Trash talk
Wave a piece of trash over the Touchless Trashcan’s infrared sensor, and it eagerly opens to receive whatever you want to put in it. Useful for some people with dexterity disabilities, or service dogs could probably be trained to operate it–and get out of the way until it finishes opening. But why are two buttons required to open it manually?
The first real desktop computer
The Powerdesk integrates a CPU into a desktop. This will probably be of particular interest to wheelchair users, since it eliminates the possibility of accidentally wheeling over cords (and, for the rest of us, tripping over them) and comes in an adjustable version. Starts around $3,000.
Fast food from a touchscreen
Uh-oh! Taco Bell and KFC are testing a new way to replace teenagers. The touchscreen interfaces let you order and pay inside the restaurant. Since most touchscreens are completely inaccessible, we can’t help but wonder if blind people will wind up healthier….
The latest stylus
It’s a tablet PC! It’s a monitor! Actually, it’s both: a monitor you navigate using a stylus. Of interest to individuals who can hold a pen-type device more easily than a mouse, or those for whom direct selection is cognitively easier. Ideal if you’re a Korean business, ’cause that’s the only initial market.
It’s a food thing
The SmartShopper, currently in prototype, uses voice recognition to help you compile a grocery list. It has what looks like an easy-to-read screen and a built-in printer–and maybe voice output as a future option? Even better, it organizes your list by category, presumably so that you’ll see items grouped according to where you’re likely to find them. Maybe that’ll help me solve the mystery of where the stuffing is kept at my local Albertson’s…
Making book
Now here’s a first: a book that’s was released in audio format, and later in printed form. Let’s hear it for podcasting!
My Cowboys have always been heroes
The PodCowboy is a privacy screen for the iPod that presumably also helps cut down on glare. In addition, it comes with a cable that lets you use your TV as an iPod screen. Definite contenda as the chic low-vision iPod accessory of 2006.