The Future of Wearables

@brookecreefTHE FUTURE OF WEARABLES

Welcome everyone to my talk on the future of wearable design and thank you all for coming.

IM BROOKE CREEFUX CONSULTANT@brookecreef

A little bit about me, Im a UX consultant here at Slalom. My passion lies on the IA side of the UX spectrum and in particular, emerging markets and internet of things.

Today I am going to talk about the future of wearable design and its potential to create hyper-personalized sensory experiences that expand our individual realities.

Today I am going to talk about the future of wearable design and its potential to create hyper-personalized sensory experiences that expand our individual realities.

My presentation is inspired by this guy, Alastair Somerville.

Ben, Mark and I attended his workshop, Designing for Wearables at UX Week.

My presentation is inspired by this guy, Alastair Somerville. Ben, Mark and I attended his workshop, Designing for Wearables at UX Week.

123What is reality?How wearable technology Can Expand Reality?Why is this Important for designers?My Objectives

My Objectives

What is reality?How wearable technology can expand reality?Why is this important for designers?

1What is Reality?

What is reality?

The brain is the ultimate storyteller.

David Eagleman

The Brain is the Ultimate Storyteller quotes David Eagleman

To illustrate this topic, lets start with a quick visualization exercise.What is Reality?1

To illustrate the concept of reality lets start with a quick visualization exercise.

VISUALIZATIONEXERCISE

Close your eyes and take a few depth breaths. Visualize a crisp fall day, not a cloud in the sky. Your heart races with excitement because today you are going with a group of friends to Six Flags. The car ride is filled with laugher and excitement for the days adventure. As you enter the park, the smell of popcorn and caramel apples covers the air. You hear music in the distance. The group races to the line and waits for whats seems like eternity. The sun beats down on your skin and you hear the whizzing of carts in the distance. Now the time has come. As you enter the ride, you strap the seat belt securely in place. Soon after, off you go as your jolted back. Your mouth becomes dry as you hear the clink, clink, clink of the metal when you start the initial climb. Your breath gets quicker, your palms grasp the bar ahead of you, and your eyes squint as you look up into the sun. Off you go and your stomach goes up and down with each twist and turn. More laughter, more screams of delight and some of panic fill the air. As the experience comes to an end, you are aware that all of your 5 senses, sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell were extremely heightened and years later you are able to recall this experience with vivid imagery.

I chose start with describing the experience of riding a roller coaster to illustrate the effect our senses have on how we remember and experience the world.What is Reality?1

I chose start with describing the experience of riding a roller coaster to illustrate the effect our senses have on how we remember and experience the world.

We all experience the world through our own reality constructed through our own sensory perceptions. Moreover, the more sensory inputs that are heightened, the greater level of memory recall.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores the wonders of the human brain and reveals the ultimate story of us, why we feel and think the things we do.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores the wonders of the human brain and reveals the ultimate story of us, why we feel and think the things we do

In his Ted talk, David explains how we make meaning of the world around us. He stresses that because we are embedded in a very large cosmos, it is impossible for us to understand reality because our brains havent evolved to understand the world at that scale.

Further, David explains that we're trapped on this very thin slice of perception.And even here we're not seeing most of the action that's going on.For instance, take the colors of our world.These are light waves, that bounce off objectsand hit specialized receptors in the back of our eyes.But we're not seeing all the waves out there.In fact, what we seeis less than 10 trillionth of what's out there.So you have radio waves passing through your body right nowand you're completely unaware of it,because you don't come with the proper biological receptorsfor picking it up.There are thousands of cell phone conversationspassing through you right now,and you're utterly blind to it.

Umwelt examples.What is Reality?1

Umwelt examples.

David goes on further to explain that it's not that these things are inherently unseeable.It is just that our biological makeup doesnt come equipped to absorb reality at every scale. It would be nearly impossible and also very chaotic to pick up on every signal passing through our body. Each living creature comes equipped with different sensory receptors. Snakes include some infrared in their reality,and honeybees include ultraviolet in their view of the world,and of course we build machines in the dashboards of our carsto pick up on signals in the radio frequency range,and we built machines in hospitals to pick up on the X-ray range.But we can't sense any of those by ourselves,at least not yet, because we don't come equipped with the proper sensors.

He asserts that's the slice of the ecosystem that we can pick up on,and there is a word for this in science.It's called the umwelt,which is the German word for the surrounding world.Now, presumably, every animal assumesthat its umwelt is the entire objective reality out there,because why would you ever stop to imaginethat there's something beyond what we can sense.Instead, what we all do is we accept realityas it's presented to us.

