rewir trendreview 03_2015
TRANSCRIPT
YOUR MONTHLY BRAND & BUSINESS UPDATE THE JANUARY / FEBRUARY ISSUE, 2015
REWIR TREND REVIEW #03
Face to face with wearable technology
PERSON TO PERSON
PERSON TO COMPUTER
PERSON AS COMPUTER
TWO ISSUES IN ONE!
Oh mother…! Let’s face it. The very idea of wearable technology is tantalizing. It consumes imaginations as much as it fuels both heated and philosophical debates around the impact of wearable devices on our lives. Yet, the march is on and hardware is reigning supreme. After nearly two decades of software domination over the tech industry, wearable devices, self-driving cars, drones, sensors and
connected homes are now the thing. And these devices are part of a larger cohesion known as the Internet of things. What a mother of a thought… Welcome to the Rewir Trend Review. Where we will explore our personal relationship with our technologies, as we take the first steps into one of the most important, exciting new eras of computing history.
LANDSCAPE
Look who’s talking now Be prepared. Be very prepared, because the entrepreneurial ecosystem as we know it is about to change dramatically. In the next five years, how we reach, connect with, and engage consumers will be transformed. And our back-end infrastructure fundamentally converted.
When wearables become mainstream and integrate into every aspect of our lives, big data will be dwarfed. Leaving us to deal with an avalanche of super data and personal data analytics. Then we will, excitingly enough, have the potential to select, analyze and interpret all that data. Not that we will be after information in itself. No, what we will be really after is insights.
LISTEN & LEARN
Dude, just serve it to me straight Applications within sports, healthcare and medicine, entertainment, retail, manufacturing and workplace training are already underway. Still in alpha, they are not in our mindsets as yet. In order for wearables to be useful, taken seriously, and be capitalized upon, especially in the context of this age of information overload, data cannot be merely informative.
It has to be prescriptive, driven by human centered design (putting humans in the center of everything businesses do), and offering a simplified user experience that achieves goals easily.
CATEGORIZE
A hug when I need it… handsfree! T Jacket is a tablet-controlled jacket that uses embedded air pockets to simulate hugs and calm children without human contact. The jacket is based on ‘deep pressure theory’, which suggests that pressure has a soothing effect on children with autism or attention deficit disorders who don’t process sensory information in the same way as those without the condition. When instructed to do so via an app, air pockets inflate to produce the effect of a hug.
PERSON TO PERSON
CONNECTED INTIMACY
Feel you, touch me Tactilu is a bracelet capable of transmitting touch between two individuals even when they are miles apart. The bracelet is equipped with a touch sensor which converts swipes and pokes into tactile /haptic motion on its corresponding bracelet. The wearable uses an Internet connection and Bluetooth technology to transmit touch between wearers.
CONNECTED INTIMACY
Swinging in my hips The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix Arizona is using 3D printers to enable customized joint replacement surgeries and has successfully printed its first custom hip. The clinic enables doctors to send a 3D file of their patient’s CT scan to a printer which will then print out a 3D model of the patient’s hip joint.
The implants used in hip replacement are biocompatible and made to resist corrosion, degradation and wear. The 3D printed hip will reduce the cost of creating artificial hips and may allow healthcare providers to build hips that better fit the physical dimensions of specific individuals.
PERSON TO COMPUTER
BESPOKE BIOTECH
Welcome to mobility, Emma! Emma, had been born into a condition known as arthrogryposis and would not gain the ability to lift her arms as she developed. The WREX exoskeleton was manufactured using a 3D printer to create a prosthetic light enough for Emma to use freely, while incorporating hinged bars and resistance bands to help her move her arms in space with very little residual strength.
The WREX was designed to assist arthrogryposis sufferers as young as six and offers the opportunity to scale production, allowing researchers to customize and print exoskeleton designs to each patient’s unique specifications using their own CAD software.
BESPOKE BIOTECH
Play something sweet Microsoft is working to incorporate health monitoring and mood detection into a pair of earbuds. Capable of monitoring heart rate, the in-ear device would be able to communicate with an associated mobile app called Musical Heart to select the most appropriate music depending on the user’s mood.
