Tech companies have struggled to provide much needed accessibility to people who are visually impaired for quite some time, but the team behind the Dot hopes to change that. The Dot is the world’s first active braille smartwatch, and the idea is to bring users an affordable way for them to read things like messages, tweets, and e-books straight from their wrist.
Saving Braille
Many recent studies show that there is a worrisome decline in braille literacy among people who are visually impaired. In 2012, NPR reported that many braille readers were turning more and more to their smartphones to provide them with information, and were beginning to forget how to read braille altogether.
The team of South Korean engineers understands that relying on technology like Siri to read text data can be inefficient and sometimes inaccurate. According to the team of engineers, only one percent of books are even translated into braille, and the cost of braille e-readers is so outrageous that reading can often times be an incredible hassle. So, they’re setting out to provide users with a product that will not only encourage users to read braille, but also help them learn to read it.
How it Works
The technology behind the Dot is actually quite brilliant. It collects text data from the user’s smartphone and translates the data into braille. On the face of the device are four groups of six dots which react to a series of magnets to create braille letters.
Technology exists like this in other formats, but having a device so portable makes the Dot incredibly unique. Currently, the developers are trying to hit a price point somewhere under $300 for the device, which is about on par with how much most smartwatches cost anyway. Considering $300 is much cheaper than the reported $2000 of most braille e-book readers, many people might find this to be a pretty attractive price.
Facing Criticism
Despite the device still being in development, the watch has already received some criticism in regards to how many braille letters the smartwatch can display at any given time. In a lengthy comment in the original article, Eric Ju Yoon Kim, CEO of dot incorporation, mentioned that the braille cells will actually act as an “escalator” as the data is translated for the user.
Currently, the dot Team hasn’t mentioned when exactly this might hit shores here in the US, but users can visit the start-up’s page in order to sign up for updates.
