DOT SMART WATCH-HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT DOT WATCHES????

                      DOT  Smart Watch

The DOT Braille Smart Watch project has won the Grand LIA for Design at the 2016 London International Awards. Developed in South Korea, DOT the first Braille Smartwatch sets out to provide an interactive device for blind and visually impaired people, to be launched later this year. Online at dotincorp.com, the patented DOT Active Braille Technology reduces size, weight and price by more than ten times compared to existing digital Braille reading devices which rely on piezo-electricity. B&VI people can benefit from DOT in all areas of life: DOT makes communication easy and private, provides fast access to information anywhere, makes navigation and transport more convenient and safe, enables efficient, independent and joyful education, improves work performance and increases job opportunities, supports leisure and sports activities. Through the open DOT API, anyone can develop apps or services for DOT. Existing ones can be easily adapted. Apps for Braille education, social networking, navigation, newsfeed, weather and many more are already in development.

It's not something most of us think about on a daily basis, but most watches are basically useless for the visually impaired. Traditionally, the solution to this was to make watches with crystals that could flip up, allowing the wearer to feel the hands. These tended to be poorly made and touching the hands is a really good way to throw a watch off over time. But there are more creative solutions out there. Meet the Dot, a sleek motorized smartwatch that uses braille to give the wearer the time.

Developed in Korea, the Dot is an extremely new product (most of the company's website is still "coming soon" pages) that offers a new take on telling the time and giving notifications to the visually impaired. Notably, because it uses braille and not just indicators to mimic hands, the Dot can offer true rich notifications, not just numbers for the time.

In terms of specs, the Dot is pretty impressive. The case is made of aluminum to keep weight down (just 27 grams) and it measures in at 43mm across and 12.5mm thick. So sure, it's a big watch, but it's still very much in the realm of wearable. It comes with one of three different sized leather straps that works sort of like a half-NATO, wrapping through on one side. It has a rechargeable battery, a touch sensor, a vibration motor, and Bluetooth, so it's pretty standard in terms of smartwatch features. 

DOT is connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth and can receive any information in text-form, from any app or service – e.g. notifications, texts, directions. It has a crown and two buttons for input – e.g. quick reply, accept calls, remote control. DOT comes with full smartwatch functionality: time, timer, alarm, stopwatch, gyroscope and accelerometer. It’s made from superlight durable aluminum, the battery lasts for 7 days and it costs $290. DOT’s patented Active Braille Technology is based on solenoid multi-actuators controlling four Braille cells with 24 pins by magnetism instead of piezoelectricity as in other Braille devices. This reduces size and production cost, increases speed and keeps energy consumption low. DOT uses haptic force feedback technology to detect finger movement on the pins and automatically change the pins to show the next characters. Along with software, this makes it possible to display text rapidly and conveniently even with limited Braille cells.DOT will be available in late 2016. Thousands of B&VI people around the world are already experiencing its benefits as testers with early access to final prototypes, at trade fairs, roadshows and stationary retail partners and at schools. 60,000 DOTs have been pre-ordered so far. Prominent visually impaired personalities like athlete Henry Wanyoike, singer Andrea Bocelli and musician Stevie Wonder support DOT. There are cooperations with companies like Google and Uber, educational institutes and the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang. DOT Smartwatch is only the entry device into the assistive technology market. Based on its patented technology other applications are already in development: DOT Mini with lower price for developing countries. DOT Active Braille Technology for public facilities, such as ATMs and train stations. DOT Pad to be released in 2017.

The Dot works in a pretty straightforward manner. Underneath the dial are four motorized modules, each with six possible dots. Each dot can be raised or lowered individually, so the Dot can display up to four braille characters at a time. The wearer then just reads the dial as he or she would a piece of paper with braille on it. The dial is concave to offer a protective rim around the braille modules themselves, making it easier to wear the watch day in and day out.

DOT Braille Smart Watch Credits

The DOT Braille Smart Watch was developed at Serviceplan, Munich and Seoul, by global chief creative officer Alexander Schill, executive creative director Bill Yom, creative directors Franz Roeppischer and Lorenz Langgartner, copywriter Rohan Vitus Fernandes, art directors Azim Abasbek, Kostiantyn Liakhov and Henning Janzen, graphic designer Jung-Seok Lee, creative operations manager Diane Schulz, working with Dot Incorporation head of client services Eric Ju Yoon Kim, account director Ahrum Choi, brand manager Susan Kim, and innovation Per Juul Poulsen.

Filming was shot by director Serge Hoeltschi with director of photography Alexander Alexandrov, executive producer Henning Rieseweber, producer Lars Ruch at Commondeer, Los Angeles, and producer Guy Citron at Core-A Studios, Seoul

Post production was done at NHB NEXT, Hamburg, by animator Lennert Schrader, editors Dennis Fritz and Isabelle Fournet.

Sound design and music were produced at Augleo, Seoul, by sound designer Woo Kyun Jang.