SBIR Phase I: Synergizing Braille and Science: Real-time Accessibility of Tactile Graphics in Laboratory Settings for Blind and Low Vision (BLV) Students

SBIR 第一阶段：盲文与科学的协同：盲人和低视力 (BLV) 学生实验室环境中触觉图形的实时可访问性

• 批准号: 2111636
• 负责人: Ashley Nashleanas
• 金额: $ 25.48万
• 依托单位: Independence Science, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2111636&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Synergizing; Braille; Science

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to increase the participation of the underrepresented population of blind and low vision (BLV) persons in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Through a novel assistive technology that provides BLV individuals with multisensory access to scientific data in real time, this technology will enable access on par with sighted peers. BLV students, unlike their sighted peers, lack independent access to real-time scientific data whether in the laboratory or in the field. This inaccessibility either precludes their full participation in hands-on science inquiry, or leaves them dependent on sighted peers to access real-time data. With this project, BLV students across K-12 and post-secondary institutions, as well as BLV scientists and others interested in STEM, will benefit from a tool that makes it possible for them to work independently in laboratory situations. This innovation will make science laboratory learning and laboratory workplaces more inclusive and equitable for the blind and low vision individuals.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on developing a 2-dimensional, hand-held, portable, refreshable Braille and tactile graphics scientific data collection tool that can be used to collect quantifiable data in real time using wireless sensors. Blind and Low Vision (BLV) students are as capable as their sighted peers in STEM yet, unlike their sighted peers, lack independent access to real-time scientific data in the laboratory. This effort seeks to address this inequity by leveraging the expertise of blind scientists and pioneers in STEM access technology to iteratively develop a interative versions of novel, blind-accessible innovations which will give BLV students, scientists and others access to quantitative data collected in the laboratory or in the field. This innovation will be optimized for the BLV by documenting usability concerns and making the necessary modifications to hardware and source-code prior to field-testing.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.

这一小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是增加在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域中代表性不足的盲人和低视力（BLV）人群的参与。 通过一种新的辅助技术，为BLV个人提供真实的时间多感官访问科学数据，这项技术将使访问与有视力的同龄人一样。与视力正常的同龄人不同，BLV的学生无论是在实验室还是在现场都无法独立获得实时科学数据。这种不可访问性要么阻止他们充分参与动手科学探究，要么让他们依赖于有视力的同龄人来访问实时数据。通过这个项目，K-12和大专院校的BLV学生，以及BLV科学家和其他对STEM感兴趣的人，将受益于一个工具，使他们能够在实验室环境中独立工作。这一创新将使科学实验室学习和实验室工作场所对盲人和低视力人士更具包容性和公平性。这一小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的重点是开发一种二维、手持、便携、可刷新的盲文和触觉图形科学数据收集工具，该工具可用于使用无线传感器在真实的时间内收集量化数据。盲人和低视力（BLV）学生在STEM方面与视力正常的同龄人一样有能力，但与视力正常的同龄人不同的是，他们无法独立访问实验室中的实时科学数据。这项工作旨在通过利用盲人科学家和STEM接入技术先驱的专业知识来解决这种不平等问题，以迭代方式开发新颖的、盲人可访问的创新的交互版本，这将使BLV学生、科学家和其他人能够访问在实验室或现场收集的定量数据。这项创新将通过记录可用性问题并在现场测试之前对硬件和源代码进行必要的修改来优化BLV。该奖项反映了NSF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而被认为值得支持。