THE NEW RULE

People with poor eye sight can't use rulers easily. For them to read the small markings, they probably need to add a magnifying glass and also try to balance a pencil and a ruler at the same time. If you were one of them, you'd see how inconvenient and tricky it is to just use a ruler.

This everyday problem has been solved by the NEW RULE designed by Product Tank. New Rule is a measuring tool that assists people with poor eyesight to see markings as small as centimeters and millimeters. It is a combination of ruler and calipers.

Firstly, to make the markings and numbers easily visible, the New Rule has a high contrasting black and white scale with large font size. Secondly, to make it even easier for user to read the millimeter scale, it is designed to have a white slide that shows each millimeter measurement as the slider slides along the ruler. The slider makes a clicking sound when moving against the toothed track. Each click means the slider passes over a tooth, hence a millimeter. It gives the user an audible feedback.

Lastly, the top edge of the New Rule can be folded over to the back to turn itself into a caliper. This assists user to take accurate measurements of object quickly and easily. It allows a much smoother and quicker work flow. For example, when you are using the New Rule as a caliper to take measurement of a side of a cube, you can easily draw the dimension line on paper by turning it back to a ruler with the pointers of the slider in the same position.

I think this design is so well thought. It is not only useful for visually impaired people, but it is also a helpful tool for people who draws and takes measurements.