Smart Watch Meets Braille With The ‘BizlineDot’

Smart Watch Meets Braille With The ‘BizlineDot’

Uber ContentUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 11:00 PM IST
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Taking technology to new heights, a startup in South Korea has now introduced a braille smart watch that we are totally eager to test. This gadget aptly named the ‘BizlineDot’ is aimed at giving the visually impaired the complete smart watch experience.

In a day and age where technology makes up for all our flaws and overcomes the boundaries of human error, we now have another gadget, the Bizline-Dot, that helps the visually impaired be a part of this electronic revolution.

A South Korean startup has now developed a braille smart watch that helps the visually impaired do every social activity we are so addicted to these days. From receiving and reading text messages to even reading e-books, this watch overcomes it all. This beautiful piece of equipment is accurately called the “Dot”. It features a set of pins on the dial that rise and fall. Even learning braille is not an easy task.

The creators of the watch are fast to say that the Dot is the first smart watch for the visually impaired that is not only affordably but also uses haptic technology. It’s no surprise that electronic braille readers have existed for a while, but the Dot cuts down the usual bulky size and gives you a sleek way to access your messages and their reading material.

The Dot has 24 pins spread across four cells. This helps the reader read approximately four characters each time. The way this works is by having the user link the Dot to any of its devices using Bluetooth. To give you a more in depth idea, the Dot, once synced has a motor that vibrates every time the user gets a notification. The pins automatically shift from showing the time to displaying the message or alert just received. These pins keep shifting according to the pattern of the moment. The best part about the Dot is probably the fact that it leaves no stone unturned. You can easily customize the reading speed as well as to your liking.

“You can adjust the speed of the Braille output through the dials on the side of the watch,” said Daniel Koh, Head of Media Relations at Fingerson.

“With four cells, there’s a limit to the number of words being displayed at a time. However, unlike modern refreshable braille displays, which read one line at a time, the ‘active braille display’ is utilized to make braille automatically pass by in the user’s hand as if it were an escalator,” Koh said.

The Dot is a great piece of equipment for the visually impaired for now, but since reading across four cells can get a little tedious the company hopes to launch a braille pad. The Dot is said to be available in the US this December for approximately $400. The exact release in India has not been specified yet, but we sure hope it is sometime soon.

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