A new fitness tracking device

Move over Fitbit and Jawbone Up, Amiigo is a new kid on the block (in addition to the newly anticipated Misfit Shine) that is promising to help improve your health by tracking and measuring what matters. What's different about this from the accumulating pile of fitness devices on the market today? The device includes a wristband and shoe clip that work together. You can attach the shoe clip to the wristband, or remove it and attach it to your shoe. It's also waterproof so that you can use it while swimming.

It also appears that the experience includes gaming, which is an untapped area for fitness that I'd like to see more of. I'm eager to try it out when it hits the shelves.

More info at Amiigo.

10-year predictions coming true?

Ten years ago, Wired Magazine predicted that we’d be "living with phones on our wrists, data-driven goggles on our eyes and gadgets that would safety-test our food for us." Turns out, a lot of the things Sonia Zjawinski conceptualized in Wired Magazine's “Living in 2013” feature way back in 2003 were remarkably close to what we’re starting to see today. Predictions included a series of wearable technology devices that are very close to products that are hitting the market today such as smartwatches and Google;s Project Glass. Continue reading their past predictions and what has been delivered today at Wired.

Images from Wired.

IBM predicts our technology future

This year IBM presents The 5 in 5 in five sensory categories, that includes 5 scientists, 5 stories, and 5 predictions about the world in 5 years and how technology will impact it. According to IBM, "in the era of cognitive computing, systems learn instead of passively rely on programming. As a result, emerging technologies will continue to push the boundaries of human limitations to enhance and augment our senses with machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced speech recognition and more. No need to call for Superman when we have real super senses at hand." (source) CTO Telecom Research Paul Bloom, IBM Fellow and VP of Innovation Dr. Bernie Meyerson, and VP Industries Research Dr. Katharine Frase, think that "Our computers today are just large calculators. They calculate very fast and they calculate lots and lots of data, but they really don't think. If a cognitive computer can experience it's environment by definition it can act upon it to improve it and that's a unique capability compared to what we have today. How do we get computers to behave and think and interact the way humans do?" To do this, IBM predicts that our hardware will eventually share your senses.

One of the big opportunities here is to extend this type of computing experience from the limitations of laptops and even mobile phones by integrating them into smaller, smarter and more ubiquitous devices that can be easier integrated into our environments. These devices can leverage the processing power of laptops and mobile phones while providing the ability to collect body metrics, environmental data and understand our context (where we're at) in a natural and non-abstrusive way.

What better way to do this than with wearable technology?

Source and images via IBM

Is iWatch in Apple's future?

Smartwatches have been squeezing their way into the wearable consumer electronics market like Pebble, i'm watch, Sony Smartwatch, inPulse and WIMM (to name a few). And much speculation has been around for years that Apple may be a major player in the smartwatch race. Well, the old rumor has surfaced again. According to MacRumors, "Apple and Intel are currently working together on a Bluetooth-enabled smart watch. Full details on Apple's smart watch are unknown, but the report compares Apple's project to Sony's SmartWatch, although it notes that Apple's Siri voice assistant will provide for greater integration with the iPhone in allowing users to take phone calls directly through the watch."

With Siri integration, Apple has the potential to offer a game changing voice-enabled experience that could even replace the need for touch. Imagine a small wearable device that you wear on your wrist that works with your iPhone. Simply talk into it to get important and timely information without having to sift through your purse or pocket to take out your phone. "This could result in a device with a conversation-based interface. ... A connected iPhone would do much of the processing; the watch would record your voice, transmit it to your iPhone, and relay Siri's response. A small touch screen would also allow for limited visual/kinetic interaction, including notifications and basic apps." (Gizmag)

Sounds like they could actually give us a true Dick Tracy experience ...

Image from cultofmac.com

Skinsucka: a design provocation

Studio XO is a fashion and technology company that creates and engineers interactive wearable experiences at the crossroads of physical-digital media. They have created some really provocative work for clients including Philips Lighting, Philips Design, Universal Music, The Wellcome Trust, ITV, EMI, Tord Brontje and Sir Clive Sinclair. One of their projects, Skinsucka, is a design provocation, which explores and questions our attitudes to consumerism, robotics and bio-technology in a timeframe of 10 to 20 years from now. "This film draws attention to hyper consumerism that blinds us to the exploitative forces that make it possible to produce a garment in Asia, ship it halfway around the world to a high street in Europe, for less than the cost of junk food'.

Skinsucka reveals a scenario where microbial powered autonomous micro-devices share our living spaces and eat household dirt. ... This design provocation suggests that robots will continue to perform the servile, worker roles that have previously been carried out in sweatshops, in an ever-increasing intimacy between humans and machines, as our technology evolves from electro-mechanical artifact to biological, living appliance. It challenges us to consider the ethical issues of where we source the products we consume, the processes that have been employed to produce them and the social and environmental impact of our consumption."

Continue reading at Studio XO.

Skinsucka was a collaboration between Clive van Heerden, Jack Mama and Studio XO's Fashion Director Nancy Tilbury together with Bart Hess- Director of Photography, Peter Gal - Product Design and Harm Rensink - Materiality Design and Development. The soundtrack was created by Scanner. The model is Pomme van Hoof.

Images from Studio XO.

Goggles Measure Your Radness

Smith isn't the only company Recon is teaming up with this season. In fact, the HUD innovator has also packed its tech into goggles from the likes of Briko, Scott, Uvex and Alpina. But I got especially excited about Recon's newest collaboration with Oakley, one of the premier optics companies on the planet.

Just like the competition, the new Oakley Airwaves ($600) track your top speed, control your music, work with your Bluetooth-enabled Contour camera and measure your hang time while jumping. Also similar is the remote, a wristband with buttons large enough for puffy-gloved hands. The Airwave's tiny display sits below the main field of vision of your right eye, so the information is there without being obtrusive — important when you're flying down the mountain at 50 mph. If you have one or more Airwave-wearing friends on the slopes with you, tracking them is easy with a built-in buddy location system. Plus, when you plug in the goggles at the end of the day, all your stats are available on the Recon's Engage website.

Continue reading on wired Images from liquidiamgeco.com