National Braille Press Awards $20,000 to Recipients as Part of Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation Program

The nation’s leading non-profit braille publisher, National Braille Press (NBP) announced today the recipients of the organization’s annual Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation, which awards innovators for their support of tactile literacy efforts for the blind and visually impaired. In keeping with NBP’s mission, projects submitted this year were focused on software or application development that demonstrates an aspect of tactile literacy for blind people and promotes braille literacy or access to information. The winners were recognized at a luncheon at the Microsoft New England R&D Center in Cambridge, Mass.

This year’s grand prize of $15,000 will be awarded to TechBridgeWorld for their work on the Braille Writing Tutor, an automated tutor with audio feedback that connects to a computer, to address challenges associated with learning to write braille with a slate and stylus. In addition, the Honorable Mention of $5,000 will be awarded to Rahul Kumar Namdev, a PhD student at M.I.T., for his work on the Intuitive STEM Accessibility System.

“We are thrilled to recognize these tremendous innovators, who are making major strides to help improve the quality of life for blind and visually impaired individuals,” said Brian Mac Donald, president of National Braille Press. “The advances in technology today allow us to better support new braille and tactile graphic tools. This not only provides students the opportunity to major in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math), but it also allows adults to better compete in the workplace. That is why this prize is so important in helping to foster the next generation of innovators who will ensure that tactile literacy remains a priority in the digital age.”

The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is funded with the generous support from The Gibney Family Foundation and National Braille Press. The awards attract innovators from around the world in the fields of education, technology, engineering, tactile graphics, and braille literacy. This is the only prize to foster and reward innovation for tactile literacy, and offers a compelling incentive for researchers, teachers and inventors. About the award winners:

TechBridgeWorld-Winner $15,000
The TechBridgeWorld research group, founded by M. Bernardine Dias at Carnegie Mellon University, creates state-of-the-art computing technology solutions to address the needs of underserved communities around the world. The group was granted the award for their invention of the “Braille Tutor Project.” In response to the observed need for enhancing literacy for the blind in the developing world, TechBridgeWorld developed the Braille Writing Tutor (BWT), an automated tutor with audio feedback that connects to a computer, to address challenges associated with learning to write braille with a slate and stylus. The Stand-Alone Braille Writing Tutor (SABT), a battery-powered standalone version of the BWT with onboard computing, was developed to address additional challenges of power failures and lack of access to reliable computers in developing communities. Both the BWT and SABT devices are equipped with several learning modes and educational games. The main objective of these devices is to teach the skill of writing braille using the slate and stylus through guided practice. These devices have been tested with partner institutions in the United States, Bangladesh, China, India, Qatar, Tanzania and Zambia. The basic braille learning modes are available in many different languages including English, Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, French, Hindi, Kannada, and Kiswahili.

Rahul Namdev-Honorable Mention $5,000
Rahul Namdev, of India is a PhD candidate at MIT. Namdev developed the Intuitive STEM Accessibility System as a program built to cultivate an innate and interactive platform that makes complex STEM educational material accessible to blind and visually impaired people using a hyperbraille device with almost no loss of information as compared to printed material. Along with zooming and panning, the system uses vibrating patterns, rhythmic motions, synthetic voice and synchronized voiced-vibrations to convey information to blind users in an intuitive way. The Intuitive STEM Accessibility System enables the publisher to transcribe various STEM books into braille books in a quick, inexpensive method.

ABOUT NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS
A non-profit braille publisher, National Braille Press promotes literacy for blind children through outreach programs and provides access to information by producing information in braille for blind children and adults. National Braille Press is the premier braille publisher in the US that specializes in producing original braille works written by blind authors expressly for blind people. www.nbp.org