Smartwatches Should Be Round

One feature of the new Apple smartwatch is the knob on the side called the Digital Crown.  After seeing it demonstrated with a map, I would liken it to a mouse's simple but versatile scroll wheel as well as other digital knobs.  I agree that due to their small size some type of scroll device is probably a logical user interface feature for any smartwatch. However, since watches are normally round, my first thought was why use an angled wheel the surrounds the face.  After thinking about how the BlackBerry Playbook enables touch beyond the screen, the realised that it did not have to be a physical wheel but should be virtual touch circle.

With this the user would simply make the motions associated with rotating or scrolling by swiping anywhere around the face.  This would make zooming in or out on the watch similar to how a optical lens is zoomed or focused.  Making it angled would also allow for other interactions with the user, such as tapping or double tapping at specific locations related to the screen.  For example, the numbers zero to nine could be represented by the clock locations for twelve o'clock to nine o'clock with ten and eleven used for special purposes, such as the pound and star keys.  This seems like an easy to learn and elegant way to interact with a smartwatch.

Sadly, however, it seems that many smartwatches are designed with an rectangular face rather then a round face.   While I understand the efficiently of why rectangles are used for smartphones, tablets and computer monitors, smartwatches are not used in the same way as smartphones, tablets or computers.  It is unlikely someone would want to read a novel on their smartwatch or write a document.  They might video conference or watch as video, but letter boxing or simply removing the corners would be as acceptable as using a smartwatch for these purposes in the first place.

If smartwatches require a scroll wheel to create an acceptable user experience, then it would seem prudent for companies to design smartwatches that implement the user interface design described above.  Therefore, smartwatches should be round rather then rectangles.

Personal Navigation Using Self-Driving Technology

If you are blind, the current solution is to provide you with a seeing eye dog. Seeing eye dogs seem to work ok, but I started wondering if self driving technology,  such as what Google is developing mixed with navigation software, that is already used to replace seeing eye dogs, would be better.

Imagine if a person could be provided with a hat/glasses that would have the same sensors as the cars, but they would be smaller, easy to wear and look less out of place. An ear bud (and/or other feedback device) would direct the person as they navigated the street. It could provide directions with the same level of detail that they would get if a human were leading the person. 

For example, a navigation sequence could be:

• Keep walking along the sidewalk straight
• Watch out for the paper box to the right in three meters
• There is a puddle in four meters that is one meter long and one meter wide
• You have turned enough to a avoid the puddle
• You have turned enough to keep from leaving the sidewalk
• You will be clear of the puddle in two meters
• You are approaching a crosswalk in three meters. Press the button at you right upon arrival.
• Your hand is too high
• Your hand is on the button
• The walk sign is on, proceed five meters straight to the other side

Should Wearable Devices Not Be All-In-One Devices?

Wearable computers, whether they are watches or heads-up displays are becoming popular but they all suffer from the same problem: they are self contained. Despite the need for them to be extremely small, for what they are designed to do they need to contain all the basic components found in a smartphone.  This means that components that normally need to be bulky, such as the battery, are forced to be undersized and therefore do not meet user expectations.

For example, according to techradar, the Google Glass only lasts for five hours with normal use and less then an hour when recording video.  Since a day is twenty-four hours long,  this is clearly unacceptable if it is going to be as an essential part of peoples daily lives as a regular watch or smartphone is now. 

While new technology may mitigate these problems, after my experience with the Timex Datalink and seeing how smartphones features often offload work to "the cloud" (like voice recognition), I am wondering if wearable devices should be treated more like portable monitors/keyboards/sensors/etc. and less like full computers. While they might have some basic functions(time, authentication), any serious functionality would be carried out using your smartphone or by a device that is also worn but its bulk is more easily hidden or accommodated by the user.

The challenge of course would be how to connect the two without creating more problems. Wireless is often the knee jerk choice and it might be up to the task but power and security issues might also make this unworkable. Seeing as many people already use wired headphones/ear buds, I feel that some form of wired technology is possibly the best option.  Not only could the wire provide power, but it could be fast and secure.   The challenge is how can the current awkward to user wire be improved for all day wearing and possibly even be able to run down the users arm.

I would envision this would be analogous to wiring a building with Ethernet, where twisted pair cables are put in the walls and devices attach to the network using the standard jacks that are available wherever there is an anticipated need.  A standard wire or other communication medium would be stabled with access points distributed around.

The best solutions will be ones that can integrate the wire with the user's body or clothing to create something comfortable to wear without much work. This could include something that the user can attach to themselves or by using something that occurs naturally like the body's electricity or movement.  Of course, another option would be implanting the wire in user.

I think this could also be invaluable to the medical community as it would make it easy to connect and power implanted medical devices. The public would probably be most adverse to this, a least for now.  But as people see how well these new devices work, wiring people may become as normal as getting an immunisation, getting cavities filled or having a pace maker installed.

In the future, it could simply be normal for everyone's body to be outfitted their own Personal Network of interdependent devices.