meaning MOC builders and brick collectors needed to have them fall off the back of a truck if they wanted to acquire them.
The free program isn’t going away, so the only impact organizations for the blind should see is this will (hopefully) replace or prevent any black market for Braille bricks, and they won’t have to ask for replacement parts as often, or ever. Where, then, does the outrage come from? Should AFOLs reasonably expect to get these free, or at cost, because they were originally designed for a charitable purpose? Should they be priced normally, and the free copies come completely out of TLG’s pocket? Or should they have a high price so needy collectors are basically making a charitable donation, however resentful they may be about it? If AFOLs go to a charity auction, like Brickworld Chicago holds, do they expect to be able to get rare sets at MSRP? That seems equivalent in this case."
I collect Lego. I don’t have a vision impairment and I have no interest in these sets at all.
They are not intended for me.
But I struggle to escape from sympathising for families with visually impaired members who will have to pay considerably more than a fully sighted person would for normal Lego.
Particularly as such families, regardless of benefits, will generally have many additional costs day to day to accommodate a family member with such disabilities.
My envisaged outrage is not for myself, it is for the community that these sets are intended for.
Apologies if I have the wrong end of the stick. I understand some points are referring to organisations that will benefit from these sets, but I’m thinking of the average family with a visually impaired member at Christmas and birthdays for example.
We already talk about Lego being a luxury toy at its usual price points, but this seems way beyond
IMO the price per brick isn't that bad, but I would have preferred a smaller and thus more affordable set with just one or two copies of each letter.
Keeping in mind that this is LEGO, ultimately a toy and, as such, a luxury and not a necessity by any mean, the price of this set is unfortunate. Blind kids deserve to play and learn as much as any other, perhaps even more, so LEGO here is quite evil, if you ask me. I like the idea of the set, don't get me wrong, and there LEGO should get praise and recognition, no doubts about it, but pricing is an important part of the product, and that part is just insane.
EDIT: Oh my bad, I didn't read the part that stated that LEGO already gave these sets for free to organisations. Then I have no problems with the price. I mean, it is really expensive, but I'm not particularly upset about it.
I think the $89.99 price is reasonable. Two 32x32 baseplates sell for $7.99 each, a brick separator is $2.79. That leaves 284 2x4 bricks for $71.22. So, about 25 cents per piece. 276 of them are printed. On BnP, standard 2x4s are 21 cents apiece. These are special molds, not standard 2x4 bricks.
Edit: Also, embossed Braille print in the packaging: this will also add to the cost of production.
@560heliport said:
"I think the $89.99 price is reasonable. Two 32x32 baseplates sell for $7.99 each, a brick separator is $2.79. That leaves 284 2x4 bricks for $71.22. So, about 25 cents per piece. 276 of them are printed. On BnP, standard 2x4s are 21 cents apiece. These are special molds, not standard 2x4 bricks.
Edit: Also, embossed Braille print in the packaging: this will also add to the cost of production."
Well when you break it down like that...
The pricetag does seem mighty high, but I'm sure with multiple new molds and printing they were possibly even eating some of the cost to provide these lower. Plus they likely built into the cost model for the free sets they were giving away.
Cool that they made these. Not loving the price. But I don't love the price of most sets anymore...
I'm not blind but I want to get these in order to teach myself Braille.
@560heliport said:
"I think the $89.99 price is reasonable. Two 32x32 baseplates sell for $7.99 each, a brick separator is $2.79. That leaves 284 2x4 bricks for $71.22. So, about 25 cents per piece. 276 of them are printed. On BnP, standard 2x4s are 21 cents apiece. These are special molds, not standard 2x4 bricks.
Edit: Also, embossed Braille print in the packaging: this will also add to the cost of production."
LEGO prices overall haven't been reasonable for years, making profit on sets like this is especially bad look given how they keep on yapping about inclusivity, helping people and what not. I understand it's new molds, development process etc. but it wouldn't even be a tiny drop in their bucket of profits. Even if end consumers don't feel the cost because it refunded by government programs, it's still bad, since taxpayer money doesn't come out of nowhere.
