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Braille watch keeps the blind on time, accessorized
How would you tell time if you were blind? I mean, aside from implanting cybernetic eyes so you could look at a clock. Right, exactly — you'd get yourself a Braille watch. Conceived by David Chavez, the Haptica Braille watch lets the visually impaired check the time without relying on someone (or something) telling it to them.
The great thing about Chavez's design (sadly just a concept at the moment) is that it doesn't rely on any pie-in-the-sky technology or radical ideas — the Braille dots are on tiny disks that are positioned so only half the disk shows, with the other half covered. As the seconds, minutes and hours tick by, the disks slowly rotate, changing the dot pattern. Overall it's a great idea, not to mention pretty classy looking. We hope it becomes a reality soon.
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Tuvie, via Medlaunches
By damisa at 10:13 AM ON 05/27/08
Out of curiosity, does the designer of this watch know that there are braille watches already available -- and they don't require you to actually read braille in order to use them (which is good for someone who needs a tactile timepiece, but who cannot read braille just yet). The designer of this watch should probably see what is already out there before reinventing the wheel... Just a thought...
By zenebier at 11:09 AM ON 10/13/08
hmm so the plates will rotate to give the number of embossed dots to represent the digit? will it be accurate? i mean, the embossed dots' position plays a vital role in determining what character the braille represents. but this thing is really great, hope this will become a reality..
By Preset at 7:45 PM ON 02/27/09
This seems to be a pretty good idea. I'm not sure if the first comment was made by a person who is B/VI, but the comments seem to be very niave to the B/VI community. Yes there are watches, lots of them. But to point out, they are digital speach. They tend to be loud and interuptive (have one of these go off at the board meeting or prayer) or faced with a dot raised at 5 or 15 minutes, leaving the user up to guessing. Not everyone needs or would want a watch of this sort, but it's always good to allow for options and let the user decide what wheel they want to ride.
This is an interesting design and I appears with the interest of the B/VI. But based on the design images, it appears to be not-too-small - about the size of one of those digital bricks. It does look great and I also would be interested in the reading format.
By mhdb at 6:58 AM ON 07/14/09
Being VI and learning Braille myself I use a Braille watch that also talks but I would be interested in this watch. As 'Preset' wrote there are situations...church, meetings....where a talking watch is inappropriate. I would be interested in the colors this watch comes in along with the reading format. Exciting product!
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mhdb:
Being VI and learning Braille myself I use a Braille watch that also talks but I would be interested in this watch....More »