Design and construct a meat thermometer to support independent living of visually impaired people

Independent Living is a basic right for all humans. Cooking for oneself is a huge obstacle in the daily life of the visually impaired, according to the results of a preliminary phone interview and an individual interview with 6 visually impaired participants. The objective of this project is to design and create a meat thermometer as an assistive device for the visually impaired. We created an online questionnaire (Google Form) to collect information about the cooking experience, design, and features of the meat cooking assistive device from 21 visually impaired participants for use in designing the equipment. The overall opinion on the features of the equipment was portability, ease of cleaning and usage, and the alert sound or vibration when the meat is cooked. The assistance equipment is modified from the sound digital thermometer. We measured the temperature of well-cooked meat and collected data regarding the temperatures of various meats suitable for eating. The data are used in programming the temperature measurement of the thermometer by Arduino 1.8.13. The prototype device is created with the electrical circuit to be used and formed with a 3D printer. Evaluated user satisfaction with the prototype device showed a good level or high acceptance.    

Keywords: cooking / visually impaired / meat thermometer