Marty Schultz, founder of Blindfold Games, an app development company that builds accessible games for the visually impaired community, and co-founder of Objective Ed, an organization providing students with disabilities with educational games to achieve the best educational outcomes, has been named one of two recipients of the 2019 Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation along with a $5,000 award. Schultz was recognized for this honor, bestowed annually by National Braille Press, during a reception at the 34th CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in Anaheim, California on March 13.
“Receiving this honor significantly raises the profile of our companies efforts within the assistive technology community,” said Mr. Schultz. “We believe the games developed by Blindfold Games for the blind community can provide innovative entertainment options for a population long underserved by mainstream video game manufacturers, while Objective Eds games serve an important educational purpose within this community.”
The $5,000 award will be donated to a not-for-profit organization that will utilize it to purchase tablet computers for blind students of need.
To date, Blindfold Games has released more than 80 games available on the iPhone and iPad that promote learning and fun. The games have been enjoyed by more than 25,000 visually impaired people from 7 to 70 years old, and recently surpassed half a million downloads.
Objective Ed provides Core and Expanded Core Curriculum games for individuals with visual impairments. Its games help students learn the skills required to meet the goals and objectives of their Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Each game is individually tuned to meet the unique needs of the student, and all members of the IEP team, teachers, therapists, specialists and parents are able to monitor the students progress.
