[nfb-talk] Your Design Thesis

Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] Terry.Powers at nih.gov
Tue Mar 15 18:55:57 UTC 2011


Good job, Buddy.  We used to have metal canisters with raised letters, on them, when I was a kid.

Terry Powers


-----Original Message-----
From: Buddy Brannan [mailto:buddy at brannan.name] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 1:30 PM
To: kubasa at my.uwstout.edu
Cc: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: [nfb-talk] Your Design Thesis

Hi,

Your message was forwarded to some Email lists for blind people, and I wanted to respond.

First, I'm sorry if you get any negative "dog pile" responses. Much of that sort of thing is reaction to history that you are probably not privy to, where groups would design "helpful" thigs for us without our input, coming from a premise that blindness necessarily equates to ineptitude or worse. That's the Reader's Digest version, anyway. So, first, I really want to thank you for reaching out to us, the community that your design thesis seeks to assist. It would have been easy for you to take your professor's recommendations and run with them, without seeking our input at all. That you had the good sense to go beyond and reach out to us is commendable. Thanks! 

Now, I'm afraid my comments below might throw your project into a bit of a tailspin. I, at least, didn't find that I'd have much of a use for any of the six products that you propose. Now please don't misunderstand. I'm glad you're thinking about these problems. The trouble is, as I'm sure you recognized when you thought it would be a good idea to ask, that you've approached the product exploration from the point of view that, "If I were struck blind tomorrow, what would I find difficult to do?". Fortunately, many of us have had a lot more practice at it, and those who haven't are very teachable. :-) 

Please find some comments on how we solve what I believe are the problems you attempt to address by your product ideas. 

One common theme I notice here is cooking. I'm the cook at our house, and I'm blind myself. I guess I'm OKat it, my family is well fed and still walking around, and no one's died from my cooking yet. (I guess there's still tomorrow...) By this, I perceive that you have some question as to how we'd handle ourselves in the kitchen. 


Below is a list of 6 concept designs followed by a brief description of each. I would like to know which 3 products you would be most interested in purchasing if they were to be put on the market. At the end of the survey there is room for you to provide feedback for improvements/adjustments about the individual designs as well as write any suggestions about products you are interested in that I might not have considered for designing.  Thank you for your interest and helping me with my Senior Project!



1.     Electrical Outlet: This outlet would have recessed grooves that serve as guides to direct the user towards safely inserting prongs into the power source.

My response:
Outlets are actually not that difficult. We already know that holding a plug by the prongs is a bad idea. I can probably count the number of times I've been zapped by wayward electrons on one hand. U.S. outlets are actually not too difficult, especially the three-conductor kind. European outlets are, of course, even easier. 

2.     Salt and Pepper Shakers: Shakers would have raised tactile marks to determine which is the salt and which is the pepper without having to sample the contents of the shaker beforehand.

My comments:
We have a couple of ways to tell the difference already. One is, of course, smell. Another is weight; pepper will generally be lighter than salt when you pick up the shakers. 

3.     Measuring Cups: Cups would be marked with tactile indicators to inform the user which one is ¼ cup, ½ cup, 1/3 cup, etc.

I use nested measuring cups that stack. These are very easy to tell apart, smallest to largest. I even have a set that isn't nesting, but it has raised 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1 cup markings on them. Same thing with measuring spoons. 

4.     Silverware: Utensils would be weighted and designed in such a way that the user would instinctively grab them in the appropriate direction (in other words, when someone picks up the knife for example, he or she automatically knows which way is blade side down by how the handle feels in his or her hand).

Most knives are already designed this way. Forks and spoons also have a natural curve to them, easily discernible without modification. Try laying a fork down on a table upside down. You'll probably know it without looking. (The only possible exception to this would be those sets of silverware with the round plastic handles.) In my years of slicing potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, sausage, or what have you, I can, again, count the number of times I've injured myself on one hand. And nothing very awful at that.

5.     Storage Containers: Canisters would be marked with different amounts of grooves to allow the user to associate contents with how the canister feels (for example, flour is in the container with two grooves and sugar is stored in the container with one groove, etc.) thus eliminating the need for the user to open and test the contents of each canister before finding the ingredient he or she needs.

This has some merit, but of course requires a lot of memorization anyway. Besides braille labels, there are lots of marking solutions, both specialized and not. For instance, several places sell adhesive dogs in different shapes that one can use if one does not read braille or is just in a hurry, or whatever. One might, for instance, use rubber bands, glue, puff paint, or any number of things to differentiate containers. 

6.     Cutting board: Board has evenly spaced ridges at the top that serve as a guide for cutting ¼ inch slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, etc. It also has a small section recessed on the right to separate the scraps from portions you wish to consume and there is a ribbed surface that helps stabilize round items from rolling when you are slicing them into sections.

I kind of like this idea, even though I've gotten on great with standard, garden variety cutting boards. Separating scraps from edible portions isn't a huge problem, I usually sweep them off to the side, or put them into a plastic bag pretty quickly after excising them. I do find that I'm slower at slicing, but that's probably mostly due to being far too anal about getting the pieces even. My concern with such a design would be ease of cleaning. more ridges and peaks and valleys sound like more trouble getting all of that cleaned out. 

Here's a problem i'd love to see a solution for. Newer electric ranges have smooth surfaces. Older ones, of course, had raised burners, and the burners were easily discernible. Same with gas stove tops. But the new electric stoves have smooth tops, with little or no discernible difference between where the active burner elements are and what is just plain stove top in between. If you came up with a good solution to that one (short of avoiding such stove tops), I think you'd find some relief from us. 

Oh, one other thing. Good for you for thinking low tech. Not everything has to be solved by electronics, much as I love those. :-)
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY




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