Medicine Bottles for the Blind Designed

A prototype prescription-medicine pill bottle for the blind and the visually impaired makes identification and use of pill bottles more straightforward and affordable.

Alex Broerman and Ashley Ma, design students at the University of Cincinnati (OH, USA) designed the “Inclusive Bottles for the Blind” after carrying out a survey of existing products and consulting with end-users who identified a number of limitations with available pill bottles. The resulting design is low-tech, simple, and inexpensive, especially compared to currently available options for the visually impaired when it comes to solutions for distinguishing different medication.

Key features of the design include a hinged lid that flips open, as lost caps are a problem for the visually impaired. The container itself is small and rectangular, allowing the user to easily reach in and pick out a pill or two without the need to pour out a larger supply into the palm for subsequent selection of the required dosage. In addition, the “stout” design prevents the bottle from tipping over and spilling the medication. Eight distinct textures are available on the lid, each texture corresponding with a different medication. Importantly, the distinct textures are not Braille, as only 10% of the blind and visually impaired can read Braille.

The lid can also sport a dramatic, deep color, since many visually impaired individuals do actually have limited sight, at least enough so that they can make out a strong color when it placed close to the eye. The colors are corresponding to the distinct textures. Additionally, an audio button on the lid could be pressed for an audio statement on the medicinal contents.

“There are a lot of great technology-based solutions on the market already, but those are out of reach for users who can't afford the time or money to learn these systems,” said codeveloper Alex Broerman. “We interviewed a number of blind and visually impaired users of medications, and the cost for an option like the RFID device is out of reach for many of them. In fact, many of those we interviewed had to develop their own custom solutions – like rubber bands around a specific bottle – to meet their needs to differentiate medications.”

“It was powerful to hear the stories of those we interviewed in the early stages of the design process,” added design partner Ashley Ma. “These consumers, many of them elderly, are paying hundreds of dollars more than their sighted counterparts in order to aurally differentiate their medications. So the challenge becomes to create the best solution for the most number of people at the lowest cost, and we're pretty confident that we've achieved something like that with this project.”

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University of Cincinnati