The Dot Watch!! First Braille smart watch for the blind

Dot's first office in Samsungdong. Early prototypes of the watch displayed. 

The truth is, I don't know how to write this. The whole thing is far too personal to me. From the first ideas to the person who created the watch- I still pretty objective as far as how things work, but I'm still incredibly excited about this whole endeavor. First I think this is an AMAZING invention. I remember Eric Kim was always talking about ways to help people he asked if I had any ideas, but mine were never as good as his. 

I’m always really proud of my friends when they go on to do something that makes them happy, whether it’s getting married, getting the job they’ve wanted or becoming the CEO of a company though entrepreneurship and a unique design that can benefit millions. Those around me know how proud I am of Eric Kim. 

My friends all share updates with me about Dot, that pop up on Facebook, and those that I tell about the Braille watch think it’s a pretty cool thing. It’s often not like anything they’ve ever heard of. 

When I went to Korea in 2015 to study abroad I was hoping to work for Dot, but my health quickly ended that. I managed to write up a few papers for them before I was out of commission, but I did my best to stay in contact with the group and told them to send me anything they needed me to edit. 

Through the last couple years, I’d get some blogs to edit now and again, keeping me updated on progress. I was so excited when they were finally able to launch the watch in December 2017. 

*I remember having to write a letter because the development was taking longer than expected. We were all rather sad about that. 

I’ve been wanting to write a blog on this for a while, but I’ve been weighed down with kidney stones for the last two weeks (you can kinda see how sick I am in the video), and that’s of course when my amazing opportunity comes. I unboxed the watch day before yesterday, however I haven’t been able to hook it up to my phone, yet. Not sure if it’s the dead zone I live in or what, but I’m still working on it.  I’ve just had two days with limited internet, which makes working internationally rather difficult, honestly. However there are some pretty amazing people at Dot, and thankfully they understand. 

I have a lot to learn <3

 Here is this idea- this current technology that I am so excited about, and I can’t even get the words out. When I met Eric Kim, the first thing he did was teach me to read and write in Korean. He wanted me to keep learning about something I was interested in and it opened a whole world to me. I understand how much he wants to help others, and improve the lives of people. I can see all the ways this can help, I’m excited for all those possibilities.