Wearable Devices: Fab or Fad?

Published on 23 Feb 2012 at 3:44 pm. 2 Comments.
Filed under Google,Mobile.

Wearable devices - Mobile devices that you can wear will receive a big push in the next two years. Is this a brilliant move by device makers, or is will this push too far too soon?

Oakley Thumps – the basis for Google’s first foray into wearable devices

Wearable Devices:  Google Glasses

It was recently announced that Google was going to be entering the market at the end of the year with Google Glasses. Google Glasses are an Android device that will contain a heads up display (HUD) placed on the side by one of the eyes. The device is rumored to contain number of sensors that will allow users to scroll and click just by tilting their head. Google Glasses will have a 3G or 4G connection and will also include GPS capabilities and integration with Google’s cloud services.

The most interesting aspect (to me at least) is the low-resolution camera. This camera will allow real-time information to be sent to Google’s cloud and then information about locations will be displayed on the screen. It will even display information about friends that are near by.

My first reaction to hearing about this wearable device was that we have entered the future. I’m a comic geek that enjoys his science fiction. Once I heard that it would be able to pull up information about an individual you are talking to my first two thoughts were:

1. The movie Terminator and the phrase “Not Sarah Connor” popping up every time you mean someone. Unless of course you meet Linda Hamilton and are thus instructed to “TERMINATE”.
2. Sentinels from the X-Men comics detecting for mutants. I imagined meeting a person and the glasses telling me:
   “Designation: Human.
   Threat Level: Minimum”.

Wearable Devices: iWatch (?)

Google is not alone in looking to wearable devices. Apple is considering an iPod like device that can be strapped to your wrist. The idea with that device is that it would be an alternative mechanism to connect to Siri. I have not heard of any formal name for this, so I am just going to refer to it as an iWatch because it is the first phrase that comes to mind. I know it break the ‘iPo’ tradition that Apple devices have had, but it is a different type of product and I’m not terribly creative with names so please allow me this luxury.

One would imagine that this iWatch would have features such as GPS and music. I’d imagine that a camera would be a bit difficult to get used to, but I think it could be done. I doubt they would put it in there unless they had the camera, but I think it would actually make a great flashlight. Just imagine pointing your arm at something and a beam of light coming out to illuminate a dark room. Heck, imagine the news headline: Lost Child Found Way Home Thanks to iWatch.

But is this geekiness to much? I know I would be interested in either wearable devices, but I am a nerd. Will the average person be scared by wearable devices sending all of this information to companies? Many people I know aren’t fans of services like FourSquare and Google Lattitude because they don’t want people to know where they are. I think the idea of Google knowing what you are looking at would cause a similar reaction to Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson learning about cookies and Google Earth.

This post was originally published as Wearable Devices: Fab or Fad? for The BrandBuilder Company.