What do you get out of defending giga corporations online? LEGO has greater profits every year while quality is going down.
@NissanZ32 said:
" @560heliport said:
"I think the $89.99 price is reasonable. Two 32x32 baseplates sell for $7.99 each, a brick separator is $2.79. That leaves 284 2x4 bricks for $71.22. So, about 25 cents per piece. 276 of them are printed. On BnP, standard 2x4s are 21 cents apiece. These are special molds, not standard 2x4 bricks.
Edit: Also, embossed Braille print in the packaging: this will also add to the cost of production."
LEGO prices overall haven't been reasonable for years, making profit on sets like this is especially bad look given how they keep on yapping about inclusivity, helping people and what not. I understand it's new molds, development process etc. but it wouldn't even be a tiny drop in their bucket of profits. Even if end consumers don't feel the cost because it refunded by government programs, it's still bad, since taxpayer money doesn't come out of nowhere.
What do you get out of defending giga corporations online? LEGO has greater profits every year while quality is going down."
What do you get for shaming or slamming giga corporations online? I suspect the same thing.
An excellent, well designed product at a reasonable price considering the uniquely moulded bricks, relatively small target market, and the fact that Lego give it to relevant groups for free.
The pricing is in line with other games and toys marketed towards people with disabilities. I see this product being targeted towards foundations and non profit organizations that write it off anyways. There’s not really a company that makes products like these at a normal price for regular consumers, just like the education theme.
I think that is kind of the point though. High prices that are subsidized attract more companies to innovate and create products for those with disabilities, similar to how Moderna and Pfizer will profit off their vaccinations that were developed in record speeds. It’s win-win for the most part I think? There’s nuance of course, and a perfect world would only be worried about the greater good.
Huh! French version in Belgium.... Just like we only speak French here. *rolls eyes*
@LegoMike:
Yeah, I had some time to think about that since my last post, and I wasn’t really considering that there might be people who have legitimate need for these, but maybe don’t qualify for free copies because they’re individuals rather than organizations. I’m still okay with the price for the general public, but hope that families and individuals might be able to qualify for subsidized copies the same as schools.
@560heliport:
Yeah, the Braille embossing will cost money, but that’s probably something where the flat sheets can have done before they’re cut and folded into box shape. Hot Wheels actually has a Braille die-cast car now, and both the car and bubble have Braille printed on them. The car wasn’t a big deal to produce, since _all_ of these cars require custom molds, but the vacuum mold used to produce the bubble is now a single-use design, where most bubbles can be reused for a variety of different vehicles.
@Iguanaboy:
I know someone who was home-schooled, and elected to learn ASL just because he thought it would be fun to learn. And who knows, maybe he’ll end up deciding to become a professional ASL interpreter.
@Jesse_S_T:
Schools and other similar organizations can simply submit paperwork to get free copies. All they’d have to write off is the time a paid employee spends filling out the paperwork, and the paper/ink/stamps involved in doing so.
I don’t think this is a matter of a price gouge…not in my opinion. It’s a highly specialized product in limited quantity. The higher “price per piece” has to be studied and understood. Volume matters. Lower runs equal higher costs. Tooling costs and all other associated costs to that product are amortized across the units produced of that product. Most of the time that’s how it works. In manufacturing volume of production drastically affects the per unit cost of anything a factory has to make, since the cost of setting up a production line to run 100,000 units of an item is the same price as if they are producing 10,000. But that lower number would not cover a fixed cost if they’d reached terms with a manufacturer at 100k or higher. It’s a flex relationship, etc., etc. Companies don’t usually get it wrong, but even when it’s not a miscalculation it’s still difficult and a greater factory expense to set up for small run items.
I’m explaining this really badly because I’m taking a break and trying to do it quickly, sorry… :)
@AgentKallus said:
"A shame you can only order the relavent language for your country, Canada being the only place to get both because "
They mentioned it's only the initial sell. They might make it available in other countries as well, but I understand the reason to prioritize local languages first. I'm sure those that really need it sooner can import a set from France if you live in Europe, or an American-Francophone from Canada.
