Hi all,

In early August, a lot of mainstream tech blogs posted articles about 
the Dot, a "braille smart watch." Since mainstream reporters don't 
really know about accessibility, the articles were unclear about what 
the device was. Over the weekend, the developers of the Dot posted to 
the Eyes-Free Android list.

In a nutshell, the dot is a 4-cell braille display that looks like a 
watch and will sell for about $300.00.

The website, which is probably geared toward investors and the press (as 
it isn't very helpful to AT users), is
http://fingerson.strikingly.com/

To people interested in the device, it says, "If you would like to 
pre-order our product please consider leaving your phone number, 
address, country of residence, and quantity desired at
www.dotincorp.com

under the section “Join our pre-order list”."

Here are some responses to a few questions I posted on the Eyes-Free list:
>
> Q: Is it a braille display only, or does it have the features of a
> traiditional smart watch?
A:It is only braille display as the visually impaired wouldn't need the 
traditional features of a smart watch. It is also featured so to lower 
the price of the product. For example, if we put any other features, the 
visually impaired people wouldn't be able to use it, having unnecessary 
functions. What we are tying to do is make the most matching device for 
the people.
>
> Q: Do I need a special device to use it, or can I use it with my Android
> phone?

A: No you won't need any other device. It can be used with any Android 
or IOS phone. The watch will have to be connected to a mobile device in 
order for the notification function to work.
> However, you will be able to check the time even when the watch is not 
> connected to a mobile device.
>
> Q: If I can use it with Android, do I need special software, or will it
> run with TalkBack and the apps I use already?

A: You would need a certain translating app that we have worked on. What 
the app does is send the messages that arrive on your phone to the watch 
in order to translate the codes into braille that will appear on the 
watch. For this to work, you would need Bluetooth to connect the phone 
and the watch as Bluetooth is already available for every phone.
>
> Q: How does your braille technology work? * Can more cells be fitted 
> onto the watch?
>
> A: Most refreshable braille displays raise braille pins all at once so 
> that the user can feel the pins by
> moving his or her finger across the line-the braille pins remain 
> stationary. However, dot works on a
> different method; the watch can even work on one cell. The braille 
> module can run from 1Hz to
> 100Hz, which means the pins can protrude up to 100 times per second. 
> The user can simply place his
> or her fingertips on the cell. You don’t have to move your fingers, 
> the braille moves for you!
> When you place your fingertips on the cell, the pins hit them. For 
> example, when you are sitting in a
> massage chair, bumps constantly hit your back. In the similar way, the 
> pins continuously hit you (from
> top to bottom, vice versa) so you don’t have to move across the line 
> to read each pattern.
> Maybe you missed a letter. Maybe you need the pattern to repeat three 
> times in order to recognize it.
> Don’t worry; it is totally customizable. You can set the watch so that 
> you will best recognize the pattern
> being displayed.
>
> So why use 4 pins?
>
> We want our users to be able to control the speed in which the text is 
> displayed. Dot engineers
> created the product so that if the user moves his or her fingertips 
> toward the left cell, the speed might
> decrease and if moved toward the right the speed might increase.
> As dot is a watch, we wanted to display the time using all four cells. 
> For instance, if the time was
> twelve thirty, the first cell will display 1, second 2, third 3, and 
> fourth 0.
> Lastly, having four cells attributed to having a better design. We are 
> focusing on the design as well as
> the technology for we want our users to be proud to wear the watch. In 
> addition, we want non-braille
> users to be awed by the design of our watch; it is our wish that 
> non-braille users will receive a chance
> to learn braille through our device.
>


    VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
Archived on the World Wide Web at
    http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html
    Signoff: [log in to unmask]
    Subscribe: [log in to unmask]