Today, the market is full of all kinds of smart watches, but practically all of them have the same features - a display, a button and a connection with a mobile phone and some sensors. But such watches are not very suitable for the visually impaired, and this is exactly the problem that a startup from South Korea is trying to solve, which can bring smart watches to 285 million blind people around the world. Because the watch is designed specifically for them, the controls have been properly adapted to them, so there is no need to look for a touch screen on them at all.
Instead, they feature a group of four dot boxes that change their height depending on the information they are supposed to display. I can natively express the time, but in addition to that they can also provide various other notifications from their mobile and users can thus "read" the message from iMessage. The dots themselves can change their layout up to 100 times per second, but there is always the option to slow down the speed at which the text moves. The watch can then be controlled by voice, as it contains a built-in microphone designed specifically for these purposes.
Dot braille watches, as their creators call them, also have the potential to increase literacy among the blind, as they are relatively inexpensive compared to traditional solutions. The watch costs only $300, which is less compared to the cost of educating a blind person. This is the reason why many of them do not know Braille at all, even though it is the only way to read the necessary information, for example on a medicine box. The watch will go on sale already in December, with only 10 units initially available, and production of more units will be launched later. However, the company is also planning additional hardware and programs in the future, which aim to expand braille and literacy among the visually impaired.
*Source: Cult of Mac
