[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

Sat Jan 12 14:58:35 CST 2008

Someone with more than one disability might take more than fifteen minutes, 
depending on what their disabilities are.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GMail" <davidb521 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 9:50 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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