[nfb-talk] Your Design Thesis

[Margo and Arrow]

Buddy, I was just about to mention the adhesive dogs.  why, I put dogs on my 
oven and they set the temp for me.  they're kind of small dogs, though--like 
pomeranians.

Lol!

I just filled out the survey and gently told this nice lady that I didn't 
think any of her products were necessary and I wouldn't buy them except a 
remote maybe on the cutting board.

margo and Arrow
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <kubasa at my.uwstout.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Your Design Thesis


Oh wow. I just noticed I typed "adhesive dogs", when I meant "adhesive 
dots". I admit that my dog sticks to me a lot, but I don't think I'd like to 
stick him to my food storage containers.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Mar 15, 2011, at 2:55 PM, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] wrote:

> 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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