Gerry Baze remembers the day he flopped on his couch and popped what he thought was a blood pressure pill. A few minutes after chasing it with a gulp of water, he told his wife, Maudie that he felt sleepy.

The blind couples now joke about the incident. “Now we know that this will never happen again,” said Maudie. “Now we are safe.”

Safety for Gerry and Maudie came in the form of ‘Rex’, a talking prescription bottle with a speaker that lets a pharmacist record the name of the drug, its purpose, when to take it and how much to take.

The impetus behind Rex’s creation was a discussion between the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (V.A.) pharmacist and a V.A. Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator. The coordinator recognised the need for a device to assist seeing-impaired individuals.

“We like the simplicity of this talking pill bottle system,” said Bob Dickinson, a supervisory Pharmacist. “It’s more foolproof than other alternatives. It requires less equipment and technical knowledge on the patient’s part.”

The white base at the bottom of the bottle makes this package unique. It houses the electronic components that enable Rex to talk. The base is carefully positioned so that the ridge that extends down the bottle’s entire length aligns with an identical ridge on the base. The button used by patients to make Rex talk extends from the base. The ridge itself is significant as it makes it easier for blind patients to use their fingers to locate the button.

It serves not only the sight-impaired people, but also those people who can't read or who suffer mild cognitive impairment. The device can be programmed in other languages apart from English.

Rex was originally developed by MedivoxRx Technologies (U.S.). MedivoxRx is now a division of Wizzard Software Corporation.