My phone rings but I don't want to take the call, so I swipe left on my watch and off to voicemail it goes. I have a meeting in an hour so I look at the notification on my ring while it painfully displays a tiny message from right to left like a tiny stock ticker. I'm on the subway and want to fast forward the current song on Pandora so I tap my watch or ring a few times.
These are the wearable computer scenarios companies are trying to sell that come right out of a science fiction novel. From Dick Tracy to KnightRider, it sounds interesting until I pick up my iPhone and realize the notifications on the lock screen has all these controls and a much easier to read interface. Why do companies think we need a watch, ring, or any piece of jewelry that only delivers tiny screens with notifications served by Bluetooth linking to our phone? In each of these scenarios, I still need one thing, my phone.
The phone part is required and severely limits the desirability of a smaller and inferior device. In terms of watches, Samsung shows exactly what not to do with their Galaxy Gear. For the not so cheap price of $300, you get bad fitting, non existent app ecosystem, and the option to only link with other Samsung devices. For that much money, I think I'll stick to a elegant Seiko watch and keep pulling my phone out of my pocket to get things done.
Qualcomm released the toq watch to pair with Android devices as well, so don't forgot to keep you phone close by. Once again it hits the not so cheap price of $350 and makes some improvements over the Galaxy Gear with longer battery life and a better looking screen, but it's still just mini output for relaying phone information and controlling how fast I move to my next song on Pandora.
From watches to rings, Smarty Ring met its funding goal and promises first deliveries in April of 2014. For an estimated price of $275, you get three buttons and a tiny display. The promise of a ready to ship product in just over four months when there are only artists concept drawings on their page makes this a very wobbly investment. Even if they deliver, what exactly does a watch bring besides a tiny screen to my fingers? Which way do I wear the ring to read the information on it?
The idea that any of these products makes any sense at the moment is almost completely ridiculous. Everything links through your smart phone making it an absurd expensive extension, and not much more.
For any wearable device to work there are some mandatory requirements yet to be met. First, no more than a single physical button. Ideally, motion would be all you need to get the watch from standby mode to ready to go. There also needs to be a curved glass design that accepts touch input and displays on the same screen so it more comfortably fits the contours of the human appendage.
Second, voice. The device needs to accept voice commands and relay those into your smart phone. As odd as some people will look talking into their wrist placing an order for take out food, tweeting about their favorite restaurant, or just making a reminder, it's quick and easy enough to make it an actual useful addition.
Last, price. When the wearable computing device costs more than a smart phone on contract and only provides these basic additions, it's still not worth buying.
Somewhere, someone is working hard to make wearable computing a main stream reality. To turn this from a gullible tech nerd's desire and into a real usable product, work is nowhere near completed.
