Dot Smartwatch For The Visually Impaired Introduced
We all know these days wearables are being launched by many players in the market. The motive is to make life simpler. And we all heard about Apple Watch, Samsung Gear, and many others, but none of them is for blind across the world. Yes, nothing for the visually impaired. But, wait, a smartwatch just introduced for the visually impaired. In our Adorable Eyes section today we will know the features of Dot Smartwatch, the first braille smartwatch for the blind.
A group of students at the University of Washington saw a fellow classmate finding it difficult to use big heavy Braille books for studying.Only this idea was needed to interact the blind with technology. The students developed a wearable, yes, a Dot smartwatch for the visually impaired.
Image Source: fingerson.strikingly.com
Dot Smartwatch Features & Specifications
Here are the features,
- Users can read incoming text messages and even tweets.
- Read e-books (but 4 characters at a time 🙁 )
- Designed to pair with a Bluetooth enabled phone.
- Supports both Android and iOS.
- First of its kind Braille smartwatch.
- Based on haptic technology.
Here are the specifications,
- Braille cell : 4 active dynamic braille cells
- Touch Sensor
- Battery : Li-polymer 400mAh
- Bluetooth LE 4.1
The device is based on haptic technology, yes that provides feedback or information in real time through touch. By linking to any Bluetooth device, the smartwatch can pull text from applications like iMessage using voice commands. It will allow blind to read real-time smartphone content.
Co-founder and CEO Eric Ju Yoon Kim stated the following to Tech in Asia,
The Dot gives users the chance to read text their own way.
“Until now, if you got a message on iOS from your girlfriend, for example, you had to listen to Siri read it to you in that voice, which is impersonal,” Kim explains. “Wouldn’t you rather read it yourself and hear your girlfriend’s voice saying it in your head?”
The Dot smartwatch goes on sale in the United States this December, it will retail for less than US$300.
For more information, visit the official website.