MEET BELLA!And her sensory world.

Meet Bella and her sensory world!

To illustrate the differences in umwelt across species, lets talk about Bella. Isnt she sweet? She is a funny creature no doubt. Her sensory world is much different than ours. Looking at her tongue one would think she has a very refined palette. Unfortunately for her this is not the case; her sense of taste is the least developed of all the senses. Hearing and smell are the two most developed with touch and sight being somewhere in the middle of her sensory world. Bellas reality is far different than ours - her sniffer is her best friend and she views the world in muted grays. So when designing for dogs, smell is the primary sense to focus on, the smellier the better. This seems to explain their food.

When framing our sensory world, our brain absorbs information and creates patterns to apply meaning and define our reality.What is Reality?1

When framing our sensory world, our brain absorbs information and creates patterns to apply meaning and define our reality.

Our perception of reality has less to do with what is happening in the world and more to do with how our brain is processing the information.

Electromagnetic signals travel through neurons to the brain, and our brain looks for patterns to assign meaning to this information. All information is essentially the same, and our senses are peripherals for assigning meaning.

Embodied cognition and consciousness.What is Reality?1

Embodied cognition and consciousness.

But we arent just brains in a bottle we are thinking through/with our physicality. The body and the brain are absolutely matched together. The brain and the body are simultaneously sensing and creating at the same time. There isphysical relationship - the body and the brain mirror themselves.

Every type of sensory information takes a different time to process.What is Reality?1

Every type of sensory information takes a different time to process.

Your Senses - Touch, Smell, Taste, Sight, and Hearing - most people think these are all happening at once. The are not, they are being reordered.

SENSORY YMCA EXERCISE

To demonstrate how we process information, Im going to have a group exercise called Sensory YMCA.

I need 2 volunteers to start.

Person a - Im going to tell you a task and then I want you to repeat that task. Please raise and lower your left hand. This an example of how we process information. Lets see it again. This time, please raise and lower your right hand. As you can see, the brain absorbs the information and body proceeds with action based off this information. There is a delay.

Next - Now I am going to further illustrate this delayed processing of information. Im going to have Person A and B face each other. Then Im going to whisper what task I want Person B to simulate and then Person A is going to mirror this task.

I walk behind person B and whisper for them to kick their right leg out person B kicks their right leg out and person A responds by mirroring the action.

Person B represents the brain, person A represents the body.

Now lets see it again. This time I whisper for the person B to raise their right hand. And person A mirrors the action. The brain again absorbs information and the body responds accordingly.

Finally the fun begins. I need 4 volunteers for the YMCA portion of this exercise. Each person from the C group has been given a letter to hold up. These people will stand behind person A and hold up one letter at a time as I tap them. Person B will take in this information and simulate the letter and Person A announces the letter based off this simulation.

Tap Y - B acts out, A announces the letterTap M - B acts out, A announces the letterTap C - B acts out, A announces the letterTap A - B acts out, A announces the letter

Person C represents the stimulus, B represents the brain, and A represents the body. There is a clear delay in processing time as the brain takes in the information and the body responds.

The preceding exercise conveys the notion of cognitive slop time.

What is Reality?1

The preceding exercise conveys the notion of cognitive slop time.

The brain makes sense of what its processing. Theres aslight delay between what has actually happened and what we perceive.

Cognitive slop time is less for sound vs. what we see which is why our brain relies on this the most. This time delay influences our perception, subsequently building an individual reality based on our own awareness. By recognizing, understanding, and leveraging cognitive slop time we can enhance the experiences of users through wearable technology.

2How can wearable technology expand our reality?

Next, how can wearable technology expand our reality?

Designing for wearables is more then strapping a screen toyour wrist.

Alastair Somerville

Designing for wearables is more then strapping a screen to your wrist. says Alastair Somerville.

Now that we have discussed how our brains process information, the next step is to explore how wearable technology can expand our senses and ultimately our reality by delivering contextually relevant experiences.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Now that we have discussed how our brains process information, the next step is to explore how wearable technology can expand our senses and ultimately our reality by delivering contextually relevant experiences.

Sensational

Emotional

Behavioral

Physical2Lets start with a high level overview of Alastair Somervilles Sensory UX Theory.

Lets start with a high-level overview of Alastair Somervilles Sensory UX theory

There are 4 tenets1.Physical the physical environment2.Sensational how we absorb our reality through our senses3.Emotional we apply emotional meaning to messages4.Behavioral the actions we take based on this information

How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Alastair notes that in regards to the physical environment it is important to note Thomas Wendts theory, Design for Dasein.

