Making the world accessible Dot by dot

(Future of tactile communication for the visually impaired) 

Ki Kwang Sung, CEO of Dot

"Making the world accessible Dot by Dot." In other words, with the vision of making the world more accessible by connecting dots, Dot is leading the way in developing and distributing Braille pads for the visually impaired, which is estimated to be around 285 million people in the world today, with its unique technology.

CEO Sung was inspired to develop technology for the visually impaired nine years ago when he went to church with a friend and was shocked to see her carrying a Braille Bible. Converting one Bible to Braille would make a total of 22 books, bulky and impossible to carry. To reduce this inconvenience, a device that converts line by line into Braille was developed, but at a price of $5,000, it was not only inaccessible but also ineffective due to its limited scope of use.

For people with visual impairments, even explaining the simplest of chemical symbols becomes complicated. The question of how to convey information efficiently and effectively to the visually impaired led them to develop Dot Pixel, which creates digital braille in real time and displays it on a tactile monitor, allowing the user to touch the monitor with their fingers to understand the content. The technology was completed a year ago and has been changing the history of blind people around the world through collaboration with various organizations and companies. It was also recognized for improving the quality of life of the visually impaired in various areas and won the Best Innovation Award at CES 2023.

Dot has made a difference in the lives of blind people in four areas: education, rehabilitation, workplace, and finally, public spaces. For education, they are working with the U.S. Department of Education to provide dot pads for the visually impaired in the field of STEAM, where it has been difficult for the visually impaired to receive education due to the abundance of chemical symbols, math formulas, and graphs.

The second area is rehabilitation, where the visually impaired often rely on canes or guide dogs because it's difficult for them to maintain their sense of direction when moving around and their mobility is severely limited. However, with a device that reminds them of their direction and location in real time, they can enjoy freedom of movement. Dot is also collaborating with rehabilitation programs for veterans in the U.S. who have acquired vision loss as a result of their service.

The third is the work environment, where people with visual impairments have very limited career options, so they are limited to telephone work and such, but with the Dot Pad, they can access MS programs such as Excel, which allows them to work in a variety of professions. Dot is currently collaborating with Microsoft to create a program that can read various materials by touch and sound, and also collaborating with Apple to develop technology that can read posts on social media for education, work, and more. Among the people who have used the Dot Pad are Stevie Wonder and Andrea Botticelli, both of whom have given very positive and gratifying feedback on the technology that Dot has developed, and Stevie Wonder said that he's signed millions of autographs in his life, but it was the first time he'd ever seen his own autograph.

Lastly, Dot is working on public spaces, and looking beyond just the concept of public spaces to make them accessible and convenient not only for the visually impaired, but also for people with limited mobility and the hearing impaired. Braille signage, which is commonly found in public spaces, is often almost useless because changes are not reflected immediately, but Dot has installed dot kiosks at the Yeouido Irum Center, Gangnam Sports and Culture Center, Gangnam Health Center, Busan Subway, and the National Palace Museum to make our services more accessible to all people with disabilities.

Dot pads have been breaking down information barriers faced by the visually impaired, but their high price is a barrier to entry. The price of a dot pad is equivalent to $6000 per unit when purchased by an individual through retail. "We definitely want to do B2C," said Dot CEO Sung Ki Kwang. "Our goal is to reduce the price below $1000, and later we will try to reduce the cost so that it can be affordable for individual consumers."