Designing for the Life Span Segment 3
Designing for the Life Span Segment 3 
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[D]
The glossy surface on this touch sensitive control panel disappears from view when seen through the empathic lens, simulating the glare seen by the aging eye.
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One of the most problematic of all control and display surfaces is the flat panel with demarcations that are printed on the control surface. It is inexpensive technology to produce. No tactile cues remain to be identified through touch. The flat panel itself is very glossy and reflects room illumination. In the bottom photograph using the empathic lens, the surface is visually washed out and invisible to see and difficult to use.
Integrated circuitry and computer chips have expanded the functionality of appliances - even multiplying the functions for a single control. Increasing the number of functions and making them obscure through complicated manipulations of controls that cannot be committed to memory.
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