Eyes are one of the indispensable organs of the human body. “Seeing is believing” is often said. Obviously, when we get a sight, words are just superfluous. And there are nearly 300 million people who are enduring the misfortune of having no visibility. In addition, those misfortunate are barely feeling the sensation of tech advancements. However, the Korean startup company Dot has stepped ahead to reduce the technological gap between the visually abled and disabled ones. They are on the verge of releasing Braille smartwatches for visually impaired ones, which will be first of its kind.
Since 2014, Dot has been buzzing about the smartwatches for visually impaired ones and had also aptly named it Dot smartwatch. However, their endeavor did not turn fruitful soon as expected. After the continuous toil for more than three years, their concept got shape flagged with the tag of ‘pioneer’. There are devices, which are made for the visually impaired people to ease their suffering. However, most of such devices turned out to be heavy and mostly expensive. And such products were limited to very few number of people because of its complexity in the use. Dot though came up through the brainstorming of making watches with the display in the Braille font.
The smartwatch boasts sleek design and a white visage inheriting four cells of six tiny moving components. The four cells of six tiny moving components (braille bumps) acts analogous to the seven-segment display on the digital dials and convey messages to the user. In addition to notifying time, this device conveys the user with messages and other notifications from the phone. These devices are paired to the phone via Bluetooth and hence communication works through it. Through this smartwatch, the user will be benefitted to know about the caller, to read and communicate through the text messages and also in the navigation. Two accessible side buttons are provided in the smartwatch, which can be used to send simple commands, replies, and actions. And the accelerometer and gyroscope sensor inbuilt in the device helps in the navigation. The device also sports a battery, which provides backup for a week.
According to the manufacturers, this new device will be commercially available from March onwards in the price tag of $230. The device is presumed to take the market pretty well as it has received celebrity endorsement from Stevie Wonder.
