Achievement

In July 2012, IGERT PI Panchanathan (Computer Science) and faculty McDaniel (Biomedical Engineering) were awarded a NSF I-Corps grant for the IGERT project, “Haptic Annunciator System for Situational Awareness.” This project focuses on the commercialization of our team’s research on the development of a haptic belt to improve the situational awareness of individuals with visual impairments during social interactions. The wireless belt consists of an array of vibration motors and conveys the distance and direction of interaction partners through vibrotactile cues. Although the device was intended for individuals with visual impairments, the technology has a broad scope including gaming, military and remote communication applications. The team, along with business mentor Grant Farrell, won an additional start-up award through the AZ Furnace program in Oct 2012; patented the technology (provisional patent application filed); and co-founded their company, RehabDev, LLC in this period.