"One of the more interesting places to seek inspiration is from the disabled, because of what we can learn about the ways they must compensate for the challenges life has provided."

One of the better places to look for new product inspiration is from the disabled because it enriches everyone and allows human potential to flourish.

Like many of you, I am always searching for new sources of inspiration — for ways of looking at things that will spark the creative juices.

It's really the way most of us try to enhance serendipity, when you find something that makes you think “Aha! That was so obvious, why didn't someone (I) think of it.”

You try to figure out what path the innovation took, and what set of conditions were in place to create that inspiration. One of the more interesting places to seek inspiration is from the disabled, because of what we can learn about the ways they must compensate for the challenges life has provided.

There are at least three reasons to look at disability as a source of inspiration. First, we are all destined to fit into that category eventually, and as we age, the line between the technically disabled and the “aged” is not so distinct.

One of my disabled friends tells me the handicapped call the rest of us TAB (Temporarily Able Bodied). Obviously, age is a great equalizer between us TABs and the disabled. At sixty, I can no longer read fine print, have trouble with dim lighting, hobble up flights of stairs, cannot hear conversations in a crowd of people and am generally grumpy — okay that’s an attitude not necessarily associated with disability.

Am I disabled? Perhaps not legally, but my life is challenged by the common adversities of growing older. As such, I'm ripe pickings for products that will ease my slide in to the adaptive living of old age, thus for new product inspiration.

Second, it seems obvious that most of us will find ourselves injured prior to old age, thus de facto disabled. In fact, statistics suggest that at any one time 10 percent of Americans are, in fact, disabled.

Using the current population, that amounts to roughly 30,000,000 people in the U.S. — a pretty staggering number, and thinking creatively and entrepreneurially, a target-rich market to go after.

The final and best reason to look at such a market is, frankly, good karma. Every product that minimizes the impact of disability brings the disabled to par with the non-disabled. That levels the field, enriches everyone, and allows human potential to flourish. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do.

So What set me on this warpath? It was an iPod at a booth manned by the American Federation for the Blind (AFB). Strictly speaking, it was a fourth generation iPod with speaking menus.

What a thought! Instead of looking at the pathetically tiny, insulting screen that only a twenty- or thirtysomething can read, those of us who are visually challenged can simply scroll down the menu, have the song announced, and make our choice with the touch of a button. How simple, how obvious! 

So, why did it take four generations and the constant, gentle cajoling of the AFB and others to accomplish a clearly market magnifying feat? Go figure. I suspect it is the insensitivity of youth, and our incessant drive for intoxication beverages and mating that keep us from focusing on the obvious fact that others suffer and we will all, inevitably, age. 

Now that we have pulled our heads out and started looking around, a whole new world appears in front of our dimming eyes. What else combines accessibility for the disabled and product success? Once you start looking, the examples are endless. A quick list might include closed captioning on TVs, flat panel light switches, control dials that can be discriminate by touch, lever handles for doors and an emphasis on task lighting appropriate for old eyes, to name just a few.

In fact, the Universal Design movement is well established and a number of ubiquitous products have shown us how something designed to make life easy for one group might have appeal for everyone.

One of my personal favorites has always been OXO International’s “Good Grips” line of kitchen gadgets which have essentially redefined that entire space. These ergonomically designed, hand friendly tools making opening cans, grating cheese and stirring pots accessible to almost anyone regardless of hand strength or dexterity. A product line designed for the disabled or arthritic hand is something that most of us, especially as we age, will use and love. And by the way, it seems to have been a pretty profitable idea.  

What about the future? When will the talking Kindle show up at restaurants? When will we see exercise machines that help the partially handicapped maintain some semblance of fitness? Toto in Japan makes an automatic toilet that sprays, washes and dries one’s bum. I don’t need one yet, but I am sure there are thousands of caregivers for the temporally injured and the permanently disabled who can’t wait for that one to come down in price.

We're already beginning to see smart cars with sensors to assure we aren’t dozing off while driving, cars that stay in lanes and brake for the vehicle in front – called adaptive cruise control. Our cars can park themselves and warn us when we're backing up. We have GPS to replace maps and convenience store clerk's directions, and maybe someday our cars will bring the wandering Alzheimer patient back home, or control your kid's speeding or drug use.

Today, the so called smart house is all about home theatres for the overly indulgent, but hopefully the future smart house will be one that is smart enough to help the disabled live independently, a house that responds with intelligence and action, morphing to our needs with a simple gesture or command.

Years ago, when I was teaching in the architecture school at the University of Texas, one of my students, the science fiction visionary, Bruce Sterling, wrote a short story for his term paper about such a house; a house that modified and accommodated itself, that became friend, companion and caregiver. That’s the kind of house I want, sooner rather than later by the way, now that I am aware that I am not immortal.

It seems pretty clear that as technology proceeds and we, the technical literati of this planet, provide the mechanism for the disabled, regardless of age, to fully function in the environment of their choosing, we all become part of their success. This is where my inspiration lies, in creating products designed to better our existence by solving their problems. I'm not sure we all signed up for that in Engineering 101, but who better to understand those needs, who better to solve them. All we need is a little inspiration.

Mike Rainone, the co-founder of PCDworks, a technology development firm specializing in breakthrough product innovation. You can contact him via mrain1@pcdworks.com or by visiting www.pcdworks.com.