Wearable Electronics

August 15, 2006 Unlike other members of the animal kingdom which reproduce sexually, human beings have one significant difference which greatly complicates the criteria for desire and selection – humans can think. Humans apply not only physical, but societal, cultural and economic criteria to desire and selection and we suspect that the way things are heading with wearable technologies, things are set to become even more complex in the near future. The field of wearable electronics began not all that long ago with rudimentary devices such as heart rate monitors and high tech wrist watches, but will stretch its boundaries beyond belief over the coming decade as displays, microprocessors and sensors invade our clothing. Their function will be quite diverse, from monitoring health, to helping us meet compatible people for business and pleasure to simply expressing who we are, and fashion will take advantage of new technologies to offer expression in ways we haven’t even considered yet. Somewhere between the TuneBuckle and the flexible displays in Nyx clothing is the EgoKast, a Personal Media Player with a 3.5 inch 320x240 pixel screen that can double as a belt buckle to display the true you in video format at 30 fps for up to five hours. The manufacturers of the US$289 Egokast are hoping the word will catch on as a term describing “media players turned outwards” and is creating a range of appropriate videos to continuously loop as well as promoting the use of original, personal video content to display our values to our public. Almost certainly at some point in the near future a man or woman will choose their life partner based on the catchiness of their personal video content displayed outwards. At least it makes more sense than some of the mating rituals of the past and present.  Read More

August 4, 2006 Last year we reported on the world's first 340cm bipedal exoskeleton, the extraordinary Land Walker. The Sakakibara-Kikai Land Walker weighs 1000kg and shuffles along at 1.5kmh. Now Japan Times (via BornRich) is reporting that the Land Walker is on the market and selling made-to-order for 36 million yen (US$312,000). There’s a great video available here. Lots more detail in the original story.  Read More

August 4, 2006 Motorola and Burton Snowboards this week announced the expansion of their joint Audex wearable electronics collection at the 2006 Burton New Zealand Open Snowboarding Championships. Available at select Burton Authorized Retailers this month, the new 2007 Audex collection offers the ultimate blend of technology and snowboard function, enabling easy wireless communication and music entertainment for consumers on the move. New for 2007, the Audex Bluetooth Stereo System allows consumers to stream downloaded music wirelessly from a compatible Bluetooth enabled mobile phone to the Audex jacket allowing users to listen to music and make calls with a push of a button on the jacket sleeve. Outerwear styles that feature this system include built-in DJ-style speakers in the hood and/or an integrated headphone jack.  Read More

May 10, 2006 The Electric Cinderella shoes idea began as part of Simona Brusa Pasque's thesis at the Interaction Design Institute in 2002 and was inspired by a beautiful woman who Simona interviewed for her thesis who wanted to be able to “intimidate her intimidators.” She wanted to be empowered without losing her femininity, to have the freedom to be sexy without fear. The shoes certainly achieve that, offering 100,000 volts of high fashion stun gun power which can be activated by a control on the matching necklace. The weapon is hidden and when the wearer taps on the matching necklace an electric spark is displayed in the transparent tip, warning the would-be assailant to back off. The weapon is designed for a one time use, in case of emergency, by breaking the tip of the shoe. The shoes have now evolved through several prototypes with earlier versions exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles, at Nemo Museum, Amsterdam, and at Pica Museum in Perth, Australia with the latest incarnation getting its debut outing at the recent CTIA Wireless Fashion Show in Las Vegas. “I believe this type of capability is a dream of many women and it is my intention to bring it to market,” Simona told Gizmag. Simona is seeking "the right business partners." Excellent images!  Read More

April 17, 2006 One of the more visually arresting wearables on display at the recent CTIA Fashion in Motion shows was this vertebral wireless interface to be worn around the head and neck. A distinct possibility for a sci-fi horror movie role, the vertebral form of the Synapse concept came to University of University of Bridgeport student David Salonen in a dream, and has created such interest that he is interested in discussing options on how to bring the idea to market. “It’s completely free from buttons, plugs, wires and doohickies,” says David, “and an ideal way to stand out from the masses of umbilically-connected techno babies."  Read More

April 14, 2006 The Triple Watch Cell Phone is a wrist watch that can be transformed into a cell phone. You can slide the unit out of the wristwatch band, and extend it to use it as a normal cell phone. As a wrist watch, it would have a speakerphone button that allows the user to answer the phone and hang up while driving or the user can combine the Triple Watch with a Bluetooth headset. The Triple Watch Cell Phone was conceived by University of Bridgeport student Manon Maneenawa and won the US$10,000 Fashion in Motion Scholarship at CTIA WIRELESS 2006 last week in Las Vegas.  Read More

April 14, 2006 Ever since 1930, Blancpain has been firmly convinced that women are well able to appreciate the know-how and the magic of mechanical horology. The Blancpain tradition of feminine Haute Horlogerie timepieces is thus no recent development, but instead boasts a rich and diverse history. Over the past 75 years, Blancpain’s numerous achievements in this field have included the first ladies’ self-winding wristwatch, the smallest round movement and more recently the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar. From an initial role as a purely functional object, the wristwatch has become a piece of jewellery or an accessory accompanying a particular clothing style. This graceful transformation has proved fundamental to contemporary watchmaking. While the Blancpain ladies’ models created in the past can lay claim to many world firsts, Blancpain has never dedicated an entire collection to women. Accordingly, and for the very first time and coinciding with the arrival of spring, Blancpain is revealing how it has imagined and developed its approach to feminine mechanical timepieces. Far from being mere reductions or adaptations of existing men’s watches, the three first models making up this collection were specifically developed to meet the expectations and desires of contemporary women. The hours of the BLANCPAIN WOMEN collection are exclusively feminine. Remaining steadfastly faithful to its roots in the Vallee de Joux, Blancpain has endowed each of its women’s watches with a meticulously hand-finished and decorated mechanical self-winding movement. Nonetheless, the Manufacture is now exploring an entirely new path by creating a collection that is completely innovative in terms of its aesthetics.  Read More

February 26, 2006 Sometimes it takes a breakthrough to recognise what you’ve been missing. Would you buy a car that you couldn’t get wet? You don’t need to be a red-blooded, its-only-a-flesh-wound kinda guy to find yourself caught in the rain occasionally … and wanting to talk on the phone at the same time. Well the announcement by French Bluetooth specialist Bluetrek of a Bluetooth headset for extreme conditions makes so much sense that the rest of the headset world must surely follow suit – at least with water-resistant models. The X2 is designed for active outdoor use and its makers claim it has the ability to function in extreme conditions, but in some circumstances, the work and home environments can be just as hostile as the great outdoors. Indeed, the specs of the X2 make so much sense that it immediately becomes the headset to have, partly due to the no-brainer waterproof functionality and partly due to its extended battery power that offers up to 14 hours of talk time and 500 hours (three weeks) of standby time. The X2 will be available inside a few weeks for UKP59 or 79 Euros.  Read More

February 24, 2006 For the first time in the history of the Formula 1, a company, the Austrian watch manufacturer Jacques Lemans, has purchased the exclusive rights to use the brand “F1”. The sport Formula 1 watch collection was presented at the massive Inhorgenta International Trade Fair for Watches, Clocks and Jewellery this week in Munich. Not surprisingly, the new F1 multi-functional chronograph models are designed to reflect the myth and philosophy of Formula One and will be manufactured from appropriate Formula 1 materials such as carbon fiber, rubber, Coutchouk, Titanium and ceramics. There will also be ladies’ models in pink with mother of pearl.  Read More