Dot Incorporation: Case study

Credits & Description:

Category: Technology Hardware - Electronics / Computers / Business Equipment / Mobile Phones
Agency: Serviceplan, Serviceplan Korea, Dot Incorporation
Brand: Dot Incorporation
Country: Germany
Advertising Agency: Dot Incorporation, Seoul
Entrant Company: Serviceplan, Munich
Media Agency: Serviceplan, Munich
Pr Agency: Serviceplan, Munich
Production Company: Core-A Studios, Seoul
Additional Company: Nhb , Hamburg
Chief Creative Officer: Alexander Schill (Serviceplan)
Ceo: Eric Ju Yoon Kim (Dot)
Executive Creative Director: Jae-Seong Joo (Dot)
Creative Innovation Director: Franz Roeppischer (Serviceplan)
Art Director: Henning Janzen (Freelancer)
Animation / Special Effects: Lennert Schrader (Nhb Next)
Cinematographer / Dop: Alexander Alexandrov (Freelancer)
Executive Creative Director: Bill Yom (Serviceplan Korea)
Graphic Design: Jung-Seok Lee (Serviceplan Korea)
Art Director: Azim Abasbek (Serviceplan)
Chief Technical Officer: Ki Seong (Dot)
Music Producer / Sound Design: Woo-Kyun Jang (Augleo Studio)
Senior Motion Designer: Dennis Fritz (Serviceplan)
Agency Producer Film: Henning Rieseweber (Freelancer)
Editing: Isabelle Fournet (Freelancer)
Copywriter: Rohan Vitus Fernandes (Serviceplan)
Director: Serge Hoeltschi (Freelancer)
Ceo: Y.K. Yoo (Cac Studio)
Head Of Nhb Next: Felicitas Stahnke (Nhb Next)
Creative Innovation Director: Lorenz Langgartner (Serviceplan)
Innovation Director: Per Poulsen (Serviceplan)
Creative Operations Manager: Diane Schulz (Serviceplan)
Art Director: Kostiantyn Liakhov (Serviceplan)
Producer: Lars Ruch (Commondeer)
Corporate Communications / Brand Manager: Susan Kim (Serviceplan Korea)
Marketing Manager: Ahrum Choi (Dot)
Producer: Guy Citron (Coreastudios)
Campaign Description:
DOT. The first Braille Smartwatch. It brings new possibilities and benefits of the networked digital age to the wrists of millions of B&VI people worldwide.The patented DOT Active Braille Technology reduces size, weight and price by more than ten times compared to existing digital Braille reading devices which rely on piezo-electricity.B&VI people can benefit from DOT in all areas of life:DOT makes communication easy and private,provides fast access to information anywhere,makes navigation and transport more convenient and safe,enables efficient, independent and joyful education,improves work performance and increases job opportunities,supports leisure and sports activities.Through the open DOT API, anyone can develop apps or services for DOT. Existing ones can be easily adapted. Apps for Braille education, social networking, navigation, newsfeed, weather and many more are already in development.
Outcome:
DOT will be available in late 2016. Thousands of B&VI people around the world are already experiencing its benefits as testers with early access to final prototypes, at trade fairs, roadshows and stationary retail partners and at schools. 60,000 DOTs have been pre-ordered so far. Prominent visually impaired personalities like athlete Henry Wanyoike, singer Andrea Bocelli and musician Stevie Wonder support DOT.There are cooperations with companies like Google and Uber, educational institutes and the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.DOT Smartwatch is only the entry device into the assistive technology market. Based on its patented technology other applications are already in development: DOT Mini with lower price for developing countries. DOT Active Braille Technology for public facilities, such as ATMs and train stations. DOT Pad to be released in 2017.
Execution:
DOT is connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth and can receive any information in text-form, from any app or service – e.g. notifications, texts, directions.It has a crown and two buttons for input – e.g. quick reply, accept calls, remote control.DOT comes with full smartwatch functionality: time, timer, alarm, stopwatch, gyroscope and accelerometer. It’s made from superlight durable aluminum, the battery lasts for 7 days and it costs $290.DOT’s patented Active Braille Technology is based on solenoid multi-actuators controlling four Braille cells with 24 pins by magnetism instead of piezoelectricity as in other Braille devices.This reduces size and production cost, increases speed and keeps energy consumption low.DOT uses haptic force feedback technology to detect finger movement on the pins and automatically change the pins to show the next characters. Along with software, this makes it possible to display text rapidly and conveniently even with limited Braille cells.
