The best way to figure out where technology is going is to look back at the tech startups whose business is booming. Modern wearable technology has greatly introduced a change in how we’re able to access information, and introduced a predominant digital interaction with the world that will only expand over time; therefore, big companies like Samsung and Facebook are looking back to these startups to determine their own future. Wearable technology is now branching out into two directions: watches and headgear.
Watches:
Though some might argue the concept was first developed by Sony almost a decade ago, Sony invented the smart watch to the same extent that Microsoft invented the tablet. Yes, they were first, but in both cases the products were too limited and didn’t appeal to the right demographic. Therefore, it could be said that Pebble is to the smart watch what Apple is to tablet industry. Pebble, one of these companies getting started through Kickstarter-a website that allows people to get funding from the general public to develop their products- launched the most successful campaigns in the website’s history. Though initially setting a $100,000 goal to launch their product, in mere weeks they accomplished 10,266% of their set goal, which is just over ten million dollars. This incredible success story of course sparked the begging of the smart watch industry, with Samsung rapidly developing their Galaxy Gear line (which just recently announced its second generation, made up of three devices), attempting to take advantage of the momentum created by Pebble.
Smart watches definitely alter our access to information and introduce a digital interaction with the world. People possessing these gadgets now have unrestricted access to their phones, and all the technological potential that comes along with. Though different watches have different focuses, they all have the goals of getting information and control over technology in a more convenient manner for the user. Take the aforementioned Pebble watch (Mail on Sunday, 2013), for example. This watch provides mainly a pager-style focus-popping up notifications on the screen- yet the amount of control over the phone is limited to skipping songs. Hence, its main focus, quite like the old fashioned pager, is just getting information across: be it a text message, call or notification. On the completely opposite side of the spectrum lies the Samsung Gear line, which has the objective of providing a cell phone on your wrist at all costs. Equipped with speakers, microphone, camera, touch screen and its own memory, the Gear is just a SIM card slot away from replacing your phone with the convenience of being on your wrist.
Headgear: Taking a look at Kickstarter success stories, and the products they have sparked in other companies, headgear definitely takes a close second place to the smart watch. The largest success story in this category is the Oculus Rift. This ski mask lookalike creates a virtual reality for you. Using surprisingly simple technology, like gyroscopes, a couple accelerometers and curved screen technology, this company was able to get more than 2 million in funding from the public to develop their product. Using this product any digital image can be made to look as if the user is within it in a 3D environment, leading of course to great applications in video game development and virtual tourism (a developing niche for startups). The corollary to this product presented itself later on with the Omni. This product took reality virtualization to a completely new level. Omni combines an Oculus Rift like headpiece, with a whole body structure so that your feet’s movement is actually modeled into the computer. This enables the user to perform the actions of both the sticks on modern videogame controllers, given one is used to move around the map (now performed by your actual feet), and the other to decide where you’re looking and headed, now provided by your head gear.
Interestingly enough, Facebook has quite recently announced its acquisition of the Oculus Rift for a net worth of 2 billion dollars divided amongst cash, stock, and future dividends (Van Grove, 2014). This once again demonstrates how these small startups focusing on wearable technology are determining where technology is headed and big companies are merely attempting to keep up with their humongous resources. Still, with the right direction, Facebook’s resources could prove to be an immense driving force for the development and consumer implementation of such technologies as the Oculus Rift.
Big companies have demonstrated they no longer lead innovation as they used to, but are forced to look back at these startups to get it. The internet is a world of ideas and global cooperation. Websites such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have made the best ideas come to life in a way that, comparatively analyzing it, in the past only big companies could. For the first time, the Who’s Who of the technology world is not dictated by the most powerful and economically solvent, but by those with the best ideas.