Washington: A South Korean startup has developed an affordable Braille smartwatch which allows the visually impaired to receive and read text messages in real time and even read e-books.<\/p>\n
The wearable, named Dot, relays the time with a set of pins that rise and fall. Users will be able to receive and read text messages in real time, read e-books and even learn Braille.<\/p>\n
When it comes to watches for the visually impaired, there are not many devices that use real-time Braille text and the ones that do typically cost thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
Dot, its creators claim, is the first affordable smartwatch for the visually challenged that uses haptic technology.<\/p>\n
Twenty four active pins on its surface, spread across four cells, allow it to display four Braille characters at a time. The smartwatch lets users read information in real-time by linking to any of their Bluetooth-enabled devices.<\/p>\n
For instance, when a user receives a text message on their mobile phone, an app translates it into Braille and sends it to the smartwatch via Bluetooth, ‘Gizmag’ reported.<\/p>\n
Dot’s internal vibrator motor alerts the user to the message or notification and the display automatically shifts from telling time to displaying the notification.<\/p>\n
Pins corresponding to the pattern protrude from Dot’s surface, allowing users to read the information with their fingertips. Their reading speed is customisable.<\/p>\n
“You can adjust the speed of the Braille output through the dials on the side of the watch,” said Daniel Koh, Head of Media Relations at Fingerson.<\/p>\n
“With four cells, there’s a limit to the number of words being displayed at a time. However, unlike modern refreshable braille displays, which read one line at a time, the ‘active braille display’ is utilised to make braille automatically pass by in the user’s hand as if it were an escalator,” Koh said.<\/p>\n
Since reading long paragraphs on a four-cell Braille device might get tedious, the company plans to create a Braille Pad next that is more suited to reading e-books.<\/p>\n
The company plans to launch the device in the US initially for a price below USD 300.<\/p>\n