[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!

Sun Jan 13 08:03:29 CST 2008

Well, I'm glad that you can, but what about the elderly and others that 
might have a harder  and slower time moving their bowels?
b
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GMail" <davidb521 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 3:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!


> 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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