Tag Archives: Visually Impaired

Xbox One and Kinect 2 Possibilities

Posted on 22 May, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

343e1ec2-a960-43f5-8110-1362282d8f04

Over the past year I’ve featured a few stories about how researchers, developers, and designers are utilizing the abilities of Kinect to help people with disabilities. Some have used the motion capture technology to allow people to control devices and play games with mere eye movement and facial expressions. Others have concepts of interpreting sign language. This week Microsoft announced and showed off the next generation Xbox One and a second generation Kinect. The improved power and innovation of these devices opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

Posted in Hearing Impairments, Mobility, New Tech, Visual Impairments

Tagged Blind, Deaf, disabilities, elderly, handicapped, Hard of Hearing, inclusive design, kinect, kinect 2, universal design, Visually Impaired, xbox one

elio LED Grab Bars

Posted on 7 May, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: elio

When designing an accessible space for someone that is elderly or visually impaired, is lighting. For someone that is elderly, lighting is important because we lose some ability to see contrast as we age. Being able to see a path or what we’re grabbing onto can be a safety issue. Especially for someone who is new to low vision as their body slows down. Last year I wrote an article about a lighted grab bar called the Balance Beam. Today I’m featuring more LED grab bars by elio of Holland, Michigan.

Posted in Bathroom, Stylish Products

Tagged accessible bathroom, ada compliance, ada compliant, aging in place, disabilities, elderly, elio, handicapped, inclusive design, led grab bars, lighted grab bars, universal design, Visually Impaired

EyeNote App Identifies Paper Money

Posted on 1 May, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: Bureau of Engraving and Printing

The new technology I’m featuring today isn’t exactly new because it’s a couple years old which is old in tech years. But the technology is fascinatingly good and very useful. The technology I’m talking about is the EyeNote app for the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. This app is able to identify paper money and audibly say what the denomination is. Developed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, this app can be extremely useful and even vital to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Posted in New Tech, Visual Impairments

Tagged Blind, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, disabilities, eyenote, handicapped, inclusive design, ipad app, iphone app, universal design, Visually Impaired

Clarity Ensemble | Captioning Phone with ClearCaptions

Posted on 3 April, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: Clarity

For many years now, TTY machines have been use by people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate over the phone. This system has an operator that types out messages that appear on a small screen. The operator can also verbally speak messages typed by a user if the other user is of hearing. But many people who still have some hearing don’t use TTYs. This can lead to conversations where misunderstandings or people are asked to repeat lines. Traditionally TTY screens can be hard to read for people that have low vision. For those people a landline telephone by Clarity might be a solution. Their Ensemble captioning phone has an amplified handset and tablet screen that displays large font captioning.

Posted in Hearing Impairments, New Tech, Uncategorized

Tagged bad design, Blind, clarity ensemble, clearcaptions, closed captioning, Deaf, disabilities, elderly, ensemble phone, handicapped, Hard of Hearing, hearing impaired, inclusive design, lan phone, landline, universal design, Visually Impaired

Portable Text to Braille Reader Concept

Posted on 28 March, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: Jia Mengyin & Bao Haimo via Yanko Design

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know I frequently mention how I have a friend and coworker who is blind and fluent in Braille. You also know how I’ve mentioned that very few people who are blind actually know Braille because of a variety of reasons. But even with advancing technology such as text to speech software, knowledge of Braille still has a useful place. Especially with paper documents where an electronic version might not be available. In which case this portable text to Braille reader concept by Jia Mengyin & Bao Haimo would come in handy.

Posted in Concept Designs, Visual Impairments

Tagged Bao Haimo, Blind, braille, braille reader, concept design, disabilities, handicapped, inclusive design, Jia Mengyin, text to braille, universal design, Visually Impaired

Oxy-Iso | Colorblindness Reducing Glasses

Posted on 27 February, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

RG1 copy

In the movie Little Miss Sunshine, there’s a point in the movie where the son who wants to be a pilot realizes he can’t be because he is colorblind. Which is a reminder that while not a “major” disability, colorblindness can still affect lives. My best friend for example is colorblind and has to remember while driving that the top light is red and the bottom light is green. So there can be safety issues and career limitations associated with colorblindness. For those with red-green colorblindness, a new pair of glasses can help them distinguish the two colors. The Oxy-Iso by O2Amp are colorblindness reducing glasses available now.

Posted in New Tech, Visual Impairments

Tagged Blind, colorblindness, colorblindness reducing, disabilities, handicapped, hemo-iso, inclusive design, Mark Changizi, o2amp, oxy-amp, oxy-iso, red-green, universal design, Visually Impaired

Argus II | FDA Approved Bionic Eye

Posted on 20 February, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: Second Sight

Some big news that hit the technology newswires recently was the FDA approval of a bionic eye. This bionic eye is designed to help people with severe retinitis pigmentosa (RP) to see light better. Available in Europe since 2011, the Argus II by Second Sight of Switzerland is now available in the U.S. Although the bionic eye does not restore full vision, it can help bring back useful sight for those who need it.

Posted in New Tech, Visual Impairments

Tagged argus ii, bionic eye, Blind, disabilities, fda approved, handicapped, inclusive design, retinitis pigmentosa, rp, second sight, universal design, Visually Impaired

Electrical Outlet/Nightlight Combos

Posted on 19 February, 2013 by UniversalDesignStyle| Comments Off

Image: Pass & Seymour

As we’ve all probably heard by now, one of the main things we lose as we age is vision strength. Not only do things become a bit more hazy, but we also lose some ability to see contrast and night vision. Which is why lighting can be an important tool in making a house safe for an elderly person with low vision. One simple way to do this is to turn outlets into outlet/nightlight combos. This can light a path at night or make the outlets easy to find in the dark.

Posted in Assistive Technology, Stylish Products

Tagged aging in place, Blind, disabilities, elderly, handicapped, inclusive design, LED, night lights, outlet nightlight combos, universal design, Visually Impaired

Tag Archives: Visually Impaired

Xbox One and Kinect 2 Possibilities

elio LED Grab Bars

EyeNote App Identifies Paper Money

Clarity Ensemble | Captioning Phone with ClearCaptions

Portable Text to Braille Reader Concept

Oxy-Iso | Colorblindness Reducing Glasses

Argus II | FDA Approved Bionic Eye

Electrical Outlet/Nightlight Combos

Follow Universal Design Style

The Latest Posts