IIT-Kanpur, Ambrane to launch haptic smartwatch for visually challenged – Times of India

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has announced that it will launch “haptic smartwatch for the blind and visually impaired” and partnered with Ambrane India Private Limited for mass manufacturing and sales of the wearable.
The institution said the haptic watch developed at IIT Kanpur addresses the drawbacks of all the conventional technologies and offers a seamless experience to the wearer.
“Watches that are currently available for the blind and the visually impaired can be broadly classified into tactile, talking, vibration, and braille-based. These watches have their limitations – if there is a risk of needle breakage in tactile watches, talking watches do not offer a private mode of communication. Similarly, vibration watches are complicated and braille watches are expensive,” the institution said in a statement.

Smartwatch comes in two variants
The smartwatch comes in two variants and has 12 touch-sensitive hour markers arranged over the dial face, and the users will be required to scan the markers with their fingers.
“We believe that this watch will make a great social impact by enabling the visually impaired and blind to make seamless use of this technology for everyday usage. The watch will soon be commercialised by Ambrane India and will be available in the market at an affordable price. This development is a testament to IIT Kanpur’s commitment to promote inclusivity through novel technology development,” said Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur.
Haptic smartwatch: Features
IIt Kanpur team said that 12 touch sensitive hour markers arranged over the dial face will help blind and visually impaired customers to take a note of time by scanning the markers with his/her fingers.

For example, if a person wants to check the time of 3:40, the 3rd and 8th marker in the watch will be termed as the active markers. “The vibration pulse will be generated on touching the active markers. A long pulse on 3 will indicate hours and a short pulse on 8 will indicate minutes for checking the time of 3:40,” the team explained.
This watch is said to be a fusion of tactile and vibration watches. The vibration that the watch generates has been reduced to 2 pulses from more than 20 pulses, and the fragile nature of a tactile watch is eliminated. Other features of the smartwatch include heart rate, step count, hydration reminder and setting smart timer by using simple gestures.
“The existing smartwatches for the blind and visually impaired use audio-based output and lacks privacy. The IIT Kanpur-developed smartwatch, which offers a tactile-haptic interface for display of time and health parameters, addresses these drawbacks. The use of innovative haptic icons makes it easy to navigate the menu and a simple gesture like the double-tap can open a particular health monitoring app. These numbers are communicated in a similar way as the time,” it added.