Need a Special Gift for a Special Person? UB Developed Products Make Life (and Giving) Easier

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Is there someone on your gift list who could use a little help opening the jar of candied cherries for the holiday fruitcake?

Or needs to raise the thermostat without getting up from the recliner?

Maybe there is a child on your list who likes to color but could use a little practice staying inside those pesky lines?

If the answer is "Yes," University at Buffalo's Center for Assistive Technology can make shopping as easy as "Ho Ho Ho."

The Center's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Transfer (T2RERC) takes existing technologies and transforms them into new marketable assistive technology products that make life easier for people old, young, and in between.

"These products are aimed at improving the everyday quality of life of individuals," said Jim Leahy, co-principal investigator and director of development for the T2RERC, "and make wonderful gifts for loved ones during this holiday season."

Here are some of the products developed with the help of UB, and the Web sites where they can be ordered:

• Lids Off Jar Opener http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/product-210.html

• Line Butler -- reconnects an off-the-hook telephone http://www.dynamic-living.com/product/line-butler/

• Kelvin -- voice activated thermostat http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=756990

• White Rodgers touch screen thermostat http://www.white-rodgers.com/wrdhom/common/ptech/thermo/thermo_03.htm

• Surfboard -- voice controlled remote control http://www.dynamic-living.com/product/surfboard-voice-activated-remote/

• Coinulator -- for children learning to count money http://www.pcieducation.com/store/item.aspx?itemid=41484&?TypeId=25#bottomTabs

• StrongArm Cane -- a unique one-piece handle featuring an integral forearm brace. http://www.strongarmmobility.com/

• BumpaColor -- raised line coloring book http://www.tactilevisioninc.com/books_coloring.php

• Kodak EasyShare Printer http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=9387&pq-locale=en_US

And keep an eye out in 2009 for Automated Pill Crusher from Pill Crusher Ventures, LLC and a product from Tupperware, says UB's Leahy. For a full list of products developed by UB to make life easier, go to http://t2rerc.buffalo.edu/products/index.htm

People with disabilities rely on assistive technology devices and services to sustain, regain or increase their functional capabilities. About 13 million people with disabilities report using assistive devices to provide functional capabilities needed to participate in major life activities. Advances in assistive devices rely on advances in the underlying technologies, and the transformation of those advances into new assistive technology products.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.