Last October we showed you an impressive iWatch concept based on Nike’s Fuel Band device. The mockup was quite impressive as it appears modern and sleek and mirrors a design Apple could produce, but commenters were quick to point out the orientation of the display wasn’t fit for primetime.
UI designer Todd Hamilton picked up on this and decided to iterate on that concept while solving the orientation problem:
I had some free time over the holidays so I decided to take a stab at the problem and create a more user friendly concept. I wanted to retain a slim form factor like the Fuelband and incorporate familiar UI components from iOS 7. It needed to feel natural on the wrist and look like something Apple would actually produce.
The result is quite nice as it maintains the same function as the previous wearable concept while iterating a step further on usability. Check out a video demo below:
[vimeo 84381995 w=704 h=528]
You can read Hamilton’s full blog post here.
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Amazing!!! Worried about Siri.
what’s to worry about?
I like it over all. An important part of the iWatch will be how the display is oriented and how you interact with it. In the first article referenced, the display is horizontal, and many people were quick to point out that, on the top of the wrist, that created orientation issues.
@kapleg made an observation in the comments of the linked article, that I thought was pretty great. If you roll the display to the bottom of the wrist and flip your wrist up, it’s actually a nice wide screen, oriented correctly toward the wearer. (If it was a display all the way around, or at least top and bottom, rolling the iWatch wouldn’t be necessary)
I think if the iWatch implemented a vertical interface like the video shows when it faces up, and then rotates horizontally when facing down, it would make for a nice combination. I like this video’s interface’s easy of use, and simplicity for a quick glance. Though I could also see how a vertical interface would be limited, and how a horizontal interface could do some things vertical couldn’t. I’m not sure if responding to a text is a function that needs to be done with an iWatch, but if so, a wide screen would help in situations like that, or at least reading the text. Also, for privacy, a display on the wrist would not be as viewable as the top of the wrist, when getting emails or text messages.
Love it. Hope someone makes something like this.
But why would I need an iWatch if I have a phone, iPad or mac. I hope the iWatch does more than duplicate features already available in other devices. Personally I think this is what the delay is about and it may be something we won’t see in awhile. All this blah blah about Apple not innovating would validate and make more noise if they only make an extension to the iPhone, iPad or mac.
Do you not understand that the Entire Essence of the device is the Bluetooth connection to the iPhone in your pocket?
the difference between the effort required to lift & unlock a phone from your pocket and raise & orient your wrist is negligible. if this device is primarily a way to save a couple minutes in a day and an hour of battery life, I’ll be sorely disappointed. Bluetooth is not a killer app in 2014.
One thing that would fix the potential orientation issue is if they have an easy way to change the orientation, like the nano. A two finger rotation may be hard on a screen with this aspect ration tho, so they’d need to find another way
Ok…and what would scrolling notifications look like? The device is oriented and shaped completely wrong for that.
I could see the iWatch being more like this design, all the other concepts just weren’t doing it for me but this I like. I hope Apple is looking at these styles of design as final product, that’s if they are making an ‘iWatch’, good job Todd Hamilton.
Looks really neat in concept. Don’t understand why he didn’t make the in call button vertical in origination as well, but whatever.
Can’t wait to see what Apple does with wearable tech.
I believe that was the hang up button not the call button and in that case it does make sense.
I think that this concept is totally technically possible: http://uioops.tumblr.com/post/74153674649/why-ios-in-the-car-leads-to-the-iwatch
cool concept…I just want quick glance at notifications, weather, navigation, caller id etc. that’s what will work on a watch. features like making calls, responding to text and emails won’t work on a watch. I would rather pull my phone out and do those things.
It looks like a bracelet. Good concept but if Apple comes out with one that looks like that only women will wear it. Just my thought on that.