Because of the small display smartwatches and other wrist-worn devices have, they rarely are able to give users the amount of usability and control that they require of a connected device. That is why most people long for bigger screen real estate on a smartwatch. And since it is not available nor practical, they default back to their smartphones, which has the larger screen and usability they need – they just are not able to wear their phones on their wrists, of course.
To resolve that issue, some people have dreamt of projecting a smartwatch’s display on the users hands. There have been many who aimed to try this, but not one has succeeded. Enter developer Robert Xiao and his LumiWatch project. Essentially, this looks to be a smartwatch with a pico projector and a touch sensor that is able to distinguish gestures as the display is projected to the top of the user’s arm. See the video below.
The LumiWatch again presents the argument for on-skin projection to give the user a bigger space to work with. Because of the unpredictable nature of the skin’s surface and curvature, the device must take into consideration these variables and provide the user a display image that is legible and usable.
The LumiWatch is not yet a real product, but what these developers have demonstrated is that the project can be constructed to a full marketable product. Now we wonder who of the manufacturers will bite at this one?
SOURCE: Robert Xiao
