[Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!
Kirk Harmon
kvh54 at cfl.rr.com
Sun Jan 13 08:07:49 CST 2008
Well Mike, it doesn't take 15 minutes to smoke a joint or pop a pill, or for
that matter anything else that you were referring to! LOL!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 5:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] technological toilet, this is for real!
>I suspect the time limit is to prevent illicit activity such as "public"
> sexual encounters or drug activity. As I say, it may not be as idiotic
> as one might think -- just inordinately expensive and convoluted.
>
> Mike
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jennifer Aberdeen
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 12:57 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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>
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