SBIR-STTR Award

The specific aim of this proposal is to determine if it is feasible to use a polymer-coated shaft in placed of a precision-machined roller die for the purposes of producing braille and tactile graphics. If successful, this project will result in the selection or development of an acceptable polymer to be used in commercial braille embossers. Using a polymer-coated roller as opposed to a machined metal one would allow braille and graphic dots to be printed anywhere on a page, not just positioned according to a fixed grid. In addition, dots produced using this technology would be much smoother than those produced by a standard metal punch and metal die system. These improvements would allow more accurate tactile representation of images, particularly curved shapes such as circles, ellipses, sine waves and more. This improvement in computer-designed tactile graphics would enable top quality graphics to be produced quickly and easily, which would clearly be beneficial to the visually impaired, especially those studying or working in science, math, engineering or other technical fields. Another benefit of using a polymer-coated roller rather than a machined metal one is the reduction in noise from the embosser. The sound created by the metal solenoid punch pin firing into a polymer roller will certainly be much quieter than that created by firing the pin into a metal roller. The polymer-coated roller would also be less expensive, allowing cheaper production of better embossers. This technology is expected to reduce the prices of embossers into which it is implemented significantly. A quieter embosser capable of producing better braille and tactile graphics at a lower price would allow more visually impaired people to access the tactile materials they need for education, in their professions and in their daily lives, which certainly has the potential to improve their mental health and quality of life. Mental health and quality of life issues for blind people are part of the mission of the National Eye Institute.

Public Health Relevance:
This proposal is relevant to the mission of the National Eye Institute, because it could lead to greater availability of braille and high resolution tactile graphic materials to the visually impaired. This could open up more avenues of study for the visually impaired, especially in technical fields that rely heavily on graphical representation of data, and have a highly beneficial effect on education, professional opportunities, mental health and quality of life of blind people. Mental health and quality of life issues for blind people are part of the mission of the National Eye Institute.

Thesaurus Terms:
Cell Size;Congresses;Data;Development;Education;Educational Aspects;Employee Strikes;Engineering;Engineerings;Environment;Hearing;Image;Individual;Japan;Lead;Legal Patent;Libraries;Library Services;Marketing;Mental Health;Mental Hygiene;Metals;Mission;National Eye Institute;Noise;Oregon;Partial Sight;Patents;Pb Element;Phase;Phone;Physically Disabled;Physically Handicapped;Polymers;Position;Positioning Attribute;Price;Printing;Production;Professional Education;Psychological Health;Qol;Qualifying;Quality Of Life;Resolution;Running;Sampling;Science;Shapes;Shipping;Ships;Solutions;Sound;Sound - Physical Agent;Strikes;Strikes, Employee;System;System, Loinc Axis 4;Tactile;Technology;Telephone;Testing;United States;Universities;Vision, Diminished;Vision, Low;Vision, Reduced;Vision, Subnormal;Visual Impairment;Visually Impaired Persons;Work;Blind;Blind Individual;Blind People;Blind Person;Braille;Computer Design;Cost;Design;Designing;Hearing Perception;Heavy Metal Pb;Heavy Metal Lead;Imaging;Improved;Library;New Technology;Prevent;Preventing;Pricing;Print Disabilities;Prototype;Sound;Sound Perception;University;Visually Impaired;Visually Impaired People

The specific aim of this proposal is to develop and implement a new type of technology for production of braille and tactile graphics that uses a system in which metal punch pins fire into a smooth polymer-coated shaft rather than into a machined metal die as with most current embossing technologies. The successful completion of this project will yield a new braille and tactile graphics embosser that utilizes a polymer roller based embossing system and prints full color ink on cut sheet paper up to A3/tabloid size. This new embosser will allow embossing anywhere on a page, permitting braille that meets specific national standards and smoother, more continuous graphics to be created together on the same page with full color print. The development of the new embosser will begin with finalization of the polymer roller design, if this is not accomplished prior to the end of the Phase I research, and selection of metal punch pins sized and shaped to produce the best quality dots. Next the embosser hardware and electronics will be developed, followed by the firmware and drivers necessary to control the hardware to emboss graphics and braille where desired along the smooth surface of the polymer roller. After this development is complete, braille translation and graphics editing software will be optimized for the new embossing system. The technical advancements implemented in the new embosser will improve and speed up access to graphical information by the visually impaired, providing a great benefit, especially to those studying or working in technical fields such as science, mathematics and engineering. The new embosser utilizing the polymer roller based embossing system will also be up to 20% cheaper to manufacture than a similar model based on the current technology, permitting better embossers to be sold at a lower price, allowing more customers to purchase them. This will lead to more people with visual impairments getting better access to tactile materials they need for education, in their professions and in their daily lives, which certainly has the potential to improve their mental health and quality of life. Mental health and quality of life issues for blind people are pat of the mission of the National Eye Institute.

Public Health Relevance:
This proposal is relevant to the mission of the National Eye Institute because it is expected to lead to faster and more widespread availability of braille and high resolution tactile graphics to the visually impaired. This could open up more avenues of study for those with visual impairments, especially in technical fields like science and mathematics that require the frequent use of graphics, and have a highly beneficial effect on education, professional opportunities, mental health and quality of life of blind people. Mental health and quality of life issues for blind people are part of the mission of the National Eye Institute.