Award Data

Individuals with significant cognitive impairments have among the highest incidence of illiteracy. This, combined with the complex and text based interfaces of mainstream computer programs and operating systems, makes typical keyboard input largely inaccessible to this population. Voice recognition technology offers promise to overcoming this barrier, but currently provides the same barriers of ex ...

People with Intellectual Disabilities depend a great deal on work for their quality of life. Working in community-based jobs can make a substantial difference in income, relationships and self-esteem. An important factor in successful employment outcomes is matching individuals with jobs that are of interest to the job seeker. However, existing job interest tools are ineffective for this populatio ...

One of the most significant barriers existing today for individuals with intellectual disabilities is the inability for much of this population to independently read and access written information. The plethora of materials available electronically, including books, biographies, audio books as well as talking book services for individuals with visual and learning disabilities. Regrettably, while t ...

People with Intellectual Disabilities depend a great deal on work for their quality of life. Working in community-based jobs can make a substantial difference in income, relationships and self-esteem. An important factor in successful employment outcomes is matching individuals with jobs that are of interest to the job seeker. However, existing job interest tools are ineffective for this populatio ...

The most recent data available from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) indicates that 4-6% of adults in the United States have insufficient reading skills to even attempt participation in the NAAL’s literacy assessment in 1992 (Literacy in the Labor Force, p. 310- 320). While there are approximately 8 million individuals with intellectual disabilities (e.g., mental retardation) in ...

The platform consists of simple, user-friendly tools to create speech and language lessons which incorporate a lip readable accurate talking head, dubbed "Baldi®." Baldi's skin can be made transparent to show how speech is created by the tongue, jaw (palate, gums and teeth) and lips. Views from any angle can be supplemented with airflow and vibration indicators and highlighting.

In 2003, The Nation’s Report Card for educational progress showed that thirty-seven percent of fourth graders could not read at the most basic level. Further, poor readers are notoriously “disengaged” - they do not have the desire to read. These students need explicit instruction to improve their reading comprehension skills; however, few programs are available to older students and the avai ...

Ninety million American adults are deficient in the basic academic skills and problem solving competencies mandatory for success in today’s workplace, resulting in unemployment, lowered productivity, and a shortage of qualified job applicants. This proposal is for the development of an internet-based, integrated training, assessment, and certification system called the Basic Academic Skills Syst ...

This Phase I and II SBIR will develop a user-friendly, run-time efficient software package dedicated to fitting and evaluating material models used in finite element codes like LS-DYNA. The software package will consist of a pre-processor, a core driver, and a post-processor. The pre-processor will allow the user to specify the material model, model parameters, and desired load history. The dri ...

Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology combines the light modulating capability of liquid crystal with compact VLSI backplanes to create reflective micro displays. This proposal addresses the limitations of current LCoS technology in meeting the needs of an IR scene projector, and proposes an approach for the development of a multi-purpose VLSI backplane that is suitable for use in the visib ...