Wendt asserts that we must think about the user in a space, amongst people with a purpose. His theory takes into account Phenomenology, the study of human experience as it pertains to UX.

First tenet is of phenomenology is all experience occurs within a use context.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Phenomenology has 3 tenets:

First, is all experience occurs within a use context

This is not new to designers, context is key when thinking out any experience because the context of use shapes that entire experience

Second tenet is of phenomenology is that technology use creates our world.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Second, technology use creates ourselves and our world

There is reciprocal relationship between humans, environments in the world and the objects within that space

Third tenet of phenomenology is that technology affects experiences at a mundane, systems and evolutionary level.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Third, technology affects experiences at a mundane, systems and evolutionary level.

Philosopher Martin Heideggers InfluenceHow can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Philosopher Martin Heideggers Influence

Dasein translates to literally being there is the individuals mode of being in the world. Heideggers says that humans and their world are not separate. We do not act upon the world as if the world is out there. Rather, human and world are inherently connected through action. Dasein loses itself within action but is also self-reflective, in much of the same way a musician loses herself in the moment but still reflects on her practice. Dasein is both invisible and conspicuous

Wendt goes on to explain that Heidegger characterizes everyday life as being an engaged, absorbed involvement in a undifferentiated world. Specifically, he maintains that the identity of an object is understood via potential actions also known as affordances.

We communicate affordances through accessibility and meaning.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

We communicate affordances through accessibility and meaning.

Potential actions and meaning are communicated in multiple formats to ensure that everyone receives equal access to information. Specifically, in this context, I am not talking about designing for disabilities only, but rather making sure information is accessible in multiple formats so individuals can receive the information through the medium best suited for them. Everyone has different learning styles and it is imperative that we acknowledge and design for these.

Understandability usability.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Understandability usability.

To illustrate this topic, think about the notification nightmare. There are too many notifications being thrown at us at once. How do we prioritize them?

1. TimingHow can wearable technology expand our reality?2

1. Timing

The timing of relevant information is essential. Pertinent notifications are sent within a specified time frame or when a user enters an environments physical space.

2. MeaningHow can wearable technology expand our reality?2

2. Meaning

Users assign meaning.

There are 2 parts to a conversation.a.Output what you saya.Input confirming understanding

Meaning is in the reply. The user holds the meaning and creates the meaning with you.

Meaning has social, personal, and input implications that vary by individual.

As in the notification example, meaning is established when an action is asserted in response to the notification.

3. VolumeHow can wearable technology expand our reality?2

3. Volume

Refers to actual sensory level. Examples are sound level, color brightness, taste intensity, odor level, and the heat intensity in touch.

As in the notification example, designers can vary the speed and intensity of vibrations when a notification is pressing.

4. LoadHow can wearable technology expand our reality?2

4. Load

When thinking about the user in an environment working with the device, we must take into account cognitive load. Taking the time to understand what information is being thrown onto the user and in what order we process this information.

Think back to the earlier exercise on how we order the senses and sound being the most important. Because we process sound most quickly, it makes sense for primary notifications to be delivered this way.

To address the 4 tenets of usability, we must emily multimodal design.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

To address the 4 tenets of usability, we must employ multimodal design.

Multimodal design refers to choosing the right senses to deliver relevant information at the right time in the right place.

Where this crosses over with digital design is in the new areas of post screen interaction, wearables and Internet of Things. All of these are about the person in a place, at a time, solving a problem.

Now that we have seen how we experience our reality, the next question is do we have to be stuck there?How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Now that we have seen how we experience our reality, the next question is do we have to be stuck there?

To illustrate this, Im going to play an excerpt from David Eaglemans Ted Talk, Can we create new senses for humans?

TED

Key points from Davids talk:

Wearable technology has the ability to expand our senses.

We must ask ourselves how do we want to go out and experience our universe.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Amazing, isnt it. My mom has a cochlear implant and when I told her about Davids vest, she was thrilled of his non-invasive alternative.

Key points from Davids talk:

Wearable technology has the ability to expand our senses.We must ask ourselves how do we want to go out and experience our universe?

3WHy is this important for designers?

The final objective is why is this important for designers?

Meaning lies with user.Our job is to enhance the meaning.

Alastair Somerville

Meaning lies with the user. Our job is to enhance the meaning. says Alastair Somerville.

The first observation is that designing for multiple senses drastically increases the product experience.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

There are several reasons that a sensory UX approach is important to wearable design.

The first observation is that designing for multiple senses drastically increases the product experience.

