With their new proposed timepiece, design firm Box Clever offers up a refined amalgamation of what we love in analog watches and what we’ve come to expect from modern technology. A jump hour, quartz-driven timekeeping…
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News: Google has unveiled an operating system designed specifically for wearable devices called Android Wear, plus details of the first smartwatches to incorporate the technology.
In a series of Youtube movies released today, Google previewed the Android Wear operating system that will extend apps currently available on Android devices to present contextual information designed to be viewed at-a-glance on wearable devices.
“With a wearable device you can be going about the rest of your day, just glance down at your wrist and the information you need is there right away without even having to ask for it,” said Android’s director of engineering David Singleton.
Using the existing Google Now service, the new user interface will prioritise information specific to the user’s context to allow a more passive experience, without the need to retrieve the information from multiple applications.
For example, in the morning it could show local weather reports, the time of the wearer’s first meeting and travel time to get there based on current traffic conditions.
“Watches are good at telling time, but imagine having useful actionable information there precisely when you need it, automatically,” said Singleton.
The launch movie also shows a user receiving an alert for jellyfish when about to go surfing, and immediately swiping to a screen showing other beaches in the area to head towards.
“Think about the times you need information most urgently,” said Android designer Alex Faaborg. “The stuff you care about moves with you from place to place so you never miss out on the important stuff.”
Android Wear incorporates voice control and, like Google Glass, will be activated by saying “Okay Google”.
“We put a lot of thought into how simple this has to be,” he continued. “It has to be incredibly fast, incredibly glanceable. There’re really only two components: the information that’s most relevant to you and the ability to be able to speak to it and give it a command.”
The system will also facilitate receiving and responding to text messages and calls, and listening to music. It could also incorporate health or activity-monitoring functions to rival devices like Nike FuelBand and Fitbit.
The first device announced to use the system, the LG G Watch, will be launched by South Korean firm LG later this year. The two devices shown in the Android Wear launch movies with either a round or square case are reported to variations of the forthcoming Moto 360 from Motorola.
“To bring this vision to life, we’re working with consumer electronics manufacturers, chip makers and fashion brands who are committed to fostering an ecosystem of watches in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes,” said Singleton.
Google today made a preview software development kit available, so that developers can begin to extend Android applications to work with the new system.
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system for smartwatches appeared first on Dezeen.
Israeli designer Dor Tal has designed a set of gadgets that monitor data generated on social networks to help users predict the future and take action ahead of time (+ movie).
Dor Tal’s Future Control project imagines a personal horoscope built on your data that could predict everything from when you’re most likely to go to the gym, to what mood your partner is going to be in when they get home.
Dor Tal‘s concept works in two ways. The first requires the user to download an app on to their smartphone that scours social networks for any data generated about the user, or other people and organisations that might affect them. An algorithm then detects any patterns of behaviour that could be forecast ahead of time. The more accounts the user adds, including credit card information, Google, Apple and Facebook, the more intelligent the device becomes.
“When it identifies a predictable action, a recommended response for solving the problem or enhancing the experience is calculated and presented,” explained Dor Tal.
The second part of the project is called Predictables: two devices that present that data to the user. The first uses a pico projector, which displays a timeline with a series of floating bubbles indicating actions the user can take.
The colour scheme highlights how far in the future the action might be: green indicates behaviour days ahead, where as red tells the user these actions should be taken today.
If the user is moving around, the same display can be projected on to the their hand via a smartwatch. Both displays utilise gesture control, allowing the user to interact with the display with his or her hands.
“One interesting aspect of the interaction, similar to what happens in the Back to the Future films, is that the predictions continuously change as the user acts and reacts in present time,” said Tal.
Future Control was part of Tal’s graduation project from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. The designer wanted to explore our obsession with trying to predict the future.
“From the movement of the stars to modern technology, man has searched for patterns that can indicate the imminent future,” explained Tal. “The biggest challenge of this project is to create the forecasting algorithms, but I believe this will happen sooner than expected.”
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networks to predict your future appeared first on Dezeen.
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