SBIR Phase I: Development of an Auditory Browser for Understanding of Mathematical Expressions by Visually Impaired

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段的研究项目为视障人士开发了一个听觉浏览器，帮助他们理解和内化数学表达式。理解和内化复杂的数学表达式对视障学生来说是一项困难的任务。该软件系统允许盲人通过音频交互式浏览复杂的数学表达式。听觉浏览器的结构受到先前研究阅读数学表达式的感知和认知过程的实验的影响。听觉浏览器是交互式的，将有助于数学表达式的听觉导航，并允许盲人（如学生）在复杂的数学表达式中随意移动，重复某些子表达式并听到表达式的骨架。盲人学生在数学、工程、科学或技术领域从事职业的能力受到学生无法操作和理解复杂数学表达式的严重限制。虽然这条规则也有例外，但对于我们社会中的盲人来说，进入涉及数学、科学或工程的职业是很困难或不可能的。问题的一个主要部分在于学习数学的困难。这种困难的产生是由于盲人学生无法轻松地“想象”复杂的数学表达式。一种使视障学生能够内化和“可视化”数学表达的工具将极大地帮助他们学习数学，这对攻读STEM学科至关重要。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I research project develops an auditory browser for visually impaired individuals to help them understand and internalize mathematical expressions. Understanding and internalizing complex mathematical expressions is a difficult task for visually impaired students. The software system allows blind individuals to interactively browse complex mathematical expressions via audio. The architecture of the auditory browser is influenced by experiments performed earlier to study the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in reading mathematical expressions. The auditory browser is interactive and will facilitate aural navigation of mathematical expressions, and allow blind individuals (e.g., students) to move around within complex mathematical expressions at will to repeat certain sub-expressions and hear the skeleton of the expressions.The ability of a blind student to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering, science or technology is severely limited by the student's inability to manipulate and understand complex mathematical expressions. While there are exceptions to the rule, it has been difficult or impossible for blind members of our society to enter careers that involve mathematics, science or engineering. A major component of the problem lies with the difficulty in studying mathematics. This difficulty arises due to the inability of blind students to easily 'visualize' complex mathematical expressions. A tool that enables visually impaired students to internalize and 'visualize' mathematical expression will help them significantly in learning mathematics which is essential for pursuing STEM subjects.