Synopsis:
285 Mio. people worldwide – 4% of the population – are blind and visually impaired (B&VI). Living without vision is complicated – and for the last 20 years, there were almost no innovations in communications technology for the B&VI: Existing digital Braille reading devices are heavy, bulky and expensive. They weigh around 2kg, require carrying bags and cost in between $3,000 to $15,000. This makes them unaffordable to the majority of B&VI people: only 5% own such a device – not to speak of the situation in developing countries.Audio solutions are impractical, because hearing is important for B&VI people: Earphones isolate from the surrounding, making orientation and communication difficult, loudspeakers eliminate privacy. For deaf-blind people, Braille is essential.This “discrimination by technology” causes disadvantages in social life and especially in education: Braille literacy has decreased to under 10%, despite studies showing that Braille literacy leads to a 3 times higher chance of employment.
Synopsis
While we are all used to the benefits of modern technology in all aspects of life, from communication to entertainment and transport, the situation is very different for the 285 million blind and visually impaired people worldwide:
Only 3% of all digital text content is available in Braille, because material is expensive and translation requires human understanding, which makes it unprofitable in most cases. There is no alternative to Braille, especially when it comes to education: 90% of people who can’t read Braille are unemployed.
In 2016, Dot Incorporation set out to give the visually impaired access to mobile communication with the first Braille smartwatch. Now, we are creating access to content, with Dot Mini. The first smart media device for the visually impaired. It makes any digital context accessible through the innovative AI Dot Translation Engine based on Machine Learning.
Solution
2013
Start Development Core Technology
2014
Company Incorporation
First Patent Granted
2015
Dot Watch Prototype
Dot Watch Closed Beta
2016
Dot Watch Launch
Dot Mini Prototype
Cannes Lions Innovation Gold
2017
Dot Translation Engine Development
Dot Mini Closed Beta
Dot Pad Prototype
Dot Watch Consumer Marketing in USA, Asia and Europe
2018
Dot Mini Launch
Dot Pad Closed Beta
First 1000 Dot Mini units delivered to Kenya and India together with South Korean development agency KOICA
Latest Patent Granted
2019
Dot Pad Launch
Dot Public Launch
Relevancy
Dot Incorporation was founded in 2014 to produce innovative tactile devices. So far, the portfolio includes two released and two unreleased products, that each on their own and in different aspects are life-changing for 285 million blind and visually impaired people: From mobile communication and access to content to transport and public spaces. From reading text messages and books to visualization of graphic content
Outcome
Over 300,000 Dot Smartwatch units sold.
First 1000 Dot Mini units are gradually being delivered to India and Kenya through Korean development agency.
40,000 Dot Mini units pre-ordered for 2018.
Partnerships with big content platforms like Rakuten Kobo and Yes24 for direct access to more than 200,000 books.
Dot Incorporation has grown from 3 people to 26, including the visually impaired, e.g. with Dot Mates, the individual customer support program.
Execution
All Dot devices feature Active Braille Displays with innovative (70 patents) Dot Technology, uniquely based on magnetism, which reduces size, weight, power consumption and price by up to ten times.
Dot Smartwatch is connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth and can receive any text information from any app or service, for a wide range of applications: From
Dot Mini can access digital text files from online libraries and websites, local and network storage.
Full audio support with speaker, headphones and microphone allow multisensory experiences like Karaoke and even watching movies with automatically generated text description.
Intuitive Control Elements including wheel, select and menu button and scroll buttons make interactive applications like calculation, editing and even games possible.
The Dot Translation Engine can automatically convert any digital text file into Grade 2 Braille.
Machine Learning depends largely on training. That’s why we strategically partner with big content platforms like Rakuten Kobo (global) and Yes24 (market leader in Japan) to use their huge content libraries (already more than 200,000 books), to continuously improve the Dot Translation Engine.
Campaign Description
Dot Incorporation was founded in 2014 to produce innovative tactile devices.
Starting in 2014 with the Dot Smartwatch, the first Braille smart watch, which makes mobile communication possible for the visually impaired.
In 2018, Dot Mini is introduced to create access to any digital text content. Because the innovative Dot Translation Engine based on AI applies Machine Learning to understand context and translate to Grade 2 Braille, which is on average up to 50% shorter.
Dot Mini provides additional audio support, which makes consuming content much faster, effective and enjoyable. All in a device that’s multiple times smaller, more lightweight, less power consuming and cheaper than conventional devices.
Dot Public is in the first steps of being installed in the airport of Oman and millions of vending machines in Japan.
Dot Pad is in development and will bring tactile communication from reading to visualization in 2019.