Alibaba has created new smartphone technology that allows the blind and visually-impaired to shop online.
The ecommerce giant is planning to launch its new Smart Touch technology in early 2019, which offers a super-cheap alternative to current solutions.
Smart Touch is a small strip of silicon that costs less than a dollar to produce, which a user places on each side of their smartphone screen.
Each strip contains three sensory-enabled brail buttons, which trigger certain frequently-used commands like “confirm” or “go back” when pressed.
This allows the visually-impaired to navigate complex websites like ecommerce platforms by removing the risk of mis-clicking and the need for more complex interactions.
