Prompt system
Prompt-It is a hardware device that turns text from your smart phone into a teleprompter. Could be a lifesaver for people with any type of dexterity or memory difficulties who have to give a presentation in situations where using other types of notes is difficult or undesirable.
There’s no mouse like…no mouse?
We’ve been used to the mouse for some time; grab it and move your hand to navigate a cursor around the screen. But what if a computer could just track your hand instead? Enter Mouseless, a prototype infrared system that directly interprets hand movements for cursor control; wonderful for people whose dexterity makes grasping difficult. You still have to tap your index finger on the table to click, though, which begs the question of whether a different finger or even a different strategy could be assigned.
Gizmodo: First the mouse, then Mighty Mouse, then Magic Mouse and now the Invisible Mouse
Yuban waiting for this
Fingerprint biometrics have been used for security for some time, but finally they’re being applied to something really important–coffee making. The Xelsis Digital ID saves preference information for up to six people, and brews your cup your way at the swipe of a finger. Could have implications for making other appliances easier to use, assuming you have both fingerprints and lots of (Star)bucks–the Xelsis will set you back $2,500.
Bornrich: Xelsis Digital ID Coffee Machine serves by fingerprint identification
Beam me up, Numi
Most of us have wallets or keychains bursting with loyalty and membership cards for various stores, and it doesn’t even take having a disability to experience difficulty finding and retrieving them when needed. Enter the Numi Key, which stores all your card information electronically, then lets you retrieve as needed and wirelessly transmit to a POS device. The display looks pretty legible (can we beg for a voice-output option in a future release?), and the buttons could well be tactilely discernable.
The Gadgeteer: Consolidate your loyalty cards into one device
Buddy system
We’ve written before about automated Twitter messages as a communication strategy, but most examples were either hacks or left little leeway for consciously choosing a desired message. Enter Buddy Radio, a simple device currently being tested with elders by the UK’s National Health Service. Turning the dial sends one of several messages indicating the user’s mood–not clear whether this is preprogrammed or personalizable. Apparently it works not only with Twitter, but also with Facebook, email, and so on. It’s currently being evaluated as a signaling system; off-site family, friends, and other message recipients would presumably be able to interpret when a user needs some type of intervention services. But we have cause to wish it were commercially available now so that people in hospice, recovering from serious injury, etc., would have a nearly effortless way to just provide brief but treasured messages to their circles.
But does it go to 11?
The Spatial Interaction Touchless Kitchen Tap is a new faucet design where a variety of options–temperature, flow rate, number of streams–can be adjusted via gesture. Reasonably accessible and touch-free; promising, assuming that it can accommodate a range of dexterous abilities.
Ubergizmo: Concept: Spatial Interaction Touchless Kitchen Tap
Welcome to the Hotel Call-lock-for-ya
Holiday Inn will soon be installing special room locks that open when you play a coded song for them from your smartphone. Both the unlock tones and your room assignment will be sent to your phone automatically, so you can skip the front desk. The OpenWays system may help customers who have dexterity or visual difficulty using keycards, but it also makes the accessibility of smartphones that much more essential — as these mobile devices become ever more integral, being left out really means being left out.
Soon You’ll Unlock Hotel Room Doors By Playing Songs on Your Phone–Gizmodo