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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是增加代表性不足的盲目和低视力（BLV）人群参与科学，技术，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域。 通过一种新颖的辅助技术，该技术可为BLV个人实时访问科学数据，这项技术将与视力同行访问。与目光的同龄人不同，BLV的学生都无法独立地访问实时科学数据，无论是在实验室还是在现场。这种不可接受的性要么无法完全参与动手科学询问，要么使他们依靠视力同行访问实时数据。通过该项目，BLV的学生在K-12和大专院校以及BLV科学家和对STEM感兴趣的其他人都将受益于一种工具，使他们有可能在实验室情况下独立工作。这项创新将使科学实验室学习和实验室工作对盲目和低视力的个人更具包容性和公平性。本小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I阶段项目侧重于开发一个二维，手持式，便携式，可移动的，可恢复的Braille和触觉图形的科学数据收集工具，该工具可用于使用无线传感器来收集无线传感器。盲目和低视力（BLV）的学生与他们在STEM中的视力同龄人一样有能力，与他们的视力同龄人不同，在实验室中无法独立获取实时科学数据。这项努力通过利用STEM访问技术中的盲目科学家和开拓者的专业知识来迭代地开发新型，盲目访问的创新，这将使BLV的学生，科学家和其他人访问实验室或现场收集的定量数据。该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的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准通过评估来进行评估的。