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07 December 2007
NASA's MathTrax technology helps visually impaired students
Software wins Tech Museum of Innovation award
This video footage was provided by The Tech Museum of Innovation and its Tech Museum Awards Program, celebrating Technology Benefiting Humanity. Permission has been granted for use of this video on MathTrax on the Web site of the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs. (See related article.)
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Terry Hodgson, Stephanie Smith, and Robert Shelton designed technology to teach abstract mathematical concepts to blind and visually impaired students.
Math and science have always been taught with graphs and other visual representations. As a result, blind and visually impaired students are typically locked out of entire subjects of study and effectively blocked from careers in science and technology.
NASA’s MathTrax transforms graphs and equations in real-time into words, so students have multiple ways to process complex information. The easy-to-use software allows students to graph equations, interact with the data, and understand it all through text, tones, and spoken language. The technology shatters barriers to math and science careers for the blind and visually impaired and deepens mathematical understanding for all styles of learners.
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Video footage provided by The Tech Museum of Innovation and its Tech Museum Awards Program, celebrating Technology Benefiting Humanity. Copyright © 2007.
America.gov
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
