Educational technology company receives $500,000 NSF award
November 8, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue Research Park-based company has received a $500,000 SBIR Phase II award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop technology that enhances hands-on science learning for students affected by blindness and low vision.
Independence Science LLC will use the award to further develop Talking LabQuest, the first portable scientific data collection device equipped with text-to-speech technology to help students in science laboratory classrooms.
The company is developing Talking LabQuest in partnership with Vernier Software & Technology LLC of Beaverton, Ore.; HumanWare Inc. of Drummondville, Quebec, Canada; and ViewPlus Technologies Inc. of Corvallis, Ore.
Cary Supalo, president and founder of Independence Science, said the NSF award will allow his company to work with HumanWare and ViewPlus engineers to create peripherals from their access technology products, including BrailleNote, Tiger Braille embossers, the IVEO Learning System and the Audio Graphing Calculator.
"HumanWare's BrailleNote is the most popular electronic note-taking device in the blind community. Students use it to take notes in class, check email, search the Internet and perform GPS navigation. We would like to use it as a data collection device when interfaced with Talking LabQuest," Supalo said. "We hope to use ViewPlus' Tiger Braille embossers to make raised-line drawings of graph data and to interface the IVEO Learning System to provide touchscreen navigation. ViewPlus' Audio Graphing Calculator allows a student to type algebraic equations on a computer keyboard. These tools will enhance the usefulness of the Talking LabQuest to the end user."
Supalo said Talking LabQuest can empower students who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). He said research indicates that students who receive positive hands-on experiences have greater interest in science learning, which increases academic achievement.
"This also is true for underrepresented populations, including students with visual impairments," Supalo said. "The Talking LabQuest can empower students in the laboratory, classroom and in the field. They can collect acceleration and velocity data at an amusement park alongside their classmates. They can track temperature of foods and pH levels in swimming pools or fish tanks. This device is empowering both teachers and their students with blindness and low vision in having more hands-on science learning experiences."
About Independence Science LLC
Officials at Independence Science are making their expertise available to help school districts, colleges and universities, and state rehabilitation agencies across the country meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements in the science curriculum. These technologies are being made available to further serve as a dissemination tool to benefit any blind and low-vision student in the United States.
About Purdue Research Park
The Purdue Research Park has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country in four locations across Indiana. The park network is home to about 200 companies that employ 4,000 people and are located in West Lafayette, Merrillville, Indianapolis and New Albany.
Purdue Research Park contact:
Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org
Source:
Cary Supalo, 814-441-2589, csupalo@independencescience.com
VIDEO:
A video of a student collecting temperature data by using Talking LabQuest can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9CuOXneQ_s
