Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and contracts may have begun in the U.S., but the program has been replicated internationally. Recently a team in Brazil was awarded a grant to develop a 3D vision system that uses facial expression recognition to control a wheelchair. This type of research and development would rarely be funded without support. The SBIR program has paved the way for many small startups to conduct innovative research.
Researchers from Brazil have developed a solution that uses 3D camera technology to enable physically-challenged adults to move around in a wheelchair via facial, head, or iris movements.
While the equipment developed by the team from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, State University of Campinas (FEEC/Unicamp) is still experimental, a project recently approved by the Innovative Research Program for Small Business (PIPE) of FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) aims to adapt the technology to make it more accessible and to put it into the market in Brazil within two years.
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