Remote thermometer
Just in time for flu season: a thermometer that doesn’t require insertion. (Note the comments indicating this may not be such a new thing.)
Rainlegs protect wheelchair users
Designed for bike-riders, these snappy top-only leggings roll down from your waist to your knees and attach with straps.
mp3 player with Flash interface
The iRiver U10 portable media player’s interface is written in Flash, and it can play Flash files loaded into it, such as games. It has 4-way navigation built into the display. It’s a bit tiny, but how about programming it as a portable communication aid? How about environmental control? How about … ?
Music in motion
A commercially available device for capturing movement and feeding it to a MIDI interface. Pity–for both accessibility and mainstream purposes–that it only works with arm movements.
If you build it…
Summary of a design study suggesting that the contemporary trend is for demand to be driven by product availability, rather than vice-versa. If this is accurate, it may mean that people will get used to the types of features described in Access on Main Street entries and keep demanding their inclusion. And that’s a good thing.
Pocket Opera
The free Opera Mini browser for cell phones renders Web pages so they look more like they do on a computer screen. Among other features, the pages are compressed for faster browsing, and users can decide whether to load images. An option is included to reduce font size, but not to enlarge it. Great for people with range of motion issues; for people with low vision, maybe not so much. (Also see entry on Cell phone browsing.)
Call your oven more often
The Connect IO oven can be controlled “using a cell phone, personal digital assistant or any Internet connection.” It also has a refrigeration component, so that food can be stored in the oven, perhaps by an attendant or family member, well before cooking time. All yours for only around $9,000!