ITR: iLearn: IT-enabled Intelligent and Ubiquitous Access to Educational Opportunities for Blind Students

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ITR: iLearn: IT-enabled Ubiquitous Access to Educational Opportunities for Blind IndividualsThe overall objective of this project is to design and develop a ubiquitous computing environment (called iLearn-System) that can help blind and visually impaired students succeed in their educational endeavors. iLearn-System has three major components, each of which specifically addresses key hurdles faced by blind students: iLearn-Reader for reading printed material, ilearn-Interaction Assistant to facilitate interaction within a campus environment, and iLearn-Information-Assistant to enable easy access to on-line course material. The interface to these components is through an iLearn-Device, which integrates the different iLearn-System components. The scientific contributions of this work are in the domains of visual processing, information fusion, customized delivery of information to blind users adapted to context and task, speech processing and recognition, and prototype development. The impact of this project includes the empowerment of blind and visually impaired students to take full advantage of the educational opportunities and participate in the innovations that would result from the project. The applicability of iLearn-System is not only to the population of blind individuals, but also to other groups including those whose visual abilities are declining due to aging. The project results will be disseminated through an accessible web site, http://ilearn.asu.edu. This web site will collect feedback from parents, teachers, and other user groups. Nationally, or partners will disseminate iLearn-System at high schools and universities. An annual workshop disseminates our project results to all interested consumers, researchers, mobility instructors, and disability specialists.