A New Take on Wearable Devices 29
minstrelmike writes: A company called Polyera is working on a wrist-worn device with a flexible, fabric-like screen that uses e-Ink technology and can go days without recharging. "Right now we design electronic devices that are built on rigid little bricks, so our devices end up looking like rigid little bricks. We wanted to make a fundamental technology that would completely open up the design capabilities. Now we're playing with materials that are more warm, and integrating electronics with materials that are more like leather than they are metal or glass." Their device is touch-sensitive and has much more usable screen space than most wrist-borne devices, which comes at the cost of being lower-resolution and grayscale.
Niche market? (Score:4, Funny)
Polyera's CTO responds (Score:1)
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Same here, having my calendar available with out having to dig out my phone and switch apps would be awesome.
Even better if I can get it as a cuff attachment rather than a watch. If I can put this on my shirt cuff, use the battery/processor like a cuff link, that would be awesome!
-Rick
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eInk really won't help improve smart watch displays. The Sharp ultra low power LCDs that devices like the Pebble use are already more than good enough, because the vast bulk of the power consumption is the watch's radios and sensors. The watch has to maintain a Bluetooth connection to your phone, and keep the accelerometer/health sensors running.
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While I think this is a great advance over current tech, I have current tech on my wrist. And it is very useful. I charge it once every three days, overnight. And while it's display is off all the time, turning it to look at it turns it on, so I don't understand what your complaint is.
I'm sure a minority of people who couldn't afford them complained about the big, bulky cell phones when they first came out and didn't see a need for them. Jealousy often results in such feelings, it's like the Aesop fable abo
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Same but I also want it to have the durability to do that several thousand times.
Also machine washable several thousand times.
Replaceable battery would be good.
Although I assume we will be stuck with a battery made with the finest spider that can not be replaced in the name of aesthetics.
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Spider silk*
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if personal intelligence is constant, then the smarter the device, the dumber the person
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Yeah in practice most smart phones are actually smarter than thou phones.
Most seem to think I want to do everything except make a call.
Although I did hear that next year apple is coming out with an iphone that also works as a phone! [Citation Needed]
I don't really see the benefit (Score:2)
Yeah, my current watch has a non-bendable screen. But that screen is also a convenient place to look for whatever information is being displayed. If the screen curved around my wrist, it would be capable of displaying more things than I could see at one time without moving my wrist. So functionally speaking, I don't see much advantage.
But if they do a good job with the aesthetics, and it actually looks good, I suppose that's worth something.
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But that screen is also a convenient place to look for whatever information is being displayed.
How quickly you can view this information depends on where it is located and how many/what type of interactions are necessary to bring it up.
Your phone is the perfect device for getting a weather alert when it is already in your hands, unlocked, and open to the app that contains the information. It's not so great if you're driving so you have to reach past a seat belt to dig in your pocket to get it out, and if you don't drop it, then you have to unlock it by typing in a password, and if you still haven't
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A wearable wrist device can show you that alert at a single glance... or at worst, a slight movement of the wrist to tilt the corresponding information into view.
Um, I wasn't asking about the value of a wearable device, but of a bendable screen. That's why I started my comment with "Yeah, my current watch has a non-bendable screen"
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Wow... my bad. I must be blind, I thought you said "Yeah, my current phone has a non-bendable screen."
Wristwatches! (Score:2)
Flat screens are fine; reading on curved surfaces is tricky. I've got one that tells me the time and date, and runs for YEARS on a single charge!
Back when such things were new and would have been shiny if they weren't black, my wife gave me a Casio GPS wrist-watch. It was amazingly cool to have (not that it worked that well as a GPS), but it was really about as big and clunky a thing as I'd want to wear on my wrist. Most of that was about thickness, but anything bigger than about 1x3 is annoying if I'm
Flexible, Fabric-Like Screen (Score:2)
Next up: E-Ink Clothing! Display your latest reminders on your left sleeve, your stocks on your right sleeve, your tweets on the front of your shirt, etc.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I was trying to read your latest tweet."
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I'm still waiting for e-ink tattoos. *Those* will be awesome.
That's a serendipitous happening that will surely embark us on a journey of unicorns eating rainbows spun into sugar, because it just so happens that I'm waiting for a volunteer to test out my latest e-ink implant we're calling Electro-Tattoo(TM). Sign the "hold harmless" waiver and I will personally oversee your implantation of a Dancing Star-Monkey.
http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poi... [uniqpath.com]
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Next up: E-Ink Clothing!
The E-Ink tattoo will soon render E-Ink clothing obsolete.
I've heard this before... (Score:2)
Almost sounds like the CST-01, which hasn't yet shipped one model, I think:
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr... [kickstarter.com]