Curious if there will ever be anything similar done for color blindness...
It seems that the only reason these are being released to the public. The price could be used to subsidize getting more sets to people who need them for free. I wish they did something like this with that MRI set. I'd pay double the value knowing it goes to sending it where needed.
@ledmouse said:
"Curious if there will ever be anything similar done for color blindness..."
How exactly would that even work?
@PurpleDave said:
" @LegoMike:
Yeah, I had some time to think about that since my last post, and I wasn’t really considering that there might be people who have legitimate need for these, but maybe don’t qualify for free copies because they’re individuals rather than organizations. I’m still okay with the price for the general public, but hope that families and individuals might be able to qualify for subsidized copies the same as schools."
Yeh, I’d back that idea, sounds very reasonable :-)
I did consider that with only 287 pieces which isn’t generally considered to be many pieces for a set, if ever and bigger set was released those prices were only going to look worse.
@ledmouse:
I doubt it. Colorblindness comes in three distinct varieties (red/green, blue/yellow, and total), so you’d need to develop three related, but very different systems right off the bat. Braille is still technically the same system in different languages, and just the values of each character are changed. Each of these becomes even more of an issue with LEGO bricks than in everyday life. You can memorize the pattern of a stoplight, but every step in a new set of instructions is a first-time challenge, which only gets worse once you’ve sorted the parts into a collection (at least right out of the box, your options are limited, based on the set inventory).
Anyone can experience exactly what it’s like to be blind by simply putting on a blindfold and trying to do stuff, but it’s no easier for someone with normal vision to understand what it’s like to have red/green or blue/yellow colorblindness than it is for someone who is colorblind to understand what it’s like to not be. I think it’s actually easier to understand total colorblindness since B/W is something most people have experience with.
Anyways, I saw that there are apps available to help identify colors, and given TLG’s track record with such things, it may just be easier to search elsewhere. Heck, if there are any app devs in the AFOL community, the best option may be to just build something from the ground up.
@ledmouse said:
"Curious if there will ever be anything similar done for color blindness..."
Just buy any grey Star Wars ship...
@Sandinista said:
" @ledmouse said:
"Curious if there will ever be anything similar done for color blindness..."
How exactly would that even work? "
Or indeed, sarcasm blindness :-)
I don't know how the first comment got so many likes, I honestly don't see how these could be revolutionary and desirable for MOCs. They're all POOP that can be made with common plates and tiles. I don't see them being used outside of a braile context, especially at that price.
@Norikins said:
"I don't know how the first comment got so many likes, I honestly don't see how these could be revolutionary and desirable for MOCs. They're all POOP that can be made with common plates and tiles. I don't see them being used outside of a braile context, especially at that price."
Not only are they POOP, but they only come in four colors, and individual bricks may only come in one. Plus, they’re all printed on the surface people care about. I think you’re seeing some leftover excitement for the idea of using them in a MOC back when they were unobtainable, and doing so would impress people just for the fact that you owned some, even if you couldn’t build for crap.
It's a shame that this set is only for sale in some countries! Buyers from my country and a lot of others can not buy it. Why???
Serious question: Are these.. actually useful for learning braille or only useful for a sighted person to recognize braille patterns? I guess what I mean (and am wondering) is, does the size/spacing of the bump layout influence "readability"? It seems to me that "normal" braille printing (and the braille keyboard that a former colleague had) seem to have a consistent size that is decidedly smaller than a 2x3 brick.
@dkressin:
I wondered that myself, when the first announcement went out. Where visual text can be read at a variety of distances, Braille is a contact interface. Uniform size, shape, and distance between dots is ideal, because Braille isn’t read by feeling the individual dots. It’s the pattern that you read. Measured pace is also key because each finger can only feel one cell at a time (or two adjacent half-cells). However, like Morse Code, it is possible to decipher the individual characters rather than the continuous text. It’s just _way_ slower.
