I-Corps: Pneu Haptics: malleable materials for tactile interaction

I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过改善数字内容的获取来提高盲人的识字率。目前，盲人严重依赖文本转语音软件和有声读物来消化数字环境。然而，听力并不能像阅读盲文那样传达出即时感和读写能力。此外，音频技术和单线显示无法传递空间信息，例如数学方程、图表和图形，而这些对科学、技术和数学相关学科的读写能力至关重要。商业电子触觉显示器是存在的，但由于底层技术的复杂性和成本，这种设备过于昂贵，而且仅限于单行盲文。一种价格合理的全页触觉显示器，提供多行盲文和触觉图形，将大大改善盲人使用数字技术的机会。新技术可以提高盲人的识字率、教育成果和整体生活方式。I-Corps项目将评估使用专利微流体技术开发全页触觉显示器的商业可行性。基于该技术的微流控芯片可以降低控制大量密集的气动执行器的复杂性和成本。成千上万个单独可控特征的大阵列是可能的。气动执行器通过大规模集成直接集成到微流控芯片中，使设备成本低，可扩展性强。基于压力的驱动确保即使是紧密放置的特征也能保持相对较高的力输出。这些都是构建密集阵列触觉显示器的基本特征，特别是那些低成本且适合呈现盲文和触觉图形的显示器。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to improve the literacy of blind people by enabling improved access to digital content. Currently blind people rely heavily on text-to-speech software and audiobooks to digest digital context. However, listening does not delivery the same sense of immediacy and literacy as reading braille. Also, audio technology and single line displays cannot deliver spatial information, e.g. mathematical equations, diagrams, and graphs, which are critical to literacy in science, technology, and math-related subjects. Commercial electronic tactile displays exist, but due to the complexity and cost of the underlying technology, the devices are prohibitively expensive and are limited to a single line of braille. An affordable full-page tactile display delivering multiple lines of braille and tactile graphics would significantly improve blind people's access to digital technology. New technology can improve literacy rates, education outcomes and overall lifestyle of blind people. The I-Corps project will assess the commercial viability of using a patented microfluidic technology for developing a full-page tactile display. Based on the technology, a microfluidic chip can reduce the complexity and cost of controlling a large number of densely-packed pneumatic actuators. A large array of thousands of individually controllable features is possible. The pneumatic actuators are integrated directly into the microfluidic chip using large-scale integration, making the device low-cost and highly scalable. Pressure-based actuation ensures that even tightly placed features will maintain relatively high force outputs. These are all essential features for building dense-array tactile displays, particularly ones that are low-cost and suitable for rendering braille and tactile graphics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.