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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 18 2018, @08:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the less-is-more dept.

El Reg:

Five years ago, a collective mania overtook the industry. Nobody could think of a clear reason why consumers needed an expensive "smart" watch when they already had a smartphone in their hand, pocket or bag. What value could it deliver? Even Google didn't seem sure: in its now notorious launch video, a punter used a watch simply to replicate features on their phone. But the industry convinced itself that wearables were another platform, and nobody wanted to be a sad second in this race. So the giants entered the market. Not because they wanted to, but as a hedge. Someone else might take a lead.

As we predicted in 2014, this was a solution looking for a problem. And an expensive one, at that.

Are wearable devices whose OS wakes up only when needed for smart features the answer?


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 18 2018, @10:14PM (2 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday July 18 2018, @10:14PM (#709037) Journal

    And learn from Google Glass - don't put a camera on either device.

    That's bizarre. The camera is the most useful function, allowing you to quickly take video/photos while aiming with your head. It's also what would allow the device to sense objects and features in the environment in order to overlay data - augmented reality.

    What should be done is to make all of the electronics, display, and the camera as unobtrusive as possible. No Borg-like bulk, fit all of the SoC and battery into the frame of the glasses. Increase the frame size a little bit if you have to. No little display hanging off in the corner (which causes eyestrain and makes you stand out), the lenses should act as two "full" field of view displays. Camera(s) (having two could allow VR180 [soylentnews.org] recording) should blend in with the frame. Black on black. No red light to tell people you are recording, that is for wusses. You have no expectation of privacy out in public, and your ability to record surreptitiously could be very helpful to you.

    The problem with Google Glass was that it was very noticeable that you were wearing it. And it shoved everything into a corner instead of giving a HoloLens-like AR experience. HoloLens itself is too big and obtrusive to use while walking down the street, but it is at least on the right track.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @03:07AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19 2018, @03:07AM (#709179)

    I can tell you its about the last thing you want to see someone wearing in the privacy of the toilet.

    I have enough fits trying to get the piss out of me and into the urinal without runback and wetting my own pants in the process... and if I saw anyone filming my attempts, I simply can't express how hard I would want to put my fist right through that glasses-laden face that's filming me.