You know how, the other day, I wrote about the humble alarm clock needing an update? Well recently I was looking for a new wristwatch and I though the same thing, but I couldn’t really think of what else you could get it to do (I wrote about using them to record medical data afterwards), there already seemed to be watches that did a variety of things to varying degrees of usefulness, but I felt there was something more, I just couldn’t think what. Some other people haven’t had that problem though, because the Pebble, a Kickstarter project, has been garnering a lot of press, not least for it’s desire to allow apps (and the fact that they’ve raise several million dollars in pledges).

I haven’t found a watch as such (I have a temporary one) and the Pebble is due in September, I may wait and see.  I briefly thought of using an iPod Nano with one of the watch bands available.  The idea of having storage, music and whatever else on my wrist along with telling the time appealed.  But you have to charge them quite often (at least you can charge them, it was changing the battery that killed my last watch, hence the hunt) and I doubted I call on the music (requiring I carry headphones all the time) or other facilities all that often. Continue reading →

I have some great ideas (at least I think so), but I’m never going to get around to bringing them into reality, so I’m going throw them up here in the hope someone can capitalise on them (and assuming I can remember them) and at least I can benefit.  First up: lamp timers, those things you plug into sockets, not just to switch lamps on and off, but that’s what they mainly seem to be used for.

In my lounge, like many people, I have a lamp that runs off a timer.  Mainly to turn on in the evening, partly for security, but also on winter mornings I have it come on so I’m not groping around in the dark.  The problem is keeping it updated with when it needs to come on.  In winter the light needs to come on sometimes at 5pm or earlier, while as we get to the height of summer it’s more like 9 or 10pm.  This is not a new, or I’m sure unique, problem.

My idea then is simple: add a light sensor.  Set the time to switch the lamp on and, before it comes on, a light sensor checks the ambient light.  If it’s too light (this may need to be adjustable), then the lamp doesn’t switch on until the light level drops. Obviously it needs some sort of override to stop it promptly switching itself off when the lamp turns on and the light level rises.

I’m not sure I’ve worked out all the kinks yet, for example, how does it handle plugs that are behind something?  That’s part of the reason for the adjustable level check, maybe an extendable sensor to get it closer to the light would work. Continue reading →

So Google recently announced its Project Glass, augmented reality glasses to put information not just at your finger tips, but in front of your eyes all day, every day (check out the snazzy video).  What it showed isn’t available yet, but anyone who thinks this is science fiction that won’t become fact is deluded.  This is just the next iteration of our desire to have access to information as quickly as possible wherever we are.  Smartphones are the current pinnacle of this need, but it was always bound to move forward and projected screens are the next step.

There’s already been talk about contact lenses that can project images in front of your eyes, which are already showing promise and are probably the next step after the glasses/goggles that Google is suggestion.  After that you’re probably looking at something to influence the optic nerve (they’re basically electrical impulses after all), initially outside the skull, but eventually buried in your skull.  To support this we’re going to need new ways to interact, speech isn’t going to cut it in all instances, so some sort of pupil or thought navigation would be my guess. Continue reading →