idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
The blind and visually handicapped have difficulty operating household appliances. This is not the case with the talking washing machine: It is linked to the Internet via a PC and has its own home page. A voice informs the user of the status of the appliance.
What sounds like a gadget for technology freaks is in fact an useful development. It allows the blind and visually handicapped to operate household appliances. Many appliances, for aesthetic or cost reasons, are designed in such a way that it is difficult or even impossible to determine the position of the switches, and thus their function, by the sense of touch. And there are very few appliances equipped with markings in Braille, the system of writing for the blind - because it is expensive to do so. In a collaborative venture with IBM Forum HandicapCenter and Miele, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg have found a solution: an Internet-capable washing machine with its own home page, that reports its status through a home-page reader.
"As part of an intelligent home system currently being built, we have produced concepts for the remote interrogation and maintenance of household appliances, in which all components are interlinked and grouped on a common communications platform", reports Dr Viktor Grinewitschus of the IMS. An in-house information network is connected to external data networks - the Internet in most cases - and can be controlled via a personal computer. The collaborative venture with IBM and Miele has investigated ways in which this type of access can be utilized to help visually handicapped persons to operate household appliances. IBM supplied the PC and software, and the IMS developed appropriate interface technology that enables household appliances to be equipped with their own home page. The IBM Self Voicing Kit provides the voice for the appliance, in this case a washing machine. When the washing machine's home page is accessed, a voice reads out the text of that page. The user thus hears what is displayed on the screen. Operating the switches and dials on the washing machine, he or she receives spoken confirmation of the status of the appliance. Once all the necessary settings have been made in this way, the washing machine automatically starts the wash cycle. At this point in the project, voice is used only for the output; the researchers are now working on voice input for control of the appliance. To enable these new features to work, the Miele washing machine has been equipped with additional electronic circuits. The necessary hardware and software are based on a multi-purpose, multi-functional module, and interface cards developed at the IMS. The module contains an HTTP server on which the graphic and acoustic representation of the user interface is stored in the form of Java applets. The technology may be complex, but it certainly makes life easier.
For further information:
Dr.-Ing. Viktor Grinewitschus
Phone: +49 2 03/37 83-2 25
Fax: +49 2 03/37 83-2 77
E-Mail: grinewit@ims.fhg.de
Fraunhofer-Institut fuer
Mikroelektronische Schaltungen und Systeme IMS
Finkenstrasse 61
D-47057 Duisburg
Press contact:
Dr. Andreas Hoech
Phone: +49 2 03/37 83-1 63
Fax: +49 2 03/37 83-2 79
E-Mail: hoech@ims.fhg.de
www.ims.fhg.de
Criteria of this press release:
Economics / business administration, Electrical engineering, Energy, Information technology, Mechanical engineering, Social studies
transregional, national
Research projects, Research results
German
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