Contributed by Joel Zimba, Special Projects Coordinator, MDTAP
Informed consumer choice is one of our goals at MDTAP. Meaning, you, the consumer, must choose the assistive technology which works best for you. There are two aspects to this.
In an ideal world all technology works well and performs as expected. This is not the case with any technology; unfortunately, it can also be true of expensive and complicated assistive technology. I have often seen two otherwise identical products function identically, except that one often fails to function. When selecting equipment for our loan library, we try to get the best products available. When clients report problems, we relay this information to prospective purchasers of this technology. We also would gladly tell you if a product spends more time in the shop than in the library.
A more subjective form of informed choice is finding the best fit. This sounds simple and obvious, but each case is different. All too often, one small feature of one product works exceptionally well for a user, and that helps them make a decision. If two products seem to work equally well and are of similar price points, then it might be time to look at the service record.
All of the above sounds great in theory. Here’s a story about assistive technology which blurs the lines of the informed choice camps. There are always trade-offs in life, especially with technology. This is my story of trade-offs.
Tactile watches, often mistakenly referred to as “Braille watches” have been around for quite a long time. Some estimates say a century or more. The idea is simple. Find a way to tell the time without looking at your watch. This is obviously useful to people who are blind or low vision, but also great for someone working in low light environments or who simply wishes to be discrete.
Tactile watches have been used by soldiers, miners, railroad engineers, and of course, blind people.
The most common kind of tactile watch has raised markings around the face of the watch. The hands can be felt to see where they are on the clock face. Simple, yet highly effective. One might even say this is low-tech assistive technology. These watches are available from a variety of manufacturers. Many styles and price points are available. I’ve had the same one for nearly 15 years. I have had to have it serviced twice because I got it wet. These watches are rarely water resistent. They can also benefit from a good cleaning from time to time, as touching their delicate mechanism takes a toll.
About ten years ago, Tissot released an excellent timepiece called the Silen-T. Their version of a tactile watch vibrates in different patterns as you move your finger around the watch face to tell the time. Now that we are all familiar with touch-screen technology, this has a bit less wizz-bang factor. But, it’s still an excellent device. The Silen-T has the advantage of also having a tactile alarm. This is definitely moving out of the low-tech mechanical world and into the high-end technology for which Tissot is known. Here’s the trade-off–it takes longer to tell the time. It really just takes a moment or two to know what time it is with the conventional tactile watch discussed above. With the Silen-T, you may have to wait several seconds to be sure you got the time correct. I find this frustrating, but that alarm sure is nice, and not having to worry about getting your watch wet or having to have its guts cleaned is pretty cool too.
In Fall of 2013, a new kind of tactile watch was funded on Kickstarter. Eone is a small company located in Washington D.C. They produced The Bradley Timepiece. Rather than touching the actual watch hands, a pair of ball bearings make their way around the circumference of the watch. The bearing on the front face indicates the minutes, while the bearing on the outside edge indicates the hours. It’s a great looking watch, and the internal mechanism is protected from the elements and from grimy fingers. Eone has a great idea here.
In practice, The Bradley has some challenges. First, and probably biggest, you must have a delicate touch, as the bearings lose their magnetic clasp on the proper time quite easily. More unfortunate, the bearings often go on walkabout as my wrist moves through my daily life. Especially the hours indicator. If my arm is level, with the back of my wrist facing up, such as for typing, I would say the proper time is shown about 9 out of 10 times. Having the wrist in any other angle reduces the accuracy rating from there. True, it’s no big deal to hold your hand still and let the little guys roll to their appointed positions, but again, we’re back to taking a while to figure out the time. Even worse, it’s easy to decide it’s completely the wrong time. False positives are not so good in this business. It is also quite large by many watch standards. It may easily overwhelm the wrists of many women. There may be mechanical considerations for this.
This is of course the first generation Bradley from Eone. I think their idea is excellent, and I look forward to improvements. I am wearing it now, which brings me back to the trade-offs.
As we all know, watches aren’t simply functional. They also perform double duty as fashion accessory. I dig the steam punk aesthetic of the Bradley. I like flicking the bearing and listening to it wobble back to rest. I like taking the time to find out where in their orbits the little spheres have gotten off to. It’s fun, and innovative and just plain cool. Three versions of tactile timekeeping. Each with pros and cons. There are trade-offs. I am fortunate enough to not have to select one and only one. I can switch between them at will.
There is one tactile timepiece which I have not used. It’s a pocket watch called Meteor. It also tells time via vibration. One button for the hours and one button for the minutes. Yet another example of how to solve a problem in an innovative fashion.
The cost and ease-of-use of the standard mechanical tactile wrist watch will probably keep it the dominant variety for some time. It’s good to know there are options with their corresponding trade-offs. That’s one downside to informed choice–you might end up with a collection.
