SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a system to provide text-to-speech capabilities for a vital and popular scientific device thus providing non-visual operating capacity for such a device, an essential feature for blind/print disabled students. The proposed activity is a collaborative venture between a well established educational company, a large research university, and a company that specializes in increasing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) accessibility for blind/print disabled students. The research addresses advancing state-of-the-art educational technologies and will provide insights into topical issues concerning STEM education and careers. The proposed project addresses this goal by promoting STEM to students with print disabilities via a technology that will increase hands-on accessibility during science education. Students with print disabilities are under-represented in STEM careers. Insufficient hands-on science learning experiences could underlie this under-representation and will be investigated as a possible factor. Understanding such factors could facilitate development of additional technologies and strategies for increasing STEM representation, thus furthering NSF goals. The project will result in a marketable product, and based on an analysis of competitive and alternative technologies, will be in a positive position in the competitive landscape. Commercial benefits of the project involve the creation of employment opportunities in a STEM based educational company focused on increasing accessibility. In addition, this technology can be used both in the laboratory and in the home use. Potential home applications are temperature tracking of food items, GPS navigation, and pH detection for swimming pools. Finally, the innovation will enable data collection without sight or light. Many experiments require dark or low light conditions and the innovation will be instrumental for developing technologies for these experiments and in enabling future discoveries

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will produce technology to provide students with print disabilities (i.e., blindness, low vision, and learning disabilities that inhibit processing of text), who are commonly relegated to being passive observers in science classrooms, with the ability to directly participate in scientific data collection and analysis. Science education involves the collection, manipulation, and examination of data, most of which is in visually based textual form, which is problematic for students with print disabilities. The project objectives involve the development of non-visually-based technology for the collection and manipulation of data. The LabQuest, a popular scientific data-collection device used in many mainstream classrooms, is currently not accessible by students with print disabilities because it is operated through a text-rich, visual touch-screen menu. The objectives of Phase II focus on making all features of the LabQuest accessible to students with print disabilities through fully incorporating text-to-speech software (resulting in an enhanced version of the Talking LabQuest developed during Phase I), non-visual collection and manipulation of data, the development of software interfaces between the Talking LabQuest and peripheral devices such as Braille note-takers (non-visually-based computerized devices frequently used by individuals with visual impairments for storing and manipulating data) and embossers for producing tactile graphs. All features, functions, and interfaces developed will be field tested by individuals with print disabilities for ease of operability. Based on Phase I successes, it is anticipated that individuals with print disabilities will be able to independently operate the proposed technology. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project concerns the inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and professions of a population that has typically been disenfranchised from these fields. Persons with print disabilities are underrepresented in postsecondary studies and careers in STEM fields. Behavioral research suggests that self-belief in one's capacity to independently function in a particular field is an important determining factor in whether one chooses that field as a career path, and that hands-on experiences contribute to one's self-belief regarding the capacity to independently function. Data from Phase I of this SBIR project are consistent with behavioral science research; specifically, it was demonstrated that the technology can be independently operated by students who are blind or visually impaired to collect and manipulate data. Phase I findings also indicated that these hands-on science experiences were associated with increased beliefs in students? capacity to independently function in science activities, increased inclination to consider postsecondary studies and careers in STEM, and improved academic outcomes. These data suggest that wide commercial availability of the proposed enhanced technology will help increase the representation of individuals with print disabilities in STEM studies and professions. Persons with print disabilities will be able to work independently in science classrooms and laboratories, and will be able to choose educational and career paths based on aptitude and interest. Additionally, because individuals with disabilities are frequently unemployed or underemployed and receive government assistance, their increased entry into STEM fields may reduce taxpayer burden