This dynamic braille-screened smartwatch dynamically raises points (or: dots) above its surface, allowing the blind to read text messages or translate webpages right on their wrists.

Sleekly designed like other hot smartwatches on the market, the Dot can show up to four characters at a time at customizable speeds, representing a dramatic change from clunky USB-plugged computer adapters and potentially distracting text-to-voice translators.

The Dot is just 1/20th of the size of these traditional terminals and 1/10th of the cost. A new type of actuator makes it possible to present braille with much less technological baggage (and cost). Oh, and it tells the time too.

Dots, the South Korean startup behind the device founded by four design and technology students, aims to release this gadget for just a few hundred dollars, much cheaper than traditional braille conversion devices and of course much more portable as well. “Until now, if you got a message on iOS from your girlfriend, for example, you had to listen to Siri read it to you in that voice, which is impersonal. Wouldn’t you rather read it yourself and hear your girlfriend’s voice saying it in your head?”

The post 3D Dots Breakthrough: World’s First Braille Smartwatch first appeared on Gajitz.

Following in the footsteps of interchangeable-part mobile phone concepts and prototypes, BLOCKS, revealed in detail at CES 2015 in Las Vegas, is designed to let users swap in and out linked hardware modules to add or enhance features, from battery life to cameras and GPS units.

Running on Android but compatible with Windows Phone, each block in the wristwatch can be replaced piece by piece and other companies are encouraged to develop their own blocks to work with the system.

E-ink displays can be traded out for LCD versions as desired, while additional modules can replace other wearables like infrared heart monitors or other fitness trackers. Temperature, altitude and pressure sensors can be added or removed on demand as well, either full-time for those whose lifestyles demand it or part-time for travelers and adventurers.

Beyond the current prototypes and mock-ups, a team is working on enhancing ergonomics and working out details including hardware and connectivity in anticipation of a crowdfunding campaign to be launched later this year.

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Smartwatches are just beginning to emerge as the newest touchscreen gadgets. Just like MP3 players, phones, and tablets before them, smartwatches will soon be carried around by basically everyone. Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group is working on a prototype smartwatch that incorporates a whole new dimension of interaction.

Instead of relying just on a touchscreen to make the magic happen, FIG’s version will use gestures like panning, twisting, tilting and clicking to perform various functions. The revolutionary interface will allow users to interact with the device without blocking the screen with their fingers, which is a common problem with current small touchscreen devices like existing smartwatches.

The gestures are more or less intuitive for people who have been using touchscreen devices already. In the music app, you pan left or right (by moving the watch face in the appropriate direction) to scroll through the music selection. For games, twisting, tilting and panning could all be used to control the gaming action.

There are also novel applications that we don’t typically see on touchscreen devices, such as a clock app that switches to alarm clock mode when clicked (i.e. pressed down). Twisting the watch face to the left or right lets you set the alarm time. In future versions of the smartwatch, the researchers hope to add even more layers of gesture input for greater freedom no matter what you want to do with the watch.

The post Smartwatch of the Future is Controlled by Moving its Face first appeared on Gajitz.