by Rab Bruce’s Spider

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HERE’S A gadget called the Sunu Band which I’ve been interested in for some time but had never got around to buying because I wasn’t sure it was worth the price tag. It normally retails in excess of £300, but I heard about a sale being offered by Sight & Sound Technology, and I managed to get one half price. Typical cheapskate!

Twitter @RabBrucesSpider

So what is a Sunu Band? It fits on your wrist like an ordinary watch, but it has no face or dial, simply a touch pad. It also has a round sonar device protruding from one edge. The basic idea is that when you attach the band to your wrist, the sonar will detect obstacles in front of you, giving feedback via vibration. The closer you are to an obstacle, the more vibration you feel. For a white cane user like myself, this sounded very handy, but would it work in practice?

When I got the device, I did get sighted help to read the instructions and set it up. It feels pretty much like a chunky talking watch, so in terms of size, it’s fine. I did find setting up the app a little tricky as it wasn’t immediately obvious I’d found the right one in the App Store. Sunu Health & Fitness didn’t sound quite right. However, I was assured the logo was correct, so I downloaded it, and was delighted to discover that it was fully accessible with Voiceover. I created an account and paired the Sunu Band to my iPhone. Thankfully, the process went very smoothly.