SBIR Phase I: A Wearable, Independent, Braille-Assistive Learning Device

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是创建一个独立的。盲人盲文辅助学习装置。阅读盲文的能力与提高独立性和生活质量高度相关。据估计，70%的盲人仍处于失业状态，而在那些懂盲文的人群中，只有10%的人处于失业状态。盲文识字危机——如今美国只有8.5%的盲人能读懂盲文，而上世纪60年代这一比例为50%。理论上有几个因素导致盲文文盲的增加，包括：1)缺乏合格的盲文教师；2)对盲文学习的难度和成本的负面看法；3)盲文学生难以融入主流学校，而主流学校没有针对这一群体的专门资源。这个项目的成果将帮助所有年龄段的学生学习如何阅读盲文，包括后来失明的中学盲文学习者。该技术旨在抑制盲文识字危机，使盲人能够获得与视力正常的同龄人相同的机会，包括更好的高中和大学毕业机会、就业机会和较高的独立水平。这个项目的智力价值在于开发一种可穿戴的、基于计算机视觉的、实时盲文到语音的学习设备。虽然该项目的主要任务是通过盲文识字来释放盲人的全部潜力，但这项技术的总体目标是通过计算机辅助的增强提示来释放人类触觉的全部潜力，以响应复杂的纹理图案。所提出的技术将以非接触式方式检测这种模式，保持材料的完整性，并实时提供听觉反馈，以允许机械感官增强反馈。该项目的重点是通过以下方式建立这种方法的技术可行性：1)确定设备和解释算法是否可以对环境和用户姿势变化进行稳健处理；2)开发在纹理和/或图案表面上表现良好的能力；3)进行可用性测试，以确定未来必须增强的用户体验领域，以便在市场上与两个重要利益相关者（盲文导师和盲文学生）合作。这些目标，如果成功完成，不仅会影响盲文学习者，而且还会为这项技术开辟其他市场应用，如制造业和医药。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/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in creating an independent. assistive Braille learning device for blind people. The ability to read Braille is highly correlated with improved independence and quality of life. An estimated 70% of the blind are unemployed yet, of that subpopulation that is Braille literate, only 10% are unemployed. There is a Braille literacy crisis - only 8.5% of the blind population in the US can read Braille today, compared to 50% in the 1960s. There are several factors theorized to contribute to increasing Braille illiteracy including: 1) a shortage of teachers qualified to teach Braille, 2) negative outlooks on the difficulty and cost of Braille learning, and 3) and difficulties integrating blind students into mainstream schools that don’t have the specialized resources for this population. The results of this project will assist students of all ages in learning how to read Braille, including secondary Braille learners who become blind later in life. Aiming at inhibiting the Braille literacy crisis, the technology enables the blind to be given the same opportunities as their sighted peers, including better chances at graduating from high school and college, obtaining employment, and having high independence levels.The intellectual merit of this project is in development of a wearable, computer vision-based, real-time Braille-to-speech learning device. While the primary mission of the project is to unlock the full potential of blind individuals through Braille literacy, the overall goal for the technology is to unlock the full potential of human touch with computer-assisted augmentation cues in response to intricate textural patterns. The proposed technology will detect such patterns in a contactless approach, preserving the integrity of the material, and provide auditory feedback in real-time to allow for mechanosensory-augmented feedback. This project focuses on establishing the technical feasibility of such an approach by: 1) determining if the device and interpreting algorithms can be made robust to environmental and user postural variations, 2) developing capabilities to perform well on textured and/or patterned surfaces, and 3) conducting usability testing to identify areas of the user experience that must be enhanced in the future to be viable in the market with two vital stakeholders - Braille tutors and Braille students. These goals, if completed successfully, will not only impact Braille learners but also open up other market applications for this technology such as manufacturing and medicine.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.