[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

Sat Jan 12 14:12:13 CST 2008

Fifteen minutes is quite enough for anyone. I can be in and out in about 1 
or 2 minutes.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jennifer Aberdeen" <freespirit328 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!


> What if you're blind and for whatever reason, you take more than fifteen
> minutes? The door just opens for everyone to see! What idiocy!
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jamie Rhoads" <jrhoads284 at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 10:48 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!
>
>
>> OH...my....goodness......not only does it sound inaccessible, but creepy.
>> I
>> cannot even believe people put that much work into designing a toylet....
>>
>> Jamie
>> ----- 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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