Update March 25, 2014: Finally good news arrived. It seems like Google co-operates with design companies to get its Google Glass (and future products?) running.
Wearable devices seem to be the technology-trend of 2013 and beyond. While I can’t wait to hold a device like Google Glass (or the maybe upcoming Apple watch) in my hands, I’m really curios about how these companies will proceed regarding general questions about taste and style of their users:
Wearing glasses or watches is very different from carrying a smart phone or tablet computer. While smart phones and tablets easily hide in your bag you cannot do so with a watch or glasses. Well, you could – but what’s the point in doing so. So, there is a challenge designing these devices to suit people’s taste. If I wore glasses I would want them to look good. And more than that: I want to choose from a selection of types to find the one which best suits my face. With watches this would be the same. Both represent not only necessary and useful items but also individual gems. And as gems there is a much higher need to create a selection to choose from. People love to have a individual style – just like for clothes, wearable technology needs to suit that need.
I think, companies like Google or Apple will have to come up with a solution for that. If there was only let’s say five different Google Glass designs all from a technology company, I don’t think people will quickly adopt this new technology. This might be easier for people who never wore glasses before. For those people these new devices might be just another technology-shift. For those who wore glasses before the decision whether to change to Google Glass or not will be based on the variety of designs available.
Maybe the answer lies in creating joint ventures with designers and fashion companies. If Google comes along with Google Glass technology built into e.g. Ray-Ban glasses, I would more than fancy buying those. I’m pretty sure that Google is already negotiating with design firms to do exactly that. Once the technology built into Google Glass is smaller and easier to integrate in other glasses, this technology will be a mayor break-through. What about Apple? Will Apple integrate their whatever to be released wearable devices into third-party designs? Maybe this will become necessary to compete in a market which will be more and more based on the need for individual / variable technology designs.
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