CAREER: Using Haptically Augmented Tactile Communication Methods to Foster the Inclusion of the Visually Impaired in STEM Professions

职业：使用触觉增强触觉交流方法促进视障人士融入 STEM 职业

• 批准号: 1151147
• 负责人: Christian Schwartz
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-10-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1151147&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Using; Haptically; Augmented; Tactile

1151147Christian, SwartzThe American Community Survey reports that there are more than 3.5 million non-institutionalized individuals in the U.S. of working age that are blind or visually impaired (BVI). Within this population are technically talented individuals who have the potential to contribute very substantially to our economy, but face obstacles because of their disability. There is a substantial opportunity cost of their inability to fully participate. A large percentage of BVI individuals are able to effectively enter many areas of the workforce due to the prevalence of Braille; however, many talented people in the BVI community are not able to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) related fields because of the substantial hurdles is using Braille in STEM education and professional practice. Scientific graphics (e.g., chemical or biological cycles, flowcharts), mathematical formulas, and common data plots can be extremely cumbersome, if not impossible, to express using existing Braille methods. These tools are essential in any STEM field. A critical need exists to enhance the usefulness of Braille in communicating STEM-related information both in education and in professional practice to allow BVI individuals to participate more fully. This work will investigate the use of 'secondary' tactile cues (haptics) integrated within Braille text, to transform Braille into a more usable communication method for STEM information. The fundamental hypothesis of the work is that haptic attributes (e.g., topological elements, temperature, prickle/fuzziness, slip/stick) can be incorporated within Braille text to dramatically improve information content within the same page space. The three project objectives are to investigate: 1. Integration of topological/textural elements (TE) within standard Braille text to understand psychophysical relationships involving TE enhancement, and to determine its contribution to overall Braille information density, 2. Integration of non-topological haptic elements (prickle/fuzziness, slip/stick, temperature) within Braille to understand perceptibility of these enhancements and determine their contribution to overall Braille information density, and 3. How the design of haptic-based assistive technology can be used within a project-based learning environment to educate engineers to effectively address the needs of the BVI community, and attract BVI students to consider college careers in STEM fields.This work will involve an extensive experimental approach including human sensory assessment of the tactile response of various Braille enhancements in order to determine their effectiveness. Novel platforms for investigation of topological and non-topological haptic sensitivity will be developed as well, as a means of determining psychophysical relationships and the extent that they increase useful information density. All research tasks will be integrated into an educational plan targeting undergraduates, graduate students, and pre-college BVI students.Intellectual Merit. The PI, with expertise in skin tribology and engineering education, is uniquely suited to successfully complete this work which will contribute to existing research fields as well as foster new fields. The anticipated results have the potential to enhance and transform, rather than replace, the Braille system. Results will be of immediate use to others in the field of tactile communication, including those who design other types of assistive technology for the BVI community. The quantitative psychophysical models that relate surface topology to tactile sensitivity will also be useful to designers of user interfaces whether they be consumer, medical, or military applications.Broader Impacts. These results will have far-reaching impact on the understanding of how to enhance Braille to foster inclusion of BVI individuals in STEM-intensive activities. The work will also serve as an instructional platform to expose students to design experiences that incorporate the unique needs of the BVI community. Results will be integrated into the PI's graduate tribology course, while a problem-based pedagogical approach, enVISIBLE, will include pre-college BVI students on engineering design teams in the undergraduate capstone design course at Texas A&M University.

1151147Christian, Swartz 美国社区调查报告称，美国有超过 350 万处于工作年龄的非收容人员失明或视力受损 (BVI)。在这群人中，有技术人才，他们有潜力为我们的经济做出巨大贡献，但由于残疾而面临障碍。他们无法充分参与会带来巨大的机会成本。由于盲文的普及，很大一部分英属维尔京群岛人能够有效地进入劳动力的许多领域；然而，由于在 STEM 教育和专业实践中使用盲文存在巨大障碍，英属维尔京群岛社区的许多人才无法进入 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）相关领域。使用现有的盲文方法来表达科学图形（例如化学或生物循环、流程图）、数学公式和常见数据图即使不是不可能，也可能非常麻烦。这些工具在任何 STEM 领域都是必不可少的。迫切需要增强盲文在教育和专业实践中传达 STEM 相关信息的实用性，以使英属维尔京群岛个人更充分地参与。这项工作将研究如何使用集成在盲文文本中的“辅助”触觉提示（触觉），将盲文转变为更有用的 STEM 信息交流方法。这项工作的基本假设是，触觉属性（例如，拓扑元素、温度、刺痛/模糊、滑动/粘滞）可以合并到盲文文本中，以显着改善同一页面空间内的信息内容。这三个项目的目标是研究： 1. 将拓扑/纹理元素 (TE) 集成到标准盲文文本中，以了解涉及 TE 增强的心理物理关系，并确定其对总体盲文信息密度的贡献， 2. 将非拓扑触觉元素（刺痛/模糊、滑/粘、温度）集成到盲文中，以了解这些增强的可感知性并确定它们对总体盲文信息密度的贡献，以及 3. 如何在基于项目的学习环境中使用基于触觉的辅助技术的设计，以教育工程师有效地满足 BVI 社区的需求，并吸引 BVI 学生考虑 STEM 领域的大学职业。这项工作将涉及广泛的实验方法，包括对各种盲文增强功能的触觉响应进行人体感官评估，以确定其有效性。还将开发用于研究拓扑和非拓扑触觉敏感性的新平台，作为确定心理物理关系及其增加有用信息密度的程度的手段。所有研究任务都将纳入针对本科生、研究生和英属维尔京群岛大学预科学生的教育计划中。智力优势。 PI 拥有皮肤摩擦学和工程教育方面的专业知识，非常适合成功完成这项工作，这将为现有研究领域做出贡献并培育新领域。预期结果有可能增强和改变盲文系统，而不是取代盲文系统。结果将立即供触觉通信领域的其他人使用，包括那些为英属维尔京群岛社区设计其他类型辅助技术的人。将表面拓扑结构与触觉灵敏度联系起来的定量心理物理模型对于用户界面的设计者也很有用，无论它们是消费、医疗还是军事应用。更广泛的影响。这些结果将对如何增强盲文以促进英属维尔京群岛个人参与 STEM 密集型活动的理解产生深远影响。该作品还将作为一个教学平台，让学生接触到融入英属维尔京群岛社区独特需求的设计体验。研究结果将被纳入 PI 的研究生摩擦学课程，而基于问题的教学方法 enVISIBLE 将让英属维尔京群岛大学预科生加入德克萨斯农工大学本科毕业设计课程的工程设计团队。