Designers spec new pill bottle

An increasing number of prescriptions and a decreasing field of vision can be a problematic mix for aging consumers. Two students from University of Cincinnati are trying to provide a bit of balance with their design of an aftermarket pill bottle.

The bottles, which are under review for a patent and might be available to consumers soon, contain various features to help people who have trouble with their vision. Those features include a hinged lid to prevent consumers from losing the lid, a rectangular body that’s difficult to tip over, textured lids to help consumers to differentiate between the bottles, and a possible audio feature on the lid that tells consumers what’s in the bottle.

Audio that’s activated by a button on the bottle, however, creates a pricing quandary. Alex Broerman, who is one of the designers, tells us that he doesn’t know how to secure the feature inexpensively, and at press time, he said the audio component might be dropped.

Pricing on the bottles wasn’t determined as of press time. Broerman says he wants to keep a set of eight bottles at less than $40, because many people can use pennywise solutions to differentiate bottles, like placing rubber bands around specific bottles.