blinds

Driven by the oft-overlooked needs of the visually impaired, Selene Chew wanted to develop something that would improve their social lives. She came up with the concept of BlindSpot, which looks like a normal white cane, but integrates a mobile phone.

You could say the device--Chew's final-year industrial design thesis project at the National University of Singapore--is a smart cane.

Instead of a screen, users navigate the menu with a tactile navigator and listen to audio cues via a Bluetooth headset. Both the headset and phone can be charged wirelessly.

Like most of today's smartphones, BlindSpot has built-in Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS connectivity. … Read more

New Facebook interaction added to eBay, Siri has some quirky answers, and BlackBerry service is restored, but will there be compensation for down time?

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

You no longer have to buy the biggest and most expensive vehicle to get the most advanced safety features in the market. Thanks to higher-than-expected consumer interest, Ford has been introducing safety technologies on more vehicles, and plans to roll out these offerings across the product line in the future.

Typically the latest and greatest safety technologies, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and blind-spot-monitoring systems, are reserved for luxury brands or appear only on the biggest and most expensive vehicles a manufacturer produces. But to lower the cost for these options, Ford has been offering new safety technology on … Read more

I wish I could say otherwise, but I don't know many young audiophiles. I know they're out there and my "Poll: Are there any young audiophiles?" blog in February produced a surprisingly healthy response. That said, I'm curious about where the next generation of 'philes will come from. If you are an older audiophile, have you ever turned on a younger relative or friend's kid to great sound?

Positive Feedback's Steven Lefkowicz responded to my query this way, "I've had the best results using the other person's music. If they … Read more

For the first time, a device that gives the sightless a second chance to see has been approved in Europe.

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports that the FDA may do the same here soon.

Barbara Campbell lost her sight 20 years ago from retinal disease, but now her world is a lot brighter than it used to be. That's because 2 years ago, she was one of the first patients to get an artificial retina.

"My goal was to see colors and go the Grand Canyon," Campbell said.

With the new retinal-replacement device, Barbara … Read more

It looks like automakers will be required by law to add audible alerts to silent-running electric vehicles to keep sight-impaired pedestrians safe.

President Barack Obama this week signed into law the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (S. 841), which will protect the blind and other pedestrians from injury as a result of silent-vehicle technology, said the National Federation of the Blind.

The new bill, sponsored by Senator John Kerry, and 29 other co-sponsors, allows the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) begin crafting standards for an alert sound.

"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that this critical legislation … Read more

When Jeff Sparkman draws his comic book-style superheroes with colored pencils he often has to ask other people to tell him what color his masked men turned out to be because he's color-blind.

Now, a new smartphone app can help him figure out what colors he's using and how the picture looks to most everyone else.

The DanKam app, available for iPhone and Android for $2.99, is an augmented reality application that turns the vague hues that 1 percent of the population with color-blindness sees into the "true" colors as everyone else sees them.

"… Read more

I recently argued that everyone has a blind side. When people or organizations miss important threats or opportunities--ones that are perhaps obvious to you--it's easy to think badly of them, to assign blame. My goodness! Why ever could they not see that coming?! Idiots! But it's not simple to avoid being those idiots.

I've dealt with department managers with unimpressive budgets who truly "get it." And I've worked with international governments and captains of industry who wouldn't recognize a clue if it dressed up as Colonel Mustard and bludgeoned them with a lead pipe in the conservatory.

In my experience, truly incompetent individuals and outlandishly oafish organizations are the exception. What I usually find are intelligent, well-meaning folks who can't see what they're missing--not because they're stupid, lazy, or in any other meaningful way blameworthy--but because they're focused on other tasks and looking the other way.

Last week, I promised to share some techniques for dealing with the blind side. I wish I could say "Combine a pound of black beans, a quart of skepticism, three eggs, four product evaluations, and a dash of focus group feedback in a large mixing bowl; stir until creamy; pour into well-greased pan; and bake for an hour at 325 degrees." But it's not like that. Improving your perception and handling of things that are over the horizon, camouflaged, latent, or visible only in the "negative space" (i.e., what's missing rather than what's there)--those are skills to be learned, not recipes to be followed. Nevertheless, I've used these these techniques with excellent results:

Admit It, Move On People tend to be embarrassed by, thus defensive about, their blind spots, weaknesses, ulterior motives, errors, and failures. Ego drives us to pretend they don't exist. But when you're pretending something isn't a problem, it's hard to do much about it. So get over it. Accept that you have significant weaknesses, fears, and other assorted ugly bits--that there's an often large gap between where/what you are and where/what you want to be. Getting over shame and blame and getting your ego out of the way lets you get on with the real work. If it's not your ego in the way, help whoever's ego is in the way to get out of it.… Read more

I spend a fair bit of my working life meeting with people, listening to their plans for their next product, project, strategy, initiative, or campaign. My job? Review, evaluate, and give feedback. It's great when I can confirm they've got things right. Check! Good! Yep! Oh, yeah, I like that! I help confirm and build confidence in the plan.

It's a good thing I have the opportunity to be positive, because the larger and more important part of the job is decidedly less affirming: figuring out where they've gone wrong. What's missing? What's vague … Read more