A Plea for Decent Wearable Tech
The thought of a flying car no longer interests me. Once the archetypal litmus test for when one arrived at the FUTURE, it's now a subject that brings to mind retro-futuristic cinema as opposed to science lab. While potentially practical the vast canyon between concept and execution is gaping, the gritty particulars of implementation overwhelming, and link to reality a vague one. There are so many other areas showing tangible, realistic improvement that even the aesthetic of a flying DeLorean fails to pique what was once the be-all end-all of consumer focused lust.
Instead my interests have moved to innovations in interface. The last few years have given us the iPhone, Wii, and Myvue glasses. Equally impressive are the readily available applications utilizing voice and gesture recognition. Gone (well, mostly) are the clunky VR helmets and subsequent segregation between developers and consumers.
But there is one tiny detail that permeates some of the newer tech out there, scarring like a drop of India ink on thirsty canvas; the fact that so much of it makes the wearer look like a tool.
It boggles the mind why Motorola went with such a massive design for the headsets the NFL movers and shakers are sporting. I'd love to have a pair of those Myvue glasses but seriously doubt I'd rock them on the morning train. While I'm quite forgiving with the majority of Bluetooth earpieces there are some out there that are just way too much. The same was true of hybrid vehicles for years, love the idea but good lord why can't you make it look normal?
Advances in interface, and in turn easier-to-use gadgets among wearable tech, should mirror that of the PipBoy 3000, Star Trek communicator badge, and to an extent the latest EyeTap. Many are heading in the right direction in terms of a different interface are more gimmicky than functional. I love using a free app for voiced web searching but do I really want to be in a public place yelling in that cell phone voice, "Where is the nearest BURRITO?"
Heck no.
I want my real time overlay and full data saturation in a decent looking information umbilicus. One day someone somewhere will engineer tiny wireless ear buds that double as a communication device. I'll listen to music and change play lists with a gesture or even a thought without the irksome snag of twin wires caught in a coat.
But I don't want a plastic headpiece that looks like it is fresh from a wind tunnel or anything that ever resembles what currently passes for a wearable computer. I know it's a lot to ask, but as my own personal threshold of the FUTURE it isn't much.
Remember, even Hiro got a snicker when he went custom gargoyle.
Further Reading:
21 Wearable Technologies
Myvu Crystal as a wearable head mounted display
igargoyle - Cyborg and wearable computing news
