This Watch Will Change How You Tell Time

Eone Timpieces recently unveiled a Kickstarter for a stylish timepiece called The Bradley. It's named after Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, who lost his eyes in an IED explosion while serving as a bomb defuser in Afghanistan. The timepiece allows wearers to tell time through touch, making it especially useful for the blind and vision-impaired. It uses magnets to move two ball bearings around its face, which has raised hour markings. Eone has made a point of calling the device a timepiece instead of a watch, because it does not require you to watch it to tell time. The Bradley proves that innovations that help people with disabilities can, ultimately prove useful for everyone.

"This technology is incredibly exciting because of how inclusive it is. Instead of being a watch designed purely for the seeing or for the blind, it can be used by all," says Anna Stone of United Cerebral Palsy Life Labs, an organization dedicated to supporting and developing ideas that improve the lives of people with disabilities. For the blind, this timepiece will solve a long-standing problem; previous devices largely relied on speaking the time, making them impractical. The Bradley is also practical for sighted people for the same reason. Surely you have been in a situation, like a meeting, interview, or bad date, where you wanted to know the time, but felt it would be rude to look at your watch. This timepiece will allow any person to discretely tell time through touch.

After losing his eyes in Afghanistan, Snyder resolved to not let his blindness hold him back, stating, "The idea is that there shouldn’t be anything in the way of barriers presented to you that slow you down." After just one year, Snyder went on to win two gold medals and a silver medal in swimming at the 2012 London Paralympic Games. This victory fulfilled his goal to "prove to myself that I can experience success on a level I experienced before, even though I am now blind." See his inspirational story here:

The Bradley is a timepiece that encapsulates Snyder's spirit of never being held back, and instead, "figuring it out and moving forward.” Since it's Kickstarter was launched, the timepiece has received ten times the funding it requested. Eone hopes to have The Bradley on the market by November, in time for the holidays.