For Wearable Tech, One Size Does Not Fit All @nprnews
Check out this story about how integral gender balance is when developing wearables on NPR’s All Tech Considered:
As in any new field of technology, there are problems with things that don’t fit or work quite right. But one of the biggest criticisms in wearables is one that resonates throughout the tech industry: the teams behind these devices are not diverse enough. Critics say that some wearables — like smart watches with huge faces or bands that don’t fit smaller wrists — are designed with men in mind.
Isabelle Olsson, the lead designer of Google Glass, says that’s why she is encouraging more women to enter the tech industry, not just as designers, but in all capacities. She was recruited by Google to turn the prototype for Glass — a phone taped to a pair of safety goggles — into something “beautiful and comfortable.”
Olsson, who worked primarily with furniture and jewelry before joining Google, tells NPR’s Arun Rath that packing all of the technology into a small space was only part of the challenge.
“The biggest challenge was how do you make something people want to wear, and how can we create something that people can really make their own?” Olsson says. “Which is, for wearables in general, one of the most important aspects.”
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!
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Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!