Interactive Floor: an innovative tool for education of children with special needs
05.12.2025
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated on December 3rd was an opportunity to officially hand over innovative educational equipment to the Luigj Gurakuqi Special School in Tirana as part of the "Polish Aid" development aid project implemented through the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tirana. Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Poland Mr. Wojciech Unolt officially handed over the equipment to school's principal Mr. Taulant Çala, in the presence of Arta Dollani, Director of Pre-University Education, and Ana Mullanji, a representative of the partner organization, Beyond Barriers Association.
For 50 years, the Luigj Gurakuqi Special School (now Resource Center) has been the only facility in Tirana for children with special needs, offering the school's core curriculum and rehabilitation support. The school currently serves 140 children with varying degrees of intellectual disability, behavioral disorders, and emotional instability, aged 6 to 19. Special schools in Albania accommodate children with a wide range of problems and disorders, as well as a wide age range. However, educational and rehabilitation opportunities are limited due to a lack of infrastructure and access to modern educational and rehabilitation practices. Educational tools for students with special needs, including sensory and psychophysical impairments, are unavailable in the local market and little known. These tools provide equal opportunities in education and the acquisition of social skills.
Within the project, the Luigj Gurakuqi school received two sets of innovative tool for education and rehabilitation of children with special needs. The "Magic Carpet," manufactured by the Polish company Funtronic, is a device that uses a projector, computer, and motion sensor. By projecting multimedia games onto the floor, it transports users into a world of augmented reality. This easy-to-use device is widely used for educational, rehabilitation, and remedial purposes. It enables the acquisition of knowledge and development through movement, play, and collaboration. Games designed for rehabilitation support the stimulation of impaired perception, improve motor skills, introduce somatognosis (orientation within the body schema) and spatial orientation, and also provide opportunities for emotion regulation and teach ways to express them.
Children use equipment under the supervision of school teachers and volunteers from Beyond Barriers Association. Beyond Barriers, a partner in the project, has been working with the school for over 20 years, expanding educational opportunities for the school's pupils through projects and the involvement of volunteers.
How the device works and how it helps in educating children with special needs is presented in a short film promoting the project:
