Third Wave Fashion // MARCH 2014 // THE FIT TECH ISSUE | Page 15
THE WORLD AROUND US
WEARABLES
1.
1. MICROMANAGING 101: EMPLOYEE
TRACKING
Wearables in the workplace are
typically reserved for life trackers, but
what if your company was tracking
you and other employees? As if “Big
Brother” weren’t already breathing
down enough necks, the Hitachi
Business Microscope seems like it’s
going to do just that thanks to the
ability to pack sensors into employee
ID badges. Hitachi believes that the
trackers will provide businesses
insight into how their employees
interact and move around the office,
ultimately improving the atmosphere
in the workplace. Imagine what that
technology in a shopping cart or a bag
in brick and mortars could do. PSFK
2. THE FORCE RECALL
2.
Fitbit officially recalled its Force
activity tracker aer complaints of
skin irritations rolled in from a small
percentage of users. e irritation was
believed to be caused by either nickel
or adhesives used in the band itself,
and CEO James Park openly
apologized for the problem. Force
owners have the option to receive full
refunds for the inconvenience, but it
isn’t all bad for Fitbit as their “next
generation tracker” is already on the
horizon according to Park. CNN
3. SMELL YOU LATER
Sure, it’s what the Fresh Prince said once he got to BelAir, but thanks to a hardworking designer at e New
School now you can literally smell the time pass. As
many smartwatches offer vibrations and sounds to alert
the wearer to the passing of time, Scent Rhythm uses
aroma as a pleasant reminder that time is driing by.
Granted, the day consists of four six-hour periods with
the scent-watch, but considering how oen smell has
been connected to memory, the use of scent throughout
the business day could serve a secondary purpose
outside of time management. (Editor’s note: In the
everything old is new again file, we note that Buddhist
monks have long used burning incense to signal the
passage of time during meditation practice.)
FAST COMPANY
4. NETFLIX HACKS ARE SO MUCH MORE
So what if you fall asleep during a movie or a show?
Netflix engineers have attempted solved that problem
with a Fitbit hack that uses the wearable’s sleep tracking
ability to determine when you fall asleep during a movie,
and pauses it. e engineers didn’t stop with Fitbit
though, they also developed a hack for iBeacon devices
that allows users to “bump” videos from one to another.
(Editor’s note: Our advisor Josh Clark (who you met in
last month’s issue and his friend Larry Legend developed
a bumping technology for music, watch the video here.)
VENTUREBEAT
4.
// 13