Undergraduate Research and Innovation
Student Grant Proposal
(Deadline: Moodle: September 27 at 11.50 PM; Revised Version October 1, 2014; to Ms Talina Knox at talina.n.knox@njit.edu; Maximum 3 pages;)

BraillePad

Student Name Major Academic Standing Email

_Lynda Nwankwo___ _Information __ ___Junior_____________ lnn2@njit.edu_
________________________ _Systems _______ _________________________ ________________
________________________ __________________ _________________________ ________________
________________________ __________________ _________________________ ________________

Advisor Name and Department: Douglas Zytko, Information Systems_________

A. Problem Statement (What problem are you trying to address through research or product development?):
As of 2012 there were 285 million visually impaired people in the world, of which 246 million had low vision and 39 million were blind. The majority of people with poor vision are in the developing world and are over the age of 50 years. There are 20.6 million people in America who are blind.
It’s no secret that the internet has made the world a much smaller place. From the chat rooms and forums of the early 90’s to the major social media networks of today, the internet has helped bring people of all backgrounds and interests together to form communities. While this type of connectivity can be life-changing for people of all walks of life, it is especially useful for visually impaired individuals who are looking to connect with others going through similar experiences.

B. Significance (Why is the problem important? What is the value proposition: market, societal or scientific value?):
The internet and the social features that come with it have become a very integral and akin to necessary part of daily human being functionality. It is not fair that some people should be exempt from being part of and experiencing this daily aspect of life due to something that is not necessarily of their making and have no power over fixing it. The BraillePad would ease this exclusion they feel by allowing them to participate in these activities in ways they know how.

C. Approach (How will you solve the problem? What is your overall approach? Briefly present methods or procedures critical to your approach.):
The approach to working on this product would require first, a market research and secondly, experimentation on features of the product. To derive quality and comprehensive data, the study combines the quantitative and qualitative research approach in the market research.
Quantitative research finds direct link to deduction because it tests and develops hypotheses and theories. This research method leads to generalized results or deduction. Moreover, quantitative method also involves the treatment of quantifiable or measurable data. Qualitative research supports the gathering of detailed descriptions of characteristics, events and situations making this the appropriate approach for an in-depth study of the descriptions of a phenomenon. This research method follows the inductive approach.
The combination of these two research approaches provides the study with both numbers and detailed accounts from which to draw valid explanations on why previous attempts at projects such as this have failed, and what features and specifications would help adapt this product to the target users.
To accomplish the research objectives and obtain necessary information, the survey method appropriately supports data collection on the research. The method will be applied through a survey questionnaire floated to randomly selected schools for the blind in an adaptable audio pdf. The survey questionnaire includes open-ended and multiple choice questions intended to elicit information on the opinions and structural needs of the blind students who are the target audience. Open-ended questions will be used to obtain a wider and in-depth data on the research topic. This type of questions has advantages and disadvantages but in the current research, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. After the market research phase, implementation of various studied theories and features will be tested and worked on to figure out how they can work with each other to achieve functionality of the various features and applications which the product is supposed to carry out. This portion will be preceded by heavy research on the individual features and products required for the success of the product as a whole such as the refreshable braille, text-to-speech and braille slate. This research will study how these products do what they do, how to improve them and tweak them to work with each other to produce a tablet that is capable of writing social media texts on a refreshable braille page on the tablet, that could easily be maneuvered by a visually impaired individual to access various social media platforms and interact on them.

D. Innovation
This conceived product is unique in its purpose, structure and content. Currently there are a few products out there for the blind, but these existent products do not have the accessibility which is to be enabled in the BraillePad. Also there is no product out there that gives such wide range of features and social media access to the visually impaired.
Also current braille technology out there costs an average of $5000- $6000, whereas I am looking to develop a low cost product that would be easily afforded by the visually impaired, especially those who are pursuing an education and have debts amounting already.

E. Expected Outcomes and Deliverables (What do you expect as the outcome of research or deliverables towards product development?):
If the BraillePad is seen through, it would be a tablet like device that makes use of braille technology and text-to-speech to implement a braille converter that would translate social media to braille on a refreshable BraillePad with the capability to type out more than a line of braille at a time, making use of little plastic dots called micro machines that have the capability to move around to create a refreshable braille display.
The BraillePad would also have basic features that come on a phone, such as memo, notes and calculator, to ease the workload of the visually impaired.

F. Users/Market and Potential Impact (What impact do you expect if the proposed work is successful?):
The success of the BraillePad would attract a market made up of blind people all over the world who are looking to find a feasible and affordable way to connect with people like themselves or otherwise via social media and social networking platforms that are currently available to the general public. Through this, I hope to ease their feeling of exclusion that undoubtedly comes with having special qualities.

G. Resources and Budget Needed (Provide a budget and justification for supplies to pursue research or develop a prototype for proof of concept. Budget is limited to $500):
In order to conceive a physical prototype of the BraillePad, I would need;

RESOURCE | BUDGET | Refreshable braille display | $21 | Sal-1 braille speech | $25 | Tablet | $100 | Miscellaneous | $320 | Total | $466 |