Teen talk
Since teens theoretically spend all day text messaging anyway, why not take advantage of the technology to remind them to take medications? A pilot program in Cincinnati has volunteers typing reminder messages at set times of the day–with all words spelled out so they won’t be mistaken for BAU from BFFs. Given the rise in conditions such as asthma that are affecting kids, we say :)
Twittering away
We have yet to quite see the point of Twitter, the online service that lets you keep the world posted on the most minute details of your day (”Retrieved bellybutton lint, 5:04 PM”). But at least now there’s TwitterFone, a hands- and cost-free option for creating Twitter posts via speech recognition of phoned-in updates. As the article points out, this could also be used to create to-do lists for yourself, so maybe there’s a purpose after all.
Gadgetell.com: Twitterfone: why type when you can call in your tweets?
Call to odor
A bunch of German researchers have patented a chip that emits up to 100 different smells. We could see a range of access applications for this–for example, if a particular odor could be tied to a particular caller, then individuals with visual or dexterity disabilities could identify who was calling and decide whether or not to answer without having to fumble for the phone. In any case, makes scents to us.
Say “goodbye” to saying “hello”
Sprint Nextel is ending its Voice Command service, which allowed users to store numbers and say names to dial them. Is this a tragedy? Not really, but like Hamlet, it is marginally interesting. Voice Command was a network-based service; that is, the names, numbers, and matching voice files were stored on Sprint’s network. Now that so many wireless handsets have voice dialing, the network service isn’t that useful (or billable), but the network cost of maintaining it was probably as high as it ever was.
So chalk this up as another salvo in the endless battle between network/shared resources and those feasible in every pocket.
Sprint discontinuing Voice Command on July 1st - Engadget Mobile
New patent Appleication
Apple has submitted a patent for a chat interface that appears to have capabilities for both videoconferencing and transmission of prerecorded video, both of which will be of interest to individuals with hearing impairments. To sweeten the pot, the patent also appears to have more sophisticated word prediction capabilities, which will benefit users with dexterity and cognitive disabilities.
A nice gesture
Samsung–one of the most frequent company names to show up on these pages–has patented a gesture-based interface for cell phones. Could be useful to people with some types of hand/arm disabilities; depending on its reliance on movement precision and its ability to be combined with audio output, could it be an improvement over touch screens for blind users?
Engadget: Samsung skips the touchscreen, patents gesture-based phone interface
First peek at a pico-projector
We’ve been posting on pico-projectors for a while, those tiny projectors planned to replace or supplement the screens on mobile products. Now one has actually reached the market, a media player. The relevant concerns? People with impaired dexterity may not be able to hold these products well enough for convenient use. And will the projected image be bright enough? This one is rated at 9 lux (for a 53 inch image), which is less than a footcandle — the brightness of a surface illuminated by a single candle held a foot away. A smaller image may be bright enough to use, depending on ambient lighting conditions. We’d be less worried if we knew there had been some attempt to factor in the needs of users with relevant disabilities.
PMP: Sunvision PMPP, World First Media Player With Pico-Projector