Nike launches sensor-embedded footwear

Continuing its nikeplus and fuel evolution, Nike has launched Nike Lunartr1+, sensor-embedded footwear that tracks how hard, fast and often you train and syncs it to a mobile app. The video shows a series of wearable displays, which makes me wonder what else they have cookin'. Overall, the best wearable technology products are the ones that you rely on but you don't have to remember to use. For example, inputting calories or manually tracking your workouts (think about the printed workout tracking clipboards in a folder system at the gym) is asking too much of people. Wearables have the capability of doing the work for you in a more unobtrusive and ambient way and the Lunartr1+ is one step closer...

More at Nikeplus Training

TECHNOSENSUAL: fashion meets tech

There's an exhibit curated by Anouk Wipprecht going on right now that you don't want to miss. The exhibition "TECHNOSENSUAL: where fashion meets technology" presents electronic textiles and wearable technologies created by international haute tech couture designers. The exhibition will open on June 14 at 20:00 at freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL with performances by Bart Hess as well as Maartje Dijkstra and Beorn Lebenstedt aka Newk to kick off the "MQ Summer of Fashion". A preview will be presented at 11:00 in a press tour. Participants include Hussein Chalayan (TU/UK), Lucy McRae (AU), Bart Hess (NL), Studio Roosegaarde (NL), Ying Gao (CA), Maartje Dijkstra (NL), V2_lab (NL), Royal Philips Electronics (NL), Django Steenbakker (NL), Pauline van Dongen (NL), Nancy Tilbury (UK), Valérie Lamontagne (CA), Anouk Wipprecht (NL), Bogomir Doringer (RS), Rein Vollenga (NL), MoNo and many more. Continue reading at MQ

Dates: Jun 15 to Sep 2, daily 10:00-19:00 Venue: freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL

Download the catalog here.

Sony files for smart glasses patent

Continuing the race to who creates the first market-ready heads-up display...Sony has "quietly applied for a patent on a familiar-looking smart glasses system whose advantage over [Google Glass] would be an emphasis on things in twos. Eyepieces are the most obvious, but Sony is also keen on sharing data between two friends: transmitters on a pair of glasses would send personal info through a likely very uncomfortable glance at someone else with the same eyewear. If your friends are more than a little weirded out from sharing by staring, the proposed glasses could still pick up information from visual tags on posters, products and virtually anything else. There's even the obligatory connection to a watch for sharing data with the rest of the world. Whether or not the patent leads to Sony head-mounted technology more advanced than a personal 3D TV is still up in the air, especially with Google currently hogging the spotlight... not that existing, more conservative designs have ever stopped Sony from rolling out wild concepts before." Continue reading on Engadget With any smart glasses solution there are a lot of design and user experience challenges. For one, I don't think we want to live in a world where people are walking around distracted by UI flying in front of them, running into things, and zoning out like a drone when they talk to you. There's also a huge dork-factor with technology-based eyewear. But there is a big opportunity to create an entirely new interaction paradigm with this type of formfactor if it's done right. I just hope that whoever wins the race truly considers the experience and makes it useful, dork-free AND magical.

Controlling light with hand gestures

Blogger Niquita has developed this fascinating prototype in response to some research that was done around hand gestures. The prototype includes two rings that you wear on your thumb and forefinger, which allows you to perform gestures to control lighting. With any type of product that uses physical gestures as input, the social implications should be considered. Large, obvious gestures performed in public could be quite awkward. I don't think we want to live in a world where people are swinging their arms around while waiting on a bus or walking down the street. What's nice about this concept is that the wearable device has the potential to be worn and performed discreetly. I imagine subtle (and somewhat private) gestures that you can do to actuate different events.

The rawness of this early prototype is quite beautiful. I just wish there was some sort of demonstration on how the gestures work along with what the experience of the light changing is. Perhaps that will be the next phase.

More info at Niquita's blog

Glasses make sounds visible

With the announcement of Google Glass recently, there's been a growing drumbeat around heads-up displays. The latest focuses on people suffering from hearing loss. The Himri Glasses, created by Daniele Silvestri and co-owned by Andrea Chagnon, make sounds visible to users with hearing impairments. The glasses detect surrounding noises, analyze their amplitudes and volume and displays a graphic visualization of the sound on the sides of the lenses. Notifications alert wearers about approaching cars and wailing alarms to help avoid any accidents. What's nice about this design is that the aesthetics and styling is considered, making the solution more appealing to users to actually wear. Also, interactive heads-up displays should not be about replicating the phone experience onto eyewear lenses. Don't give me a bunch of UI that comes at me at all times! This concept is an example of how you can use the unique formfactor and body placement of glasses in a unique and useful way to solve a simple problem. Well done Silvestri.

More info and images at Industrial Design Served.

Lucy McRae creates liquid textiles for Robyn

Lucy McRae's incredible body of work straddles the worlds of fashion, technology and the body. She has spent many years architecting nan-technology and bio-tech structures around the body that re-shape the human silhouette. Her work is both fascinating and thought provoking. One of her recent projects was work that started over two years ago generating dynamic textiles made from liquid, air and vapor. The "liquid textile" was then used on set for Robyn's Indestructible music video. The effect is mesmerizing. Here's the making of...

"1.2 kilometres of transparent plumbing tubing was knitted with fishing wire to skin Robyn’s body. 40 litres of glycerol pumps through over a kilometre of tube, powered by drill pumps that connect to valves releasing air intermittently between the liquid. Gradient colors pulse through the tubes at different speeds, the effect is a living, breathing dynamic skin that traverses the landscape of the body.

The Dream Team is Lucy McRae, Barnaby Monk, Mike Pelletier, Sanne Van Wersch, Laetitia Migliore and Amba Molly. Special Thanks to Mandy, Sofie, Froukje, Maaike, Honor, Loes, Ine and Branca. Edited by Ine van den Elsen."

Continue reading on LucyMcRae.net Images from LucyMcRae.net