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.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是提高盲人和低视力 (BLV) 人群在科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 领域的参与度。 通过一种新颖的辅助技术，为 BLV 个体提供多感官实时访问科学数据的能力，该技术将实现与视力正常的同龄人相同的访问能力。 BLV 学生与视力正常的同龄人不同，无论是在实验室还是在现场，都无法独立获取实时科学数据。这种不可访问性要么妨碍了他们充分参与实践科学探究，要么使他们依赖视力正常的同伴来获取实时数据。通过这个项目，K-12 和高等教育机构的 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使他们能够在实验室环境中独立工作的工具。这项创新将使科学实验室的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。小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的重点是开发二维、手持式、便携式、可刷新的盲文触觉图形科学数据收集工具，可用于使用无线传感器实时收集可量化的数据。盲人和低视力 (BLV) 学生在 STEM 方面的能力与视力正常的同龄人一样，但与视力正常的同龄人不同，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 访问技术先驱的专业知识来解决这种不平等问题，迭代开发新颖的盲人访问创新的交互式版本，这将使 BLV 学生、科学家和其他人能够访问实验室收集的定量数据或在现场。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针对 BLV 进行优化。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和技术进行评估，被认为值得支持。更广泛的影响审查标准。