Northeastern graduate receives funding for tactile sign language robot
Samatha Johnson, a 2021 graduate of New England Council member, Northeastern University, received $255,000 in SBIR funding from the National Science Foundation to continue her work in developing a tactile sign language robot.
After graduating with both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in bioengineering, Johnson founded Tatum Robotics, a Boston-based start-up with the goal of continuing Johnson’s master’s project. The development of the first device to allow Deaf and Blind individuals to communicate independently. In the first year of this start-up, Johnson raised over $100,000, hired a team, and collaborated with MassRobotics to continue this work. With this funding from the National Science Foundation, Tatum plans to not only conduct extensive testing on the current technology but also work on expanding the prototype itself in order to increase its accessibility. With this, prototypes could be rolling out on the market later this year.
Throughout this process, Johnson has been working directly with the DeafBlind community. “We really want to preserve this language that they’re already using in their day-to-day. They use it, they use it well, they can express themselves. And so, we really wanted to preserve that and make sure that we’re not coming in as abled people trying to transform the way that they communicate,” said Johnson.
The New England Council commends Samantha for her extraordinary work.
Read more from BostInno.