Dot, a South Korean based innovation firm has come up with the world's first Braille smartwatch aimed to cater to those who are visually impaired. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) almost 285 million people worldwide are estimated to be visually impaired who find it an uphill task to tell the time with touch.
Previous rudimentary attempts of a digital watch for the visually impaired used to make use of audio and the user could press a button to let the watch tell the time. The problem with this feature was it also drew unwanted attention towards its users. The Dot Smartwatch makes use of Braille to tell the time to the users who are visually challenged. The front of the watch sports six tiny moving components which are surfaced out providing feedback to the user. Each of the four cells form a character and four characters can be displayed at a time.
The device can be connected to any Smartphone via Bluetooth and once connected the watch will be able to display the textual information in a similar method that it uses to let the users "feel" the time. There are two side buttons and a crown button that can be used by the user to send simple commands to the watch enabling them to reply to the information received and execute certain actions.
Using this smart watch the visually challenged will be able to accept calls and make quick replies. The watch will also inform them the identity of the incoming caller and also help in navigation by letting its user know the route to a specific place, as shown on Google Maps.
Eric Ju Yoon Kim, the founder CEO at Dot said that 100,000 of the watches are going to be made available this year at March on its first batch and they are going to be priced at $290.
