Week in a Nutshell #21
Welcome to the twenty-first episode of the ‘Week in a Nutshell’ series,
Google I/O 2015 conference was so condensed in terms of product/project launches and announcements so I assume tech world spent the last week still trying to absorb all the news from Google I/O. Thanks a slow last week, I also had the chance to write more about Google I/O 2015.
Headlines:
Google unveils Project Soli, a radar-based wearable to control anything
Project Soli is a radar techology based chip tiny enough to fit into devices with all size such as smart watches and it can precisely detect motions such as finger, hand and arm movement. You might ask why this is important?
Project Soli could be a ground breaking new technology that could change the way we use existing input methods such as buttons, sliders and etc.. Imagine instead of tapping on a button to turn something on, you can basically tap your thumb with your index finger. I agree that this might sound like a scene from the Minority Report movie or the Black Mirror Tv series but this technology could create different use cases. Another example might be that you won’t need a TV remote because with a swipe of your finger you would be able to change channels, change the volume up and down.
Steve Jobs once said there is no better input method than our fingers and Project Soli can take that mentality into the next step. Products like Leap Motion and Xbox Kinect started this trend but I can clearly see that Project Soli has the potential to lead this technology field forward.
Google ATAP’s Project Jacquard Wants To Weave Sensors Into Your Clothes
Project Jacquard aims to bring innovation and interactivity to textile industry by using conductive yarns. Jacquard yarn looks like a regular yarn but the most important difference is it can transmit signals precisely using its conductive nature. This would allow designers to weave Jacquard yarn as if it’s a regular standard yarn. Imagine textile products we use in our daily lives could have interactivity between other textile products as well as tech devices.
Immediate use case that comes to my mind is think about getting your smartphone out of your jeans’ side pocket and Jacquard yarns weaved into the side pocket could send a signal to automatically unlock your smartphone. Potential advanced use case could be sports clothing weaved with Jacquard yarns tells us our muscles’ work rate during the exercise sessions. Possibilities could be endless.
We came to the end of the twenty-first episode of ‘Week in a Nutshell’ series. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be happy if you could comment, share, like and/or recommend it.
Thanks,
Birkan
Originally published at www.birkanicacan.com on June 7, 2015.
