Now you don't need this watch, do you?
This is Dot - a smartwatch for the blind. Designed by a South Korean team, it uses a technology known as an 'active Braille display': four rows of Braille "dots" extend and retract, allowing a reader to scan the words with their finger. When they've finished reading the displayed dots, a new set appears. As the reader becomes use to the Dot system, it speeds up, allowing them to scan information faster.
The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 285 million visually impaired individuals around the world - 39 million of whom are totally blind. At present, any visually impaired smartphone users are required to make do with tweaking a handset's 'Accessibility' features - which can include reading back messages, adjusting font sizes, inverting colours and allowing passwords to be spoken.
Dot would be one the smartwatch solutions to provide blind and visually impaired users with a practical, private way of reading their own messages. It would also allow users to read eBooks - and at £192 ($300), its makers hope it would be a far more accessible reader than the majority of expensive E-Braille products.
In addition to reading messages, the Dot would also include a navigation reader and alarm.
Set to undergo a second round of startup funding this month, its makers hope to launch 10,000 Dot units by December.
[Via: TechInAsia]