The app uses biorhythms to pick up on the wearer’s current mood and then plays a song best suited to remedy the situation. This means if a person had a sudden bout of anger while taking the subway to work, musical heart would select a soothing song to bring their heart rate and breathing back to normal.
BIOMETRICALLY ATTUNED
I, me and my coach My Asics is an app that helps runners to be their own personal trainer by creating adaptive training plans that evolve as their workout continues. The app is designed to understand how a runner’s body is responding to the workout utilizing a series of software algorithms to better calculate what type of workout best suits their changing needs.
My Asics works by constantly molding a plan around the runner’s performance levels, progressively pushing them harder to increase the intensity of their workout, and helping them reach their fitness goals faster.
RESPONSIVE COACHING
Thinking in my socks Sensoria has developed a pair of sensor-embedded socks that not only tracks traditional fitness data such as the number of steps, speed and total distance a user has traveled, but also provides data about running form and technique. Using this data, it’s possible to identify poor running styles and prevent injuries before they happen.
RESPONSIVE COACHING
Look… I hear! Nuwave glasses help to amplify sound for the hearing impaired by transforming sound waves into vibrations, functioning in a similar capacity to a traditional hearing aid. Its bone conduction transducers are ergonomically positioned to carry mechanical vibrations against the temporal bone to the inner ear. The Nuwave glasses have been developed in the hope of helping the hearing disabled find a new, discreet way to experience sound.
PERSON AS COMPUTER
CO-EVOLVING
Bionic vision, anyone? Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have created the first telescopic contact lens prototype that provides wearers the power to zoom their vision by almost three times. The telescopic lens works by having a central unmagnified optical path that is surrounded by a ring
of optics that magnify the view 2.8 times. The wearer is able to switch between regular and magnified vision. And, the telescopic contact lens is just 1.17mm thick, allowing it to be comfortably worn and could be especially useful for people with age-related macular degeneration.
CO-EVOLVING
In touch with info InTouch Technology is a concept that uses a ring, bracelet, or ‘smart fingernail’ to transfer information between devices simply and securely. When wearers touch their device with an InTouch ring, a special icon appears that allows information to be uploaded. After touching another device
equipped with the same technology, users can initiate a download from the ring back into the device. The device has a small amount of memory, and is powered by a special antenna. It can also act as a password or security device to unlock doors, start a car or power up a laptop.
CO-EVOLVING
Sure we need to ask ourselves if there is a creep factor in all of this. For sure, issues around personalization and privacy considerations come quickly to mind. “How far is too far?” Will be a question brands can never, and should never ever, stop asking or stop answering honestly. But as organizations get better at protecting (and respecting) consumers’ privacy on the mobile side, so too will they on the wearables side. No matter how we look at it, and what we feel about it, one thing is for sure: there is a perfect storm gathering in the midst of us. Innovation in personal data analytics, big data, mobile computing, low power wireless connectivity, voice user interfaces, manufacturing and pure imagination is setting the stage, and making it our inevitable future. At Rewir, imagination and insight keep driving innovation as always. This time resulting in the creation of the Hemla: a divine upgrade on the well-loved Semla. We created a human centered design on the traditional Semla to conjure a simplified user experience. Now you can sink your teeth into the Hemla without getting messy and achieving a real-time, out-of-this-world taste experience. We connected tastebud analytics, with human connectivity, experimentation and testing, to help manufacture… a piece of pure heaven!
Could your brand wear wearable tech? True to life, we’ve been seeing technological innovation play an increasing role in helping brands differentiate themselves in the increasingly competitive marketplace. While wearable technology stands at a crossroads today, it is poised to offer brands a big opportunity to establish a strong edge.
Behind this issue
David Lillewarg, Editor in Chief [email protected]
Ruby Windrup, Editorial content [email protected]
Helena Brauer, Content design [email protected]
Anna Pensar, Content distribution [email protected]