Samsung filed in South Korea in March last year the patent application “Electronic apparatus for inputting braille and operating method thereof”. The patent, self-descriptive, describes a method for blind people to input text through braille, using the rotating bezel on a smartwatch.
It enables braille input by allowing the user to control the input position in the six-point braille character by rotating the bezel. The patent is surprising to go beyond the market’s trend to invest in voice-based interaction models to make products and services more accessible to people with disabilities. As it seems the company is exploring other approaches as well.
No other major brand is currently offering a bezel-based navigation option on its smartwatches. Samsung’s rotatable bezel is considered useful and convenient by many users since the smartwatch screens are very small. Using the same mechanism for innovative features like the braille input will make it more unique and desirable. Despite the fact that ideas like these may not be Moneymakers for the company, it is encouraging to see that Samsung is trying to make its latest gadgets more accessible to users.
It is not clear yet if Samsung is planning to incorporate this technology into its future smartwatches since not all patents turn into commercial products.