The purpose of the Business Innovative Research Program (SBIR) is to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, strengthen the role of small business in meeting Federal research or research and development (R/R&D) needs, increase the commercial application of Department of Education supported research results, and improve the return on investment from Federally funded research for economic and social benefits to the Nation.

Over thirty years ago, WGBH, Boston's public broadcasting station, revolutionized television and video for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing by providing program dialogue as text or "captions" on the lower third of the television screen.

In 1992, WGBH began researching captioning and description in movie theaters to enable independent access to films. WGBH successfully developed two innovative technologies that make it possible to provide closed captions and descriptive narration for deaf and blind patrons, without the need for special prints or screenings or altering the experience for the general audience.

Collectively these systems are known as Motion Picture Access or MoPix - Find out more about MoPix »