Wearable Panel: The Future in Now

From my friends at Ziba... Ziba hosted a wearable technology panel back in April including Sean Madden Executive Managing Director at Ziba, Roberto Tagliabue Executive Director of Software Design at Jawbone, and Skooks Pong Senior Vice President of Technology at Synapse. Sean Madden wrote a summary and perspective form the panel that discussed how wearable devices will offer practical, novel and fun usefulness but will also be able to influence our behavior in ways good and bad, creating ethical dilemmas for designers. Worth a read.

Ziba Panel Series - Wearables from Ziba Design on Vimeo.

"For all the attention we’ve given in the past year to wearable devices like Google Glass, Nike FuelBand and Jawbone UP, the focus on hardware and form factor misses the far more thrilling – and perhaps frightening – topic of how wearable devices are going to change who we are as people. Wearables promise to let technology impact us on a more personal level, and as our gadgets become more intimate it’s inevitable that their influence will deepen.

Psychology researchers have been looking into human behavior reinforcement, and the conclusions they’ve reached are startling. The subconscious mechanisms by which a human brain forms habits are no longer a complete mystery, and that understanding has let us start devising tools for altering them. As a result, we’re now at the edge of an era in which human behavior has become a design problem.

Changing the unchangeable

In a 2011 article on feedback loops, Wired editor Thomas Goetz describes how a single “Your Speed” box on the side of a busy road does a better job of slowing down drivers than the most relentless speed trap, and then illustrates this effect with a number of other examples. They point to a kind of revolution in persuasion tactics: We are able to encourage or discourage behaviors once thought unchangeable simply by offering immediate, actionable feedback. Well-designed feedback changes behavior.

Imagine what’s possible when we apply that kind of feedback loop to a broader range of habits. Health-related behaviors, for example. Or even buying behaviors."

Continue reading at Gigaom.

Join me in SF at Smart Fabrics!

I'll be speaking at the Smart Fabrics Conference in San Francisco today, which focuses on: Software and services -- building the integrated wearable technology ecosystem

  • The key principles the emerging wearable ecosystem players need to take into account as they chart their path to market together
  • The role of software and services in developing integrated, compelling and meaningful consumer experiences
  • A vision for the tremendous opportunity in front of the wearable technology ecosystem and the roles for each of the players, as the vision becomes a reality
Swing by if you're in town.
More info on the conference here.

Join me in Austin at SXSW!

Join me in Austin at SXSW where I will be sharing a vision for what’s next in wearable technology. Here’s a hint: wearable technology represents an entire new era of interaction. It has the potential to change our relationship to technology altogether by making it more discreetly, smartly integrated into our lifestyle, and ultimately, giving us superpowers. With the plethora of trendy new products like, Google Glasses, iWatches, the smartphone as your fitness coach – wearable technology is on the verge of going beyond media buzz to becoming mainstream. In a few years virtually everyone will be wearing some tech piece on their body. The question is: How do we avoid becoming cyborgs and create new wearable technology experiences that make us more human? Continue reading at Artefactgroup.com

Join me Saturday, March 9 2013 @ 11am at the Radisson Town Lake Hotel in Austin, TX. Click here to register.

image source.

 

 

Nike+ Accelerator deadline is approaching

For anyone with a health & fitness idea that wants to integrate with the Nike+ platform, now's your chance. Nike has offered an accelerator program sponsored by Techstars that will mentor 10 companies to jump start  their product idea over 3 months. They will be open up their APIs for Nike+ Running and FuelBand and provide resources to set you up for success. The deadline to apply is quickly appraoching. You have until Feb 3 to submit your idea. More info on the program here.