[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

Sat Jan 12 19:00:05 CST 2008

Where can one find a link to find this, what will they come up with next.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

> Mike,
>    That's a pretty crappy idea! (smile)
> Marion
>
> ----- 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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