Cubic feet
Awhile back, we documented a tactile Rubik’s Cube. Now here’s one for people who can’t use their hands but can use their feet. If two people try to solve the Crazy Foot at the same time, would they become arch rivals?
Production code, 2010 style
Here’s an interesting use for QR codes: Fandango, the movie ticket service, now has a mobile service that will send a code to your mobile phone. When you get to the theater, a scanner reads the code. No more paper to manipulate or remember, letting everyone get to the popcorn line that much faster. If the scanners are self-service, let’s hope some attention is given to accessibility in terms of height, providing guidance as to where to place the phone, etc. And if it’s a success, we’ll look forward to seeing similar implementations for other types of tickets.
Primp up the volume!
No one buys a laptop or netbook for audio quality, but lots of people use their portable devices for audio-intensive apps like playing music, watching movies, and talking on VoIP. Now people with mild to moderate hearing loss can improve their audio with a USB device. The X-Tube DTS looks like an old electronic tube, and glows blue when operating. Beyond the classy optics are some impressive acoustics: simulated surround sound, better frequency response, and on-screen sliders for bass enhancement and “voice clarification”. As always, your mileage may vary, but the review at the link below is pretty positive, except for suggesting that you use better headphones than the bundled ones. Only $45 dollars once it arrives.
Greater tuner
We’ve heard of people who’ve been able to play guitar with few or no fingers–Tony Melendez, for one–but figured someone else might have to do the tuning. No more: the Evertune keeps the strings at the right pitch through the use of spring-tension. Will be available built in to some models and as an add-on.
Bass-o-matic
The elegantly named ButtKicker translates low frequency sounds into vibrations on whatever you attach it to–the press release suggests “chair, car, or drum throne.” We’d guess Deaf folks will find all kinds of applications for it, both for practical uses (alert systems?) and simply for having a non-auditory way of experiencing musical, cinema, and video gaming environments.
New wrinkles in TV for elders
Here’s a new 32 inch LED TV with minimal, easy controls — the remote only has 6 buttons. The price includes installation and personal support. It even turns itself off if it thinks you might have drifted off. This thing is not only perfect for TV, it should point the way for other bright designers looking to simplify their products to snag some seniors and others who appreciate ease of use.
“Senior-Friendly” TV Ears TV turns itself off at naptime, has Jitterbug-style remote — Engadget
Blio us away
The latest developer to enter the e-book fray is Ray Kurzweil, who this week will be revealing Blio. Instead of taking a hardware approach, though, Blio is platform-independent, free software that will present books in a consistent format–rather like PDF–that also supports use of color and video. People with learning disabilities will be particularly happy to hear that this format supports use of text-to-speech synchronized with text highlighting, and that markup such as bookmarks will be imported when the file is shared among devices. Not clear what the implications will be for blind individuals; we’ll probably learn more when Blio is formally announced at the Consumer Electronics Show this week.
Wired: Singularity Proponent Ray Kurzweil Reinvents the Book, Again