To illustrate this, lets look at Jinop Lees 5 senses graph.

TED

Key points from his example:

Along the y-axis we have a scale from 1-10 and along the x-axis we have the five senses. Jinop maintains that every memorable experience maintains a high-level of multiple sensory experiences.

Employing multiple modalities also serves more chance for recall later.How can wearable technology expand our reality?2

Pretty neat design tool isnt it?.

Key points from his example

Along the y-axis we have a scale from 1-10 and along the x-axis we have the five senses. He maintains that that every memorable experience has a high-level of multiple sensory experiences.

Employing multiple modalities also serves more chance for recall later.

To examine this further, lets look at the 5 senses graph in action. First up, low level sensory experiences.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

To examine this further, lets look at the five senses graph in action.

First up low level sensory experiences

Messages onApple Watch

Messages on Apple Watch

One con of this design is that you dont know who is messaging until you look at the screen.

Also, the Apple Watch isnt designed to replace your iPhone, in fact the device depends on it and many of the apps are really just displays for whats running on your phone. Furthermore, some key features arent available if you arent paired to an iOS device.

Logging meals on Fitbit

Logging meals on Fitbit

Logging food can be done by either selecting a food product from the populated list or manually entering the information.

I dont even think I need to point out the obvious potential areas for error in both recall and input.

Beddit Sleep Sensor

Beddit Sleep Sensor

Sensor strap fits under your bed sheet. The sensitive force sensor in Beddit tracks small vibrations caused by heartbeats, breathing and movements.

Potential challenges in this design are accuracy as well as no device changes are made based off the resulting data. This product is used only for gathering statistics on sleep patterns but the device does nothing to help improve sleep.

Now, lets look at 3 high-level sensory experiences.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

Now, lets look at 3 high-level sensory experiences.

Text messages attached with smells

Text messages attached with smells

David Edwards, a Harvard Professor has turned his work to the fusion of art and science. Specifically, he has created a product called the oPhone that is tackling the human dream of sending smells to one another. The device lets users take a picture of an object and then choose the corresponding scent from a list of oMessages to send someone who has an oPhone near by. They can then see and smell the message. How does this work? The device itself can be loaded with scent cartridges called oWicks, that are infused with scents. When a message comes through, a signal is sent to the chip and the oPhone spins the correct scent into the path of a small fan, which sends the sent into the air.

Hapifork

A second example is Hapifork.

David Rose talks about the Hapifork in his book, Enchanted Objects, where David focuses on technology that integrates itself with everyday objects. The Hapifork is an electronic fork that helps monitor and track your eating habits. It also alerts you with the help of indicator lights and gentle vibrations when you are eating too fast. The Hapifork measuresa.How long it took to eat your mealb.The amount of fork servings taken per minutec.Intervals between fork servings

Neuroon

Our 3rd example is the Neuroon.

The Neuroon is designed to work as a sleep mask and neural sensor. The system knows when you are in deep REM sleep and slowly wakes you with vibrations and light flickers when it is time to wake up.

As you can see the five senses graph is a very useful tool for evaluating and improving designs. Adding even one sensory input drastically improves how the user experiences a product and also adds greater memory recall.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

As you can see the five senses graph is a very useful tool for evaluating and improving designs. Adding even one sensory input drastically improves how the user experiences a product and also adds greater memory recall.

Moreover, by engaging in multiple sensory inputs, designers are able to get a more accurate reading on the body and the brain resulting in delivering a better product.

The second reason to employ sensory UX is that there is no single compelling use case for wearables.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

The second reason to employ sensory UX is that there is no single compelling use case for wearables.

Because of the inherit personalization of wearables, there is no one size fits all design. Every user will want to accomplish specific tasks so making information accessible to multiple sensory inputs is key.

Each task will draw on specific sensory inputs to work with the information and assign patterns of meaning to the user.

Additionally, having multiple inputs helps gain a more accurate reading on body signals and add to memory recall.

Finally, remember that the user defines the meaning.How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

Finally, remember that the user defines the meaning.

As stated earlier, meaning is defined by the user and closely tied to how he or she experiences reality.

The question, we as designers, are tasked with is how do we enhance the meaning and ultimately the users reality?How can wearable technology expand our reality?3

The question, we as designers, are tasked with is how do we enhance the meaning and ultimately the users reality?

Through personalization we can deepen experiences.

We do this by designing for multiple sensory experiences that focus on the user in a space while simultaneously allowing for greater memory recall and emotional attachment.

THANK YOU!Share if you liked this deck! @Brookecreef

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QA

@brookecreef

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