The thing is, you have to start learning somehow. Young fingers may have more difficulty following the line of characters, and young minds won’t be able to recognize all the words immediately either. Partial-sighted kids may find Braille easier to deal with, but still be capable of reading written text as well. And teachers can use the printed text to see if the students got it right. It’s really meant to be an early learning aid more than an ongoing thing.
@Norikins
I was envisioning a situation where a builder might need the structural integrity of a 2x4 brick, needed a few connection points (or even just one!) on top, but also wanted that studless look. These bricks allow for a truly seamless finish that a group of tiles can't achieve.
Hopefully New Elementary will show us how it's done!
@dkressin
https://www.newelementary.com/2020/08/free-lego-braille-bricks-released-by.html
A few years ago I built a set of these myself using rories, plates, tiles, and 4677 packs. We’ve used them to help young people in our Scout district gain an appreciation of visual impairments through solving reading challenges, as part of their work towards a Disability Awareness award. They’ve proved to be a helpful tool. I don’t know how much 4677 sells for these days, but I would expect that to be a cheaper alternative. Failing that any letter stickers on the bricks would do instead.
I'm visually impaired and will pick up a box of these and play around with them with some blind friends to see how useful they are. I don't read Braille, or at least not much - my father is blind and I grew up playing with his Braille typewriter (they only have seven keys). My sense is that these could be very useful for young children needing to learn the Braille alphabet - bascially a case of memorising the dot conbimations for each letter and number, in much the same way that sighted children have to learn what each letter looks like beforfe they can learn to read. They might also be useful when it comes to learning to spell and read words, though just like normal children's books, there are Braille readers for blind children to learn with.
@PurpleDave said:
" @ledmouse:
I doubt it. Colorblindness comes in three distinct varieties (red/green, blue/yellow, and total), so you’d need to develop three related, but very different systems right off the bat. Braille is still technically the same system in different languages, and just the values of each character are changed. Each of these becomes even more of an issue with LEGO bricks than in everyday life. You can memorize the pattern of a stoplight, but every step in a new set of instructions is a first-time challenge, which only gets worse once you’ve sorted the parts into a collection (at least right out of the box, your options are limited, based on the set inventory).
Anyone can experience exactly what it’s like to be blind by simply putting on a blindfold and trying to do stuff, but it’s no easier for someone with normal vision to understand what it’s like to have red/green or blue/yellow colorblindness than it is for someone who is colorblind to understand what it’s like to not be. I think it’s actually easier to understand total colorblindness since B/W is something most people have experience with.
Anyways, I saw that there are apps available to help identify colors, and given TLG’s track record with such things, it may just be easier to search elsewhere. Heck, if there are any app devs in the AFOL community, the best option may be to just build something from the ground up."
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I'm definitely going to investigate apps that might help.
There's an among us on the box...
I wanted these bricks ever since they were first announced years ago, so I'll definitely be getting the German edition of this set one day.
But the price seems mighty high. I'd be much more inclined to agree with it if LEGO said that x Euro per set would be donated towards charitable organizations for the blind.
That way it wouldn't look as much like pure greed imho.
@jsutton:
What the heck are “rories”?
@KingLego:
Okay, the cell consists of six positions for bumps numbered 1-6, so I’m guessing that’s one key for each position, plus a “space” key?
@ledmouse:
I hope you can find something that works for you, but I really think there will need to be AFOL involvement to get exactly what you’re probably looking for. The big problem with being colorblind as a LEGO fan is that the colors in the instructions are not exact matches to the color of the bricks, so there’s a level of additional interpretation that needs to happen. And some of the brick colors are already hard for people who aren’t colorblind to tell apart, while some of the instructions colors rely on something extremely subtle, like a “sparkle” mark, to get straight. I used to be able to sort theatrical lighting gels just by sight, and I still have to do a little investigation to see exactly which color I should be using for some steps. Certain pearl and transparent colors are particularly troublesome, to the point that they might need to consider a more obvious symbol to indicate their use.
This is atrocious pricing, there is absolutely no way of arguing around it.
@PurpleDave said:
" @jsutton:
What the heck are “rories”?"
To UK AFOLs, Rory is the name of a 2x4 brick (two by four-y = rory) :-D