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Introduction
This text explains the fundamental principles of the haptic learning program “Sawaru Glyph.” It also discusses the results obtained from current clinical studies. Furthermore, it introduces the specific learning methods used in “Sawaru Glyph.”
This document explains the followings:
Introduction to the Haptic Learning Program “Sawaru Glyph”
Principles and Mechanisms of Sawaru Glyph
Clinical Research on Sawaru Glyph
Implementation Methods of Sawaru Glyph
Sawaru Glyph”, Haptic Reading Learning Program
Sawaru Glyph” is a learning program developed in Japan that features a method of “viewing, touching, and reading aloud” visual and auditory content. In Japanese, the word “sawaru” refers to haptics (the sense of touch and tactile interaction). This program aims to improve “reading fluency” and enhance “spelling recall” for individuals who struggle with reading and writing, including those with dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability characterized by difficulties in reading and writing letters. People with dyslexia often exhibit vulnerabilities in cognitive processes related to reading and writing due to individual functional traits of the brain. Key challenges include:
- Weak association between letters and sounds (decoding)
- Poor memory of letter forms
- Weak recognition of word forms
- Difficulty efficiently recalling names from pictures or letters (Rapid Automatized Naming)
To address these challenges, “Sawaru Glyph” provides a learning method where learners “view, touch, and read aloud” three-dimensional letters in sync with visual and auditory content. Tactile-based methods for learning letters have been known for a long time, such as using clay or sand letters to help children with difficulties in letter acquisition. However, these methods are not sufficient to resolve the core issues of dyslexia, such as weak letter-sound associations and poor word form recognition.
“Sawaru Glyph” employs haptics to facilitate associative memory between letters and sounds and to promote memory formation from letter forms to word forms. In this program, learners first recognize the visual forms and sounds of words through video and audio and then touch and read aloud three-dimensional words to reinforce their learning. The program follows phonics principles, progressing from simple to complex spellings step by step.
Haptics enhances attention to the learning target and creates strong memory traces. Furthermore, it integrates visual (parallel) and phonological (sequential) information, acting as a mediator between these two modalities. Through this multisensory haptic learning approach, effective associative memory between letters and sounds, as well as memory formation for letter and word forms, becomes possible. This haptic-based multisensory learning method was recognized as a groundbreaking invention by the Japan Patent Office in 2022, earning a world-first patent.
Principles and Effects of Sawaru Glyph
The principles of Sawaru Glyph are based on three key effects of haptics:
- Formation of strong and detailed memory traces through haptics
- Integration of visual and phonological information via haptics
- Promotion of RAN (Rapid Automatized Naming) through tactile reading
Sawaru Glyph is a haptic-based tactile reading program that demonstrates the following effects:
1.Formation of memory traces through haptics
Haptics strengthens memory traces of objects being touched. In our study, we conducted a memory experiment using three-dimensional Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figures (ROCFT). The results showed that the “visual + tactile” learning group achieved significantly better reproduction scores compared to the “visual-only” group. This suggests that tactile exploration enhances attention to the contours and details of figures through haptic feedback, thereby promoting efficient memory formation.
Furthermore, recent neuroscience studies report that tactile and visual information are integrated in the LOC (lateral occipital complex) and form multimodal images in the fusiform gyrus and precuneus. This tactile reading approach, which combines “viewing and touching,” enhances attention and enables more precise and concrete memory formation of letter and word forms through the integration of visual and tactile information.
２. Integration of visual and phonological information through haptics
Haptics mediates and connects visual information (parallel) and phonological information (sequential), which have different characteristics. By touching objects, parallel surface information is obtained, while moving the hand provides sequential information. Thus, haptics incorporates both visual and phonological properties. In Sawaru Glyph, learners “view, touch, and read aloud” three-dimensional letters while retaining visual and auditory information in working memory. This process enables the formation of integrated memories of letters and sounds.
