Talking Meds

If you were to open your medicine cabinet and hear voices, you might think you're pretty sick. But talking medicine bottles aren't far off.

IVoice, a developer of speech-recognition technology, has a patent pending for a methodology that wirelessly loads over-the-counter medicine containers with spoken instructions. Containers with the technology would be embedded with computer chips. Consumers would press a button on the package to hear information such as dosing and side effects. The talking containers, most beneficial for the elderly or people with impaired vision, could hit store shelves by the end of next year.