A new wrist
device slated to debut this December is intended to help sight-impaired users
read Braille versions of books and text messages while on the go.
The face of
the Dot, which resembles a fitness tracker, features four sets of six raised dots.
The dots lift or recede to form four Braille letters at a time. The
device—which also functions as a watch, alarm, and navigation system with
Bluetooth capabilities—can be used for five days before needing to be charged.
“Touchscreens
are not conducive to the blind as they cannot see the shifting pixels on the
smooth device,” said a Popular Science article about the Dot. “That has not only slowed down the technological
literacy for the blind, but has also impaired their reading literacy, cutting
them off from most information that isn’t published in print.”
The device
was developed by a company based in South Korea, but most of its young design
team are fairly recent graduates of U.S. universities. The company claims the
Dot will retail for about $300, while Braille-enabled e-readers cost upwards of
$2,000. The only other alternatives to Braille books—audio recordings and
text-to-speech software—are either expensive to create or don’t always work
properly.
One
immediate drawback for the device is a lack of reading material. Only about 1%
of published books have been converted into Braille, but the company hopes the
availability of the Dot will encourage publishers to offer more titles in that
format.
