Hear today, hear tomorrow
Purebuds are earbuds where the speaker is pointing away from the eardrum, theoretically reducing the chance of hearing injury while providing a surround sound effect and doing a better job of letting in important ambient noises (doorbells, kids, oncoming trains…). Wonder if this would work well for people with existing hearing loss?
Popgadget: Purebuds earbuds use Reverse Sound Technology to save your ears
RFIDo
Plexidor is an RFID-controlled doggie door; the collar-mounted chip opens it long enough to let the dog out, then closes until he returns. Can we please get this in a human-sized version for anyone who needs environmental control assistance?
Ergo with some cogito
“Ergonomic” is one of those words (like “inconceivable”) that doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. The Alien Mouse design claims ergonomic superiority, and at first glance we almost agree. It seems to hold the wrist in an appropriate neutral position, it molds to the user’s hand (we’re assuming not in a way that would cause cramping), and if we understand the description properly it lets the user trade off between using it as a traditional mouse and as a finger-controlled joystick. What concerns us is that it has a vibrating pulse for “relaxing muscles”, since vibration has been identified as both a potential cause of repetitive strain injuries and as an aggravator of existing RSI. Tell us that at least the vibration could be turned off, and we’ll be happier.
The Design Blog: Mouse that relieves stress and RSI in an “Alien” form
Gaming just a little
The M.A.D. gamepad from Brando is a miniature version of the control device use to control a variety of video games. Presumably designed for those who can’t travel without their daily game dose, but also has potential for people whose mad gaming skills are hampered by limited range of hand or finger motion.
Take me out to the E-ball game
We like laser keyboards. We like pico projectors, too. So we think we might really like the E-ball, a 6″ round (and presumably lightweight) computer prototype that includes both of the above, plus a detatchable optical mouse and extendable legs. Since the publicity photo implies it could also improve our bowling scores, we’ll be first in the sales line.
Mash notes
AT&T is announcing their work on Speech Mashup, the first glimmer of voice recognition capability for the iPhone and some other AT&T Internet-based hardware. This holds promise as one strategy that will let folks with visual and dexterity disabilities bypass touchscreen technology. Unfortunately, none of it yet is local (e.g., you can’t use it for dialing); instead, it bounces your voice to a Web server, which translates it into commands for functions such as looking up addresses. It’s a start.
Gadget Lab: AT&T Developing Speech Recognition Potentially for iPhone
Cola the wild
We’ve seen pouring aids in the past, mostly marketed in the accessibility rather than the mainstream arena, but this is the first one we’ve seen for soda. This device, which holds two-liter bottles, can be used to dispense sugary goodness with a light tilt rather than requiring awkward lifting and aiming. Pour baby!