By Nell Bennett
Computer power continues to open up an ever increasing diversity of applications, but you are guaranteed to bump into at least four people during your commute as they look at their phones instead of the path. You might have tried a sleep tracker but find you feel more tired when it tells you how disturbed your REM cycle was, and you may ‘accidentally’ mislay your fitness band when it fails to keep the pounds off.
With all this amazing, yet often frustrating potential, it is hardly surprising we have such a love-hate relationship with modern technology.
I have never been much of a techi. My family has never had a TV and I was the last kid in my class to get a phone. So I find it extraordinary that I am now a founder of a technology company. However I think my general reluctance to love and accept technology as it is, has been key to making a product that does not conform to the norm.
At the very outset it was not our aim to make a wearable. This is important as many wearables currently on the market do not need to be worn on the body since they conduct actions that can be done far better by your mobile phone. Having tested our device on many parts of the body, we discovered that it had to be situated on the wrist to perform its core function. To me this gives the product sincerity, which should be a key consideration for any designer.
We were keen that our piece of technology (doppel) should not feel like technology. We wanted an item that you could cherish and value, long after the tech within it had been superseded, just like watches – arguably the first wearable!
This ethos guides how we look at many aspects when creating our products. The way you interact with our device is through intuitive actions, that come naturally and instinctively, allowing us to steer clear of the screens, buttons and flashing lights that can so quickly date a device.
As we live so closely with technology every day, we must develop technological innovations that resonate with us emotionally. In an era of such mass consumerism and depleting resources the emotional connection must have longevity. Building products that are intended to become obsolete has to be a thing of the past. Even as we look at future generations of our device I am proud to see that the core benefit our users will gain from it will not seem diminished when the next version is released.
The use of technology in the wellness industry is expanding rapidly, which I find so exciting. As a society we are too willing to turn to drugs to “solve” our problems, unaware of the damage they wreak elsewhere in our body. Rethinking how we can use technology to tackle some of our issues is what drives me, and makes me so excited about exploring the future of internables and ingestables.
Although we have by no means created the ultimate wearable I am really excited to be exploring how we can interact with wearable technology differently, and build products that provide real benefits for years to come.
All thoughts in this blog are from Nell Bennett. Although they are referring to her work with doppel, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.