The article goes into details as to the Bands functionality, its customizable using an iPhone app via bluetooth, with the ability to adjust walking speed and buzz strength, and has an effective object detection range of 15 feet. The device itself appears physically similar to the fitbit but has a traditional rubber wrist watch band, has two small buttons on the side, and has a circular speaker roughly 1 centimeter in size jutting out away from the wrist on one side. The top of the device also acts as a touch pad interface.
There's a collection of video tutorials on [their site] as well [here] that goes more into how its configured and used. It can be used to tell the time, and also has physical tags you can attach to items to keep track of them with the device, but the guides don't state any ability to count steps at this time. Also, the device does not appear to have any voice playback of any kind and seems to rely on vibration and buzzing to navigate its menus. It appears the speaker should be facing inwards towards the users thumb, and scanning with the device involves holding your arm at your side and turning your wrist, you can watch the relevant video guides [here].
I can't really say how effective or user friendly the device is, but one of the company founders Fernando Albertorio is legally blind and provided a demonstration of the device:
In a demonstration for MIT Technology Review, Albertorio smoothly navigated the bustling streets of Mountain View California at lunchtime. The device bounces high-frequency ultrasound waves on nearby obstacles, which allowed him to steer around branches and planters and detect doorways by sensing gaps between buzzes. He stopped at an intersection and pushed the crosswalk button by detecting the pole. He said he had even used the device to hike and run a 5K race.
Another user from the company testimonials Howard Sumner who recently lost his vision and can only see light and shadow made the statement that it has the potential to be a Fitbit for the blind, and went on to say that while it may not replace his walking cane it could be a good companion to the cane.
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