Engadget's magazine, Distro, arrives with a look at wearable computing and the history behind Google Glass in their newly published Issue 70. It includes a good overview of the history of wearable tech and who the hot players are now.
"The first wearable 'augmentations' span from the 11th and 12th centuries all the way up to Google's side project that has built a ton of momentum this year. In the cover story of this week's issue of our e-magazine, we take a look at Google Glassand the timeline of wearable computing that's led us to this point. Eyes-On keeps up the theme while taking a gander at Garmin's Fenix and we offer up an in-depth review of the second coming of Jawbone's UP. If that's not enough, the brains behind the Pebble smartwatch, Eric Migicovsky, submits his responses to the Q&A." Continue reading at Engadget.
New wearable tech kid-on-the-block, Misfits Wearables, has just launched a very promising new wearable device called Misfit Shine and they have already raised over $500K on funding site indiegogo. The small and beautiful device strikes the balance between usefulness, elegance and price (you can pre-order one for under a hundred bucks). According to the Misfit team "We aim to pioneer the emerging world of wearables, by making products and services in the consumer health and fitness space to inspire people be more active and develop healthy habits." (source) This functional fashion statement does just that in a way that is elegantly integrated into your lifestyle.
The device styling is a small rounded "pebble" that is meant to beautifully blend into your fashion statements. Couple it with an accessory to clip it anywhere on your body or wear it as a wristband in a way that is convenient and flexible to how you want to wear it.
The device interface is simple. Just tap it to get a summary of your activity displayed through a series of tiny led lights that gently illuminate the matte surface. Magical. And how do you make synching effortless? Simply touch it to your phone. No bluetooth, battery-consuming wi-fi, or bulky wires. Brilliant.
From an industrial design and device perspective, I have yet to see a health and fitness device that is as elegant and wearable as this one (sorry Jawbone Up!). On the software side, the app covers basic fitness tracking, but what about motivational features that "get me going", "keep me going", and inspire me to keep coming back? I'd love to see concepts that, for example, rely on friends to keep you going (social networking integration similar to what nikeplus does), goal tracking, or clever game mechanics to keep me coming back. Hopefully, we'll see concepts like this added to the next version. Fingers crossed!
Aside from some missing feature concepts with the software experience, I am very excited about this new product and can't wait to see what else Misfit has up their sleeves.
Watch Misfit Wearables CEO, Sonny Vu, talk about his new Misfit Shine:
For additional information, read more about Misfit Shine at Gizmodo and Forbes.
Images from indiegogo.
Dr. Sabine Seymour of Moondial has released another fashionable technology report which focuses on the intersection between design, fashion, science and technology. The report is published twice a year. It will set you back 100 bucks, but it's worth the investment. Here's her latest:
"SCIENTIFIC FASHION concentrates on scientific explorations that manifest themselves in bioart, research projects, and product explorations focusing on the body as metaphor. It touches upon the history of synthetic biology and exposes ethical implications. The chapter second skin features BioLace from Carole Collet, sneakers from Rayfish are displayed in artificial extensions, and the project Hylozoic Ground by Rachel Armstrong and Philip Beesley is an example presented in synthetic senses. 59 Pages." Continue reading on moondial.com
Well, if you're going to make light-up garments, this is one way to do it. Hamburg company, Realflex, has created a product that not only lights up for safety, but warms up the rider as well. They developed the product through their new product think tank called be8lich. There are a ton of light-up bike jackets and accessories to make cyclists visible. This low-tech version doesn't require batteries and it acts as leg warmers too. If anyone tries this product out, I'm curious to know what they think.
Watch the (rather entertaining) video for more info:
The Jawbone UP was a hugely anticipated new wearable technology product for life tracking that was announced in 2011 at TED and brought to the market shortly after. Unfortunately, due to malfunctioning hardware, UP's big debut was a major disaster and was pulled from the shelves after just one month. The product only worked for the first few hours until the battery died. Recharging it did nothing. So, with an empty wallet and time spent learning the app, you were left with nothing but another pretty wristband to add to your collection. It was a product manager's and customer service nightmare. In fact, a colleague of mine had 4 sent to him while we were testing the product that all died after only about 8 hours of use. We kept wondering why they would send the same malfunctioning product without fixing it. Well, it looks like they finally did.
Now the question is will the market give UP a second chance?
Signs point to yes. Why? For one, Jawbone has put significant investment into improving their second generation UP product through 3 Million hours of user testing and is publicizing their dedication to learning their lesson and fixing the problem. Hopefully, this will be enough to improve people's perception of the brand and reignite market interest. It's worth paying attention to. Second, the product has the making for a compelling experience by following the 4 principles toward successful wearable technology experiences:
Up is...
Contextual : It understands the audience, what we need to improve our lives, and how to integrate into our lifestyle rather than making us change to use it.
Discreet : It pushes the technology to the background so it’s non-disruptive and ambient. You don't see wires or screens. It works for you in the background.
Connected : It connects to software and services that bring more value to the experience.
Fashionable : It removes the geek-factor and looks like something you would want to wear rather than have to wear.
UP's new challenge? It has to work flawlessly. Now, I'm off to order mine to find out...
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Jawbone UP is a wearable band, which is infused with sensors and a connected smartphone, allowing you to track your eating, sleeping, and activity patterns. Together, the combination of a sensor-infused wristband and a smartphone app will provide nudges for healthier living, based on your behavior. Click here for more info on UP, or watch the video featuring designer Yves Béhar on his journey creating UP (note that there is absolutely no mention of the initial failure...hmmmmm....)
Dominic Wilcox teamed up with interactive arts and technology expert Becky Stewart and Northamptonshire shoe maker Stamp Shoes to create these GPS shoes inspired by the Wizard of Oz. In order to create the fully functioning prototype, Wilcox worked with interactive arts and technology expert Becky Stewart and local Northampton shoe maker Stamp Shoes. The project was commissioned by Global Footprint, a Northamptonshire-based visual arts and living heritage program and is currently on display at Dominic Wilcox's solo exhibition at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, until the 26th September.
One of the things that's working with this project (in addition to the clever conceptual twist) is the seamless blend between technology and craftsmanship. Wilcox uses traditional shoemaking techniques and materials that give the footwear a sense of nostalgia with a contemporary twist. It's a good example of making the technology discreet by integrating it directly into the aesthetics and styling. This fashionability also reduces the dork-factor found in a lot of wearable concepts out there these days. Keep moving us forward Wilcox!
