The apartment seems like any other model home at first. Then you hear the microwave and the bathroom scale talk.The new apartment, built inside the American Foundation for the Blind, Dallas, (U.S.), offices is filled with gadgets and design features to help visually impaired people live as independently as possible.

The model home includes a living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom, closet and bathroom. It offers ideas on how to make daily life more manageable for visually impaired people.

Lights are placed inside kitchen cabinets to make the contents more visible, a knife is affixed to a cutting board for safety, a device tells you when a cup is filled to capacity etc.

"It's about giving people new ways to do very familiar tasks," said Kelly Parisi, vice president of communications for the American Foundation for the Blind, which operates the model.

Dallas resident McCarty Dowell was impressed after a recent tour of the center. Dowell said. "Anyone who's limited in their vision should come first thing." His left eye is affected due to glaucoma.

Offerings range from the simple - placing a light directly over a notepad - to the high-tech - a device that tells you what colour clothing you are wearing.

The foundation doesn't sell the various gadgets, but lets visitors know where to purchase them.

The model home, which has already had hundreds of visitors since opening for tours, had a grand opening on October 27,2006.