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

SBIR 第一阶段：可穿戴、独立、盲文辅助学习设备

• 批准号: 2236574
• 负责人: Kushagra Jain
• 金额: $ 27.5万
• 依托单位: BRAILLEWEAR
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-04-01 至 2024-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2236574&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Wearable; Independent; Braille

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.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是为盲人创建独立的辅助盲文学习设备 阅读盲文的能力与提高独立性和生活质量高度相关。 % 的盲人尚未失业，在识字的亚人群中，只有 10% 失业 存在盲文识字危机 - 与 2017 年相比，如今美国只有 8.5% 的盲人能够阅读盲文。 20 世纪 60 年代为 50% 理论上有几个因素导致盲文文盲率增加，包括：1）缺乏教授盲文的教师；2）对盲文学习的难度和成本持负面看法；3）盲文融合存在困难。该项目的结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。在抑制盲文识字危机方面，该技术使盲人能够获得与视力正常的同龄人相同的机会，包括更好的机会从高中和大学毕业、获得就业以及具有高度的独立性。该项目的智力优点是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，但该技术的总体目标是开发可穿戴的、基于计算机视觉的实时盲文转语音学习设备。释放人性化接触的全部潜力所提出的技术将通过非接触式方法检测此类图案，从而保留材料的完整性，并实时提供听觉反馈，以实现机械感觉增强反馈。通过以下方式确定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保持鲁棒性，2）开发在纹理和/或图案表面上表现良好的能力，以及3）进行可用性测试，以确定未来必须增强的用户体验领域，以便在两个重要的利益相关者（盲文导师和盲文学生）的市场上可行。这些目标如果成功完成，不仅会影响盲文学习者，而且会开放。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。