Clean and jerk
Apple has patented a means for virtual buttons to automatically enlarge themselves when the phone detects “jerky” motion on the part of the user–due to say, jogging, but perhaps also cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s. Worth checking out further once it’s implemented.
Arm and yammer
Here’s a biometric strategy we haven’t heard of before: a gesture-based system for unlocking cellies that identifies your unique style of raising the phone to your ear based on “things like arm length, muscle structure, and patterns such as holding methods and other habits.” Obviously, this assumes some use of the arm; wonder how it does on interpreting spastic, slow, or other “atypical” arm movements that people with disabilities might have?
Eye can’t help falling in love with you
The forthcoming W53 SMART LCD monitor from LG automatically adjusts onscreen brightness to an optimal level based on ambient lighting, with clear positive implications for people with low vision. The less obvious implications have to do with its “Cinema Mode,” which blacks out everything on the screen except the currently playing video. If this works for embeded videos, it would be wonderful for people with some types of learning disabilities, who may find it difficult or distracting to be presented with media and proximate text at the same time.
Mist me?
The Mist Bench is made up of a motion-sensitive optical fiber: approach it and it lights up. A great idea to help with nighttime wayfinding for people with low vision!
Field of Near-Field Communication is … near
Near-Field Communication — we’ve been telling you about it for years — is about to enter the real retail world, letting consumers pay for purchases without swiping a card or signing. Just having your NFC-equipped mobile device near the store’s point-of-sale terminal will complete the transaction. Nokia built the first device; now Visa rolls out the first version of the payment part of the service.
Aside from eviscerating the “Close only counts in horseshoes” aphorism, NFC offers fumble-free, keyless shopping for those with limited dexterity and/or vision. Let’s hope the retailers preserve that when they implement NFC.
Curling up with a good Vook
Vook is an interesting idea in publishing that plays off the availability of e-readers: why not create books that go to the next dimension by including online video and social networking capability? Since this could be very attractive for people who have difficulty with standard reading, especially when due to learning or cognitive disabilities, we ask why not as well.
Mail pattern boldness
New York Times fashion note: Text messaging goood, voice mail baaad. This means a new wave of speech-to-text applications, which will inevitably benefit people with hearing disabilities. But let’s hope audio–in both recorded and text-to-speech formats–doesn’t disappear completely; there’s an obvious need for it by blind folks and conscientious drivers, and many people with cognitive disabilities benefit from simultaneous audio and visual input.