I-Corps: Touchscreen-based Graphics for the Blind and Visually-impaired

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于解决了数百万盲人和视障(BVI)人长期存在的图形访问问题。无法获得日常生活中的这些重要信息，是英属维尔京群岛个人独立性和生产力面临的最大挑战之一。该项目通过构建在智能手机和平板电脑等基于商业、低成本触摸屏的智能计算设备上的可行信息访问解决方案来解决这一令人头疼的可访问性问题。该解决方案将通过潜在地提供对数字教科书和测试材料、职业环境中的图形、数字地图和印刷材料的图形内容的动态访问，来帮助BVI人。这个项目的更广泛的影响是，它将通过支持更高的教育进步、职业机会、提高的生活质量和总体上更大的独立性来促进英属维尔京群岛个人的赋权。这个i-Corp项目将探索基于触摸屏的图形屏幕阅读器的商业潜力和市场。这一解决方案将允许盲人通过智能手机或平板电脑上的振动和听觉反馈自由地探索和访问图形信息。通过一系列的可用性、心理物理和技术实验，该技术已被证明与现有解决方案相比是有效的，并且在传达图形、形状、图案和室内地图等信息方面是准确的。拟议的i-Corp项目的重点是了解该解决方案在满足最终用户需求和问题方面的商业适用性和可用性。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in resolving the long-standing graphical access problem for millions of blind and visually-impaired (BVI) people. Lack of access to these substantial informational components of daily life represents one of the biggest challenges to the independence and productivity of BVI individuals. This project addresses this vexing accessibility issue through a viable information access solution built on commercial, low-cost touchscreen-based smart computing devices such as smartphones and tablets. The solution will assist BVI people by potentially providing dynamic access to digital school books and test materials, graphics in vocational settings, digital maps, and graphical contents of printed materials. The broader impact of this project is that it will promote empowerment of BVI individuals by supporting increased educational advancement, vocational opportunities, enhanced quality of life, and overall greater independence.This I-Corp project will explore the commercial potential and market fit for a touchscreen-based graphics screen reader. This solution will allow blind people to freely explore and access graphical information via vibration and auditory feedback on a smartphone or tablet. Through a battery of usability, psychophysical, and technical experiments, the technology has been shown to be effective compared to existing solutions and is accurate in conveying informative graphical materials such as graphs, shapes, patterns, and indoor maps. The focus of the proposed I-Corp project is to understand the commercial fit and usability of the solution in meeting end-user needs and problems.