Project Grant R43EY030385

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $100,000 supports the development of chemical fuel-powered Braille displays at Cornell University from July 2022 to June 2023. The goal is to create an affordable, portable multiline Braille display to improve digital accessibility for blind and visually impaired individuals. Currently, Braille displays can only present a single line of text and cost over $3,000, limiting their widespread adoption. The proposed technology is a soft,...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award of $305,000 to A Cubed Design LLC, operating as Accessible Affordable Accelerated Design, supports the development of a novel, cost-effective refreshable braille device. The project aims to create a durable, user-repairable braille system that addresses the high cost and lack of repairability of existing refreshable braille technology, which has limited braille literacy among blind and low-vision...

This $274,999 National Science Foundation Project Grant under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program aims to develop a wearable, computer vision-based, real-time Braille-to-speech learning device. Braillewear will receive funding to establish technical feasibility of a device that detects intricate textural patterns in a contactless approach and provides auditory feedback to augment mechanosensory learning. If successful, the technology could unlock the full potential of...

Independence Science LLC was awarded a $254,767 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation under the Engineering (47.041) federal grant program. The grant will fund the company's "Synergizing Braille and Science: Real-Time Accessibility of Tactile Graphics in Laboratory Settings for Blind and Low Vision (BLV) Students" project from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. The project aims to develop technologies that will provide blind and low vision students hands-on access to...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the STEM Education (CFDA 47.076) program is funding the development and testing of software and hardware tools to enable faculty, staff, postdoctoral research fellows, and graduate students who are blind or have low vision to generate, identify, and manipulate digital data patterns and trends in the fields of chemistry, math, computer and information sciences. The $741,159 award to Newhaptics Corp and the...

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $215,000 supports research at the University of California, Los Angeles from September 2022 to August 2025 under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070). The award funds collaborative research to advance 3D printing capabilities for creating interactive devices with enhanced visual feedback through passive light-transfer properties. Researchers will characterize light-transfer materials and microstructures to...

This $749,685 National Science Foundation project grant under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) will fund the development of an Automated, Integrated, Multimodal Software (AIMS) system to improve inclusive access to information for persons with disabilities. Saint Louis University leads a consortium that includes software companies Vital, Unar Labs, and Viewplus Technologies to build a unified framework for authoring, converting, and delivering accessible content...

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) awarded a $389,751 Project Grant under CFDA 93.286, "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health," to the Regents of the University of Minnesota, Office of Sponsored Projects Administration. This 2-year grant aims to develop a low-cost, compact holographic imaging-based microfluidic cell sorting system using 3D printing. The research will explore the use of 3D holographic...

Tatum Robotics LLC was awarded a $255,975 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an accessible robotic system for deafblind communication. Funded through NSF's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program, the award aims to create a fully compliant anthropomorphic robotic hand capable of fingerspelling tactile sign language at variable speeds. The system will translate between spoken and signed languages to provide deafblind individuals new independence and access to...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) Project Grant award of $600,000 to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) aims to develop additive and subtractive manufacturing processes to rapidly print and erase biomaterials capable of high-density wireless mechanical sensing. Specifically, the project will engineer photolabile ferroelectric bioinks incorporating piezoelectric nanoparticles with electrochromic dyes within a hydrogel. These bioinks will be...