３.Promotion of RAN through tactile reading
Tactile reading enhances RAN (Rapid Automatized Naming), a function that impacts reading fluency. RAN involves efficiently naming objects such as pictures and letters, requiring a combination of rapid attention shifts and phonological recall. Our research found that step-by-step tactile reading practice, progressing from letters to words and then to sentences, improves RAN performance.
The hypothesized mechanism for this improvement is that tactile reading facilitates the formation of letter and word-form memories, which serve as visual cues in working memory to promote phonological recall. Enhancing RAN function supports smoother reading fluency and more efficient spelling recall of letters and words.
Clinical Study of Sawaru Glyph
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In 2023, we conducted a study to examine the effects of haptic reading learning on eight children with dyslexia who had challenges with Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN). Among these children, all eight struggled with reading, and four also had difficulty with writing. The study utilized a tactile version of Japanese kana, a phonetic script similar to the alphabet. The learning process involved a step-by-step approach where participants watched audiovisual content and practiced “looking, touching, and reading aloud” with individual kana, words, and then short sentences.
The effectiveness of the haptic reading learning was evaluated using the “STRAW-R,” a widely used Japanese reading and writing assessment. Results showed that seven out of the eight children experienced improved reading fluency, with reduced reading times for words and sentences after the intervention. Additionally, all four children who struggled with kana writing demonstrated improved writing performance, increasing the number of kana they could write.
Furthermore, a significant finding emerged from this study: seven out of eight children showed substantial improvement in their RAN task performance, with reduced task completion times. RAN is a composite functional indicator involving efficient attention shifts and phonological recall, which are foundational for reading and writing. Previous studies have reported weaknesses in RAN performance among children with dyslexia. The observed facilitative changes in RAN due to haptic reading learning represent a groundbreaking discovery for dyslexia training.
Feedback from children who improved in both RAN and reading/writing performance included comments such as, “Reading has become easier” and “It’s easier to recall letters when writing.” These results suggest that the step-by-step progression from letters to words in haptic reading learning promotes the formation of robust letter shape memory, integration of letter-sound memory, and word shape memory, supported by haptic input.
Since Japanese kana are phonetic characters similar to the alphabet, the same principles may be applicable to learning for English-speaking children with dyslexia.
We hypothesized a mechanism by which haptic reading learning improved RAN function. Research on aphasia has shown that visual presentation of letter cues can facilitate naming. In our study, haptic reading learning may have fostered the formation of letter shape memory and integrated letter-sound memory, enabling visual representations such as initial letter forms or word shapes to act as cognitive cues that enhance phonological recall.
Haptic reading learning, which involves “looking, touching, and reading aloud,” creates a multisensory experience where participants receive haptic feedback from the perceived letter shapes while reading aloud and understanding meaning through auditory input. This multisensory connection may have influenced changes in connectivity within neural networks centered on the left fusiform gyrus, a region involved in integrating visual and tactile information. The left fusiform gyrus also functions as a visual lexicon region, supporting the recall of letter shapes and recognition of word shapes during reading and writing.
However, the mechanism underlying the facilitative effects on naming speed remains largely unknown at this stage. Further verification through brain imaging studies using fMRI is required. Although this study involved only eight cases, future research plans include measuring brain function changes after haptic reading learning and conducting comparative studies between intervention and non-intervention groups to provide a more detailed evaluation of the effects and mechanisms of haptic reading learning.
Prospects for Future Research and Development
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In the future research and development of Sawaru Glyph, further academic evidence beyond case studies is required. Currently, we are conducting a two-group comparative experiment on the haptic reading learning program, attempting to verify its effectiveness with a sufficiently large sample size. Additionally, it is necessary to examine changes in brain networks through haptic reading learning using brain function measurement methods such as fMRI. The naming speed enhancement effect observed in case studies, in particular, suggests potential applications not only for dyslexia but also for a wide range of language disorders such as aphasia.