[Blindtlk] Talking menus.

[Alan Wheeler]

>>PR Newswire
>>Wednesday, April 18, 2007
>>
>>Menus That Talk(TM) - Restaurant Menus Get Table Smarts
>>
>>Miami company introduces portable electronic menus that speak; uniquely
>>serves the special needs of the visually impaired, elderly and non-English

speaking guests
>>
>>    MIAMI, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylannas Inc. announces the launch of
an electronic restaurant menu system, Menus That Talk(TM), a portable,
compact
device, approximately the size of a DVD case, that speaks to
>>restaurant guests, describing selected food items from the hand-held
>unit's illuminated buttons.   A lighted array of buttons displays major
menu categories
like DRINKS,
>>APPETIZERS and SEAFOOD. Guests simply press a button corresponding to a
category and hear brief descriptions of cuisine, wine suggestions, sides and
prices. At the touch of a button, Menus That Talk describes what's for
>>dinner.
>>    No habla ingles? No problem: Just press the language button for  >>
Spanish or another language. No more squinting in dim light or turning page
after
page of complex printed menus. No more awkward conferences with busy
>>waiters.
>>    Ready to order? A Service button pages your waiter. For the visually
disabled, the buttons are also imprinted in Braille. Guests who can't see
the
button names and don't use Braille can browse the menu simply by tapping
buttons to hear categories. Another tap brings up the details.
    In noisy restaurants or for the hearing-impaired, Menus That Talk
features a detachable hand-held earphone. The earphone also interfaces  with
Tele-coil
equipped hearing-aids.
>>    Menus That Talk(TM) serves the needs and comforts of all restaurant
patrons with its simple layout, ease of use and ability to deliver voice
anywhere
in the restaurant. Benefits for the restaurants include
>>streamlining menu selections, reducing server assistance time and bringing
the menu to a larger, appreciative audience.
>>    "Menus should be able to communicate without being a challenge," said
President and CEO Susan Perry. "We're making a restaurant's entire menu
available
to all its customers, and we're making it a pleasurable
>>experience."
>>    The idea originated in an Olive Garden restaurant where Ms. Perry was
having lunch with her niece Jessica, a pretty 24-year-old with advanced
macular
degeneration who cannot read a menu from any distance. Jessica asked her
aunt to please read the menu to her. Susan had forgotten to 
>>bring her reading glasses. They laughed about it, but Susan thought, "Why
shouldn't menus be able to talk?"
>>    Menus That Talk(TM) premieres to the public at the National Restaurant
Association show in Chicago, May 19-22, 2007.
>>    More: 
http://www.menusthattalk.com

-------------- next part --------------
>>PR Newswire
>>Wednesday, April 18, 2007
>>
>>Menus That Talk(TM) - Restaurant Menus Get Table Smarts
>>
>>Miami company introduces portable electronic menus that speak; uniquely  >>serves the special needs of the visually impaired, elderly and non-English 
speaking guests
>>
>>    MIAMI, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylannas Inc. announces the launch of an electronic restaurant menu system, Menus That Talk(TM), a portable, compact
device, approximately the size of a DVD case, that speaks to
>>restaurant guests, describing selected food items from the hand-held  >unit's illuminated buttons.   A lighted array of buttons displays major menu categories
like DRINKS,
>>APPETIZERS and SEAFOOD. Guests simply press a button corresponding to a category and hear brief descriptions of cuisine, wine suggestions, sides and
prices. At the touch of a button, Menus That Talk describes what's for
>>dinner.
>>    No habla ingles? No problem: Just press the language button for  >> Spanish or another language. No more squinting in dim light or turning page after
page of complex printed menus. No more awkward conferences with busy
>>waiters.
>>    Ready to order? A Service button pages your waiter. For the visually disabled, the buttons are also imprinted in Braille. Guests who can't see the
button names and don't use Braille can browse the menu simply by tapping buttons to hear categories. Another tap brings up the details.
    In noisy restaurants or for the hearing-impaired, Menus That Talk features a detachable hand-held earphone. The earphone also interfaces  with Tele-coil
equipped hearing-aids.
>>    Menus That Talk(TM) serves the needs and comforts of all restaurant patrons with its simple layout, ease of use and ability to deliver voice anywhere
in the restaurant. Benefits for the restaurants include
>>streamlining menu selections, reducing server assistance time and bringing the menu to a larger, appreciative audience.
>>    "Menus should be able to communicate without being a challenge," said President and CEO Susan Perry. "We're making a restaurant's entire menu available
to all its customers, and we're making it a pleasurable
>>experience."
>>    The idea originated in an Olive Garden restaurant where Ms. Perry was having lunch with her niece Jessica, a pretty 24-year-old with advanced macular
degeneration who cannot read a menu from any distance. Jessica asked her aunt to please read the menu to her. Susan had forgotten to
>>bring her reading glasses. They laughed about it, but Susan thought, "Why shouldn't menus be able to talk?"
>>    Menus That Talk(TM) premieres to the public at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago, May 19-22, 2007.
>>    More:
http://www.menusthattalk.com http://www.menusthattalk.com