I’m looking into it. I have a Whirlpool washer and an Amana dryer. Both of
them have so many cycles and if you move the knob ever so slightly you’re in
another cycle. So, I would pay the $99 if it will work with my machines.
Whirlpool no longer provides braille overlays, which is one thing I was
counting on when I bought the washer. It’s not digital though, so that’s a
plus for me anyway. If this doesn’t work, I guess I’ll just braille the cycles
I use most often and hope I get it right when I do the laundry.
Vickie Rolison
From: fred wurtzel
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2017 6:26 PM
To: msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [msb-alumni] GE's $99 'Talking Laundry' box was built for the blind
Engadget - Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 8:05 PM
GE's $99 'Talking Laundry' box was built for the blind
Scott Olson via Getty Images
Doing laundry might be dead simple for most people, but the visually impaired
don't have it so easy. To make that easier, GE Appliance's skunkworks division
FirstBuild -- along with the help of a 14 year-old -- has designed a system
called Talking Laundry. With a name like that, the invention is pretty
self-explanatory: it's a metal box (below) that audibly tells you how much time
is left in a given wash cycle, and simplifies controls to one knob each for a
washer and dryer.
Using a board computer and FirstBuild's Green Bean tools that convert code to
machine language, teenage Jack DuPlessis (his dad works for GE and gave him the
task) put a prototype together in the span of a weekend. Talking Laundry can
even be retrofitted onto existing laundry machines; its sales page states that
the module will connect to "most" current and all future laundry units.
Maybe best of all, these are available to buy right now and they won't break
the bank. One unit will control both a washer and a dryer and will only set you
back $99 -- a far cry from that $16,000 voice-controlled laundry folder.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/20/ges-99-talking-laundry-box-was-built-for-the-blind/
Fred Wurtzel
Blind Scientists Live the Lives We Want