Stanford's 6Dot seeks to become an Apple for the Blind

Most braille label makers were designed over 50 years ago and they resemble medieval torture devices more than consumer products. The machines punch out braille dots using some complicated mix of steel clasps, levers, and pokers that is tedious and difficult to use correctly - even for sighted persons. At the high end of the market are devices which, thankfully, have a keyboard. But purchasing one of these 10 pound chunks of steel will set you back $1,000 - no small change for a blind person on a fixed income.

Like the nascent PC industry before the birth of Apple Computers, accessibility devices for the blind are badly in need of an industrial design revolution. 6Dot Innovations is a Stanford company whose mission is to start one. I was given a preview of their braille labeler prototype at their office on the first floor of the AOL building in Palo Alto, part of Stanford’s Start X student business accelerator. The 6Dot labeler is like nothing else on the market. Its attractive rounded form, made of molded plastic, weighs in under 2 pounds. The labeler’s chunky big keyboard is light to the touch, relying on electrical motors rather than raw hand strength to press out Braille dots on label tape. Importantly, the company plans to be able to manufacture the device for a fraction of the price of currently available high-end labelers.

Design Evolution

For the 37 million blind people living around the world braille labels are an important tool for independent living. It is easy for sighted people to take labels for granted since the world around us is full of them. We use labels to distinguish medicine bottles from each other, pick out containers of food from the pantry, and push the correct buttons on the microwave. An easy to use, portable, modern braille labeler would give blind people access to the same vital information about their environment, making a meaningful impact on the quality of life for blind people around the world.

Cofounders Karina Pikhart and Trevor Shannon learned about the need for a better Braille labeler from the large blind community living around Boston when they worked on their bachelor’s degrees at MIT. The 6Dot labeler started as a class project for the two Mechanical Engineering majors but the overwhelming response to the prototype from the blind community forced them to consider bringing the device to the mass market. When Karina moved out to Stanford University to pursue a masters degree she was infected with the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley and 6Dot Innovations was born.

In the year since moving headquarters to California, 6Dot has constantly improved their product and business. A meeting with musician Stevie Wonder gave the company a feature request, support for qwerty USB keyboards, that was implemented by (blind) electrical engineering intern Matt Cooper (who is also known for his exploits in blind archery). In June the company received the good news that it had been accepted into the summer session for Stanford’s Start X accelerator program. The company is raising a round of funding and has a campaign on kickstarter to raise capital for their first run of labelers.

For seasoned observers of Silicon Valley’s technology startup scene it’s easy to become cynical about the amount of good that all the innovation, hustle, and striving of the Valley creates. After all, how many Groupon clones does the world need? To these observers 6Dot Innovations ought to be a breath of fresh air. They live the thesis that it is possible to do well while doing good. Let's hope they find success in their bid to bring a dose of Silicon Valley innovation to an underserved market which clearly needs it.