[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

Sat Jan 12 13:53:09 CST 2008

Their you go Mike! LOL! Kirke
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!


> We could insist that the buttons have a "Describer Mode" and that we get
> verbal verification of all functions. We could have the winner of a
> Survival season do the verbals! <smirk>
>
> Mike
>
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: GMail
>  To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
>  Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 6:50 AM
>  Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!
>
>
>  I imagine that we could use this ridiculous contraption. I mean, who's
> going
>  to be in the bathroom for fifteen minutes, and someone could tell us
> about
>  which button is which beforehand, but this is just astounding on what
> some
>  people will design.
>  David
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
>  To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet Blind-Talk Mailing List"
>  <BlindTlk at nfbnet.org>; <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
>  Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 10:38 AM
>  Subject: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!
>
>
>  Okay, just another device that's going to be user unfriendly to the
> blind.
>
>  Sherri
>  Subject: Technology?
>
>  FACILITIES REVIEW. Greetings, Earthlings.
>  Your New Restroom Is Ready.. NY Times Metropolitan Desk2008-01-11
>  By MICHAEL WILSON. When New York City's open-armed embrace
>  of tourists finally extends beyond the boundaries of Earth to
> creatures from
>  outer
>  space, these visitors will find themselves right at home in Madison
> Square
>  Park's
>  sleek, shiny new public toilet.
>  Indeed, the toilet calls to mind not a port-o-let, but rather the sort
> of
>  room one
>  imagines adjoined the personal quarters of Capt. James T. Kirk on the
>  Starship Enterprise.
>  It is a 25-cent journey to the future -- and, almost secondarily, a
> not
>  unpleasant
>  restroom.
>  The restroom was unveiled on Thursday, the first of 20 planned for the
> city
>  after
>  more than 30 years of false starts and frustrations. It faces Madison
> Avenue
>  just
>  north of 23rd Street, and at first glance looks like a bus stop
> shelter.
>  There are two architectural flourishes, both on the roof: a small
> pyramid of
>  glass,
>  like a little model of the Louvre, and an anachronistic metal
> stovepipe,
>  reminiscent
>  of a cozy shanty or an old outhouse with a crescent moon carved into
> the
>  door.
>  But no one goes to a bathroom to look at it. When the green light
> marked
>  'vacant'
>  is lit, 25 cents -- coins only, no bills -- starts the visit.
>  What follows is possibly the longest and most awkward 20 to 30 seconds
> of a
>  person's
>  day. The door slips open like an elevator, but then it stays open, to
>  accomm    odate
>  those who need extra time getting in. Meanwhile, men and women in
> suits walk
>  past.
>  It is very difficult to look inconspicuous in a bathroom on a sidewalk
> in
>  New York
>  with the door open. There is just nothing to do but stand there. And
> the
>  delay will
>  not please those who are in distress.
>  Finally, the door closes, and the first surprise is the quiet. The
> walls are
>  padded
>  to dampen street noise, leaving just the hum of a little fan overhead.
>  Six little lights and the skylight in the pyramid cast a neutral glow
> over
>  the user's
>  home for the next 15 minutes, the maximum time limit.
>  This toilet, which cost more than $100,000, is very spacious, large
> enough
>  to accommodate
>  a wheelchair. One cannot touch the side walls with arms outstretched.
>  The floor is rubber and, more strikingly, very wet, but not in a
>  bus-station-men's-room
>  way. There is an antiseptic, fresh smell to the place.
>  Sadly, these little surprises are forgotten with the first look at the
>  toilet itself,
>  an imposing, metal, cold-looking receptacle in the corner. There is no
>  little stall
>  around it, and so it looks exposed, like the facilities available in
> many
>  prisons.
>  It, too, is quite damp, for perfectly good reasons explained later,
> but the
>  image
>  first evokes a dungeon or a scene from one of the 'Saw' pictures.
>  There is no seat to raise or lower, just the wide rim of the bowl,
> with
>  covers made
>  of tissue available in a dispenser to the side. Sitting down is a leap
> of
>  faith,
>  like falling backwards into a stranger's arms at a corporate
> team-building
>  retreat.
>  Turns out, it is cold. But once settled, the visitor finds the seat
> the
>  perfect place
>  to take in the room's other amenities.
>  There seem to be as many buttons as on Captain Kirk's bridge. Red
> buttons,
>  blue buttons,
>  yellow buttons, black and green buttons. The red ones near the door
> and
>  toilet call
>  the company for help in an emergency. The yellow calls for
> 'assistance,'
>  presumably
>  something less dire than an emergency, but nonetheless, a situation.
> Blue
>  flushes.
>  Black dispenses toilet paper. One will quickly familiarize oneself
> with that
>  button,
>  because the designers have deigned a little 16-inch strip the standard
>  helping of
>  paper. A word to the wise: There is a maximum of just three helpings.
>  Another tip:
>  Do not tarry. A grim yellow light turns on when there are just three
> minutes
>  remaining,
>  and after that, the door will open.
>  The sink is across the room. The big shocker here is the soap
> dispenser,
>  which actually
>  emits not a little squirt of soap, but a jet of warm water, with the
> soap
>  already
>  mixed in. Everything is motion-activated. No knobs anywhere. The
> warm-air
>  hand dryer
>  seems somewhat slow and weak, especially with that yellow light
> blinking by
>  the door.
>  Assuming one finishes before the 15 minutes are up, the big green
> button
>  opens the
>  door. The horns and sirens and chatter of the city return, jarringly.
>  When the visitor steps out, the door shuts again, but the 'occupied'
> light
>  stays
>  lit. Strange hisses and spraying sounds come from within -- did
> someone slip
>  past?
>  No, actually, the room is cleaning itself. A robotic arm swings out
> over the
>  toilet
>  bowl and hits it with disinfectant, while similar jets spray across
> the sink
>  and
>  the floor. Then, dryers fan hot air over everything, but like the hand
>  dryer, they
>  seem to need more juice.
>  This is all taken at the designer's word, for it is impossible to see.
> The
>  cleanup
>  cannot happen with someone in the room, with sensors below the floor
> to
>  detect any
>  weight.
>  After 90 seconds of cleaning, the green light outside comes back on.
> Next?
>  . PHOTO: Three officials, Janette Sadik-Khan, Adrian Benepe, center,
> and
>  Daniel L.
>  Doctoroff, consider the city's new toilet. There's no seat to raise,
> just
>  the bowl's
>  wide rim, with covers of tissues to use. (PHOTOGRAPH BY G. PAUL
> BURNETT/THE
>  NEW YORK
>  TIMES) .
>  Sherri
>
>  sbrun at cfl.rr.com
>
>  TO DONATE YOUR USED CELL PHONE AND CHANGE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLIND IN
>  CENTRAL FLORIDA go to:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Whether we succeed or fail in what we do is not the essential thing.
>
>  What is important is the heart with which we live our lives.
>
>
>
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>
>
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