SBIR Phase I: Gestural/Haptic Tongue Interface Wearable: Hands-free, Heads-up, and Private Interactivity

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to advance the development of a new wearable device, worn in the mouth like a dental retainer, mouthguard, or piercing. It will enable new interactions in Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality (AR/VR/XR), but also serve as an assistive device to the 63 million people suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), and physical injuries blocking people from using computers effectively. This will establish new markets for this type of wearable interface; unlock new human-machine interactions, both as a standalone device and paired with Head Mounted Display (HMD) systems; and expand new interfaces that are private, hands-free, heads-up, and taking better advantage of natural human intraoral/mental abilities. This will have significant impact for SCI/CTS users who will obtain the ability to use computers, as well as the large and emerging AR/VR/XR industries using HMDs hands-free/heads-up with private gestural interaction. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the translation of a novel interface tool for the human mouth and tongue via an intraoral wearable solution. It will exploit the fact that the largest dedicated areas of the brain’s sensory cortex and motor cortex are for hand, mouth, and tongue function. This interface adapts these already strong human oral abilities, connecting them to the digital world. This project will create a device to be worn like a dental retainer, where the device creates a haptic user interface with haptic patterns among which the user can feel and move, analogous to a touch screen navigated by tapping and swiping through visual icons and menus. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.