Mind field
As usual, a proposed “thought-controlled technology” will probably be run in practice via other physical capabilities. That doesn’t mean we’re not looking forward to some of the hands-free environmental control strategies being developed by Japanese researchers, including the ability to have heaters and air conditioners automatically respond to changes in an individual’s body temperature. Cognito, ergo summer?
Tempdot by the fruit of another
Some good ideas just scream “Yanko Design” even before you click on the original link. Today’s example: the Tempdot faucet, which has no handles. Instead, you touch one of nine dots whose color corresponds to the approximate temperature you want; the water then begins to flow at that temp. Great for dexterity disabilities; could be easily modified to be tactile for the benefit of people with low or no vision.
Mug shot
So you’ve been lingering for hours over your Optimus keyboard, and you’re too tired to even suss whether your coffee is still hot. Never fear: our close personal friend Art Lebedev knew this would happen, and came up with a mug that provides a visual temperature indicator on the outside. Good for people with impaired heat sensitivity and some types of cognitive disabilities.
Crunchgear: This Art Lebedev mug shows your caffeine power level
A question of balance
UCLA is working on a vest with accelerometers sewn in that can provide feedback to the wearer for balance retraining. What if it could also provide feedback to a computer or environmental control device, so that people with no dexterity or speech but some torso control could move in specific ways to carry out desired functions?
Touched by untouching
A company called Cypress is working on TrueTouch technology for mobile device screens. TrueTouch can respond to a finger that is hovering above it, and respond differently to an actual touch. When we first found this article, we thought this would mostly have implications for people with dexterity disabilities, and it could–for example, people for whom any physical contact with the screen would be painful might be able to carry out some functions without requiring actual touch. But what really hooked us was that the demonstration shows how hovering provides magnification of whatever is being hovered over–an obvious boon to many people with low vision, and to some with cognitive disabilities as well.
CrunchGear: Soon you won’t even have to touch that touchscreen
What is accessibility?
Slightly off-topic, but worthwhile: a very short video that neatly explains the need for universal design. (Too bad they didn’t mention cognitive disabilities, though.)
Clothes encounters
Ping is a newly proposed fabric with built-in sensors and conductors that has all kinds of accessibility implications. It could be used to automatically send messages upon execution of a particular gesture (interesting for some people with speech, dexterity, or cognitive disabilities) and to provide tactile indication of incoming messages, potentially including information about who’s sending them (with particular implications for people with hearing, visual, or dexterity disabilities). Apparently in future fashion, it won’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that Ping.
Engadget: With ‘Ping’ clothing, status updates literally tap you on the shoulder