SBIR Phase I: Narrative interface technology to support two-way human-computer interaction for the disabled community

SBIR第一阶段：支持残疾人社区双向人机交互的叙事界面技术

• 批准号: 2304553
• 负责人: Victor Varnado
• 金额: $ 22.25万
• 依托单位: ROPLAGARIN LLC
• 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: 2023-08-15 至 2024-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2304553&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Narrative; interface; technology

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve software accessibility for the roughly 61 million Americans living with a disability. Interactive technology is not currently standardized, and end-users must rely on accessibility features built into software which are inconsistent or nonexistent. The proposed accessibility interface will enable end-users to utilize 80% of commercially-available software, improving the standard of living for individuals with disabilities and allowing them to engage online professionally and socially. Simultaneously, the innovation will allow software distributors to provide low-cost accessibility solutions, fulfill required mandates, and increase their products’ use and revenue. The innovation will overcome previous limitations for state-of-the-art accessibility solutions as it will be able to accommodate high-intensity software such as augmented reality (AR). It will also be backward-compatible, adding functionality to older platforms and providing a robust and enduring competitive advantage. US-based medical technology companies, game developers, and organizations with accessibility mandates will be initially targeted.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to provide interactive technology accessibility for blind, deaf, and physically disabled users without necessitating additional accessibility hardware. A machine learning (ML) engine will translate visual data into text blocks delivered via text or text-to-speech, with visual information recognized through embedded data. Natural language processing (NLP) will be used to bind actions to spoken phrases, allowing the end-user complete control of the integrated software. This project will test the interface’s ability to integrate with personal productivity software, web browsers, and a video game, with the goal of enabling users to attain 95% functionality across 80% of software on the market. The research and development will involve: i) training the ML engine to use embedded data to reinterpret visual data as text and produce dynamically-created sentences listing all interactive objects within the user’s field of influence, ii) developing the controller interface, which will be driven by user input, listen for approved phrases, and activate desired software controls, and iii) expanding the interface’s versatility by creating and implementing ML protocols to add accessibility features to any existing or future software. The result will be an early prototype with moderate-to-full functionality across selected software.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/商业潜力是为大约 6100 万残疾人士改善软件的可访问性。交互式技术目前尚未标准化，最终用户必须依赖可访问性功能。所提议的无障碍界面将使最终用户能够使用 80% 的商用软件，提高残疾人的生活水平，并允许他们同时参与在线职业和社交活动。创新将使软件分销商能够提供低成本的可访问性解决方案，满足所需的要求，并增加其产品的使用和收入。该创新将克服以前最先进的可访问性解决方案的限制，因为它将能够适应高要求。 - 增强现实 (AR) 等强度软件也将向后兼容，为旧平台添加功能，并为美国医疗技术公司、游戏开发商和具有可访问性要求的组织提供强大且持久的竞争优势。最初的目标是小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在为盲人、聋哑人和身体残疾的用户提供交互式技术，而无需额外的辅助硬件，机器学习 (ML) 引擎将视觉数据转换为通过文本或文本转语音传递的文本块，并具有视觉效果。通过嵌入数据识别的信息。自然语言处理（NLP）将用于将动作与口头短语绑定，从而使最终用户能够完全控制集成软件。该项目将测试该界面与个人生产力软件、网络浏览器集成的能力。 ，以及一个视频游戏，目标是使用户能够在市场上 80% 的软件中实现 95% 的功能。研究和开发将涉及：i) 训练 ML 引擎使用嵌入式数据将视觉数据重新解释为文本，并生成列出所有交互的动态创建的句子。用户影响范围内的对象，ii) 开发控制器界面，该界面将由用户输入驱动，监听批准的短语，并激活所需的软件控制，以及 iii) 通过创建和实施 ML 协议以增加可访问性来扩展界面的多功能性其结果将是在所选软件中具有中等至完整功能的早期原型。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持。标准。