Industrial/Product Designer

Code Toilet or Not: That is the Question

The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), which was developed with the intention of providing greater access for individuals with disabilities, often falls short of the mark for older adults.  First, many of the guidelines, as with most other accessibility codes and standards, were developed more than 2 decades ago and are generally based upon the stature, strength, and abilities of younger disabled adults. 

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Universal Design Pioneer: Why Design Still Excludes Many

Pattie Moore

Pattie Moore, a gerontologist who studies the social science of aging, designs products with older adults in mind. When Moore was 26 she discussed herself as an 80-year old woman and taveled to over 100 cities across the US and Canada.

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Unpacking Japan’s Commitment to UD

Valerie Fletcher, executive director of the Boston-based Institute for Human Centered Design discusses Toto’s new Universal Design research center in Japan.

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Japanese elevators get voice recognition, rides get even more awkward

By Jacob Schulman

posted Mar 8th 2011 3:48PM

We here at Engadget are all about helping the less fortunate, so Mitsubishi Electric's latest innovation in elevator tech has us all warm and fuzzy. The new interface allows for blind users -- and presumably lazy users -- to select their destination floor by voice, with a subsequent announcement when they arrive. Additionally, the system kicks in whenever it detects a wheelchair, replacing the potentially difficult process of reaching high buttons with the simple act of speaking. No word on whether the system works in English just yet or if it'll make it to the States, but you might want to brush up on your Japanese either way.

Military terrain-sensing tech to enable smarter electronic wheelchairs

By: Jacob Schulman

Work being done by researchers at the Florida A&M University / Florida State University College of Engineering aims to make life a little easier for those folks who rely on electric wheelchairs by using automatic terrain-sensing tech originally developed for military robotic vehicles. Their prototype electric wheelchair can detect hazardous terrain and change driving strategies appropriately is so promising that the US Army has provided funding. If all goes well, we could be seeing these new-age chairs within five years -- CES 2016 can't come soon enough.

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