Towson University has launched its first commercialization with SoundsRight, a sounds CAPTCHA which received a patent and has been licensed to two organizations. CAPTCHAs are the security features with distorted letters that ask users to retype them to assure a website that users are not automated bots. A visual CAPTCHA is not something that people with limited sight can use and so they are prevented from availing themselves of such features.
The SoundsRight team at Towson University, led by Dr. Jonathan Lazar, has developed a series of sounds, such as a barking dog and a neighing horse, which a person can identify as a sound CAPTCHA from among other sounds. When presented with a sound which is part of the CAPTCHA, the user hits a space bar. Towson is partnering with the National Federation of the Blind and AOL to develop their technology further. Other companies have also expressed an interest in using this technology. The SoundsRight technology previously received funding from the University Technology Development Fund (UTDF) to produce a prototype. [READ MORE LINK]
Replacing the UTDF, the Technology Validation Program (TVP) is the current program available to all Maryland Universities, except for Johns Hopkins, Morgan State, and University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore County, and College Park, which can apply for similar funding through TEDCO’s MII program. TVP provides up to $40,000 for developing a technology to make it more easily commercialized. A second phase of the program provides up to $10,000 to determine the market potential for a technology, and is available to Federal Labs as well as the above universities.