As more and more wearables are released, one designer creates ‘Grasp’, a wearable that teaches its wearers how to do things.
We need to face it: the wearable revolution is coming and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Soon everybody will be wearing hi-tech gadgets, from barely noticeable fitness bands to stylish smartwatches to goggles that people strap to their faces either outside of the home or in front of their games consoles. What’s important though, is that wearables aren’t just gimmicks and that they actually improve our lives in some way. Sure, Google Glass may let us take pictures as we’re out and about and it may even provide us with maps, but can’t we already do that stuff with our smartphones?
Looking to be a genuinely useful wearable is Grasp. Created by Akarsch Sanghi, an interaction designer from Copenhagen, Denmark, Grasp aims to help its wearer with physical tasks. Worn like a pirate’s parrot, right on the shoulder, Grasp is a little chunky and more than a bit unsightly but equipped with a camera, a speaker, a microphone and even a laser pointer, it has plenty of benefits.
The idea is, that with Grasp if you’re doing something such as painting a portrait or even cutting up some meat, someone else is able to have a first person view of what you’re doing. This way, they can directly instruct you on what (or what not) to do and aid the task at hand. The speaker allows you to hear instructions, the mic allows you to ask questions or reply to what they’ve told you and the laser pointer can be used to outline what to do when verbal communications just doesn’t cut it.
Sanghi explains that “It is the idea of having a companion looking over your shoulder and instructing you while learning something new irrespective of distance” and so there’s the potential there for teaching without borders. Those who wear Grasp could be on the other side of the world form the teacher and they’d still be able to learn just as well as if the teacher was in person.
Sadly, there’s no word on whether Grasp will be released as a consumer product, or what sort of price it would be, but you can find out more information at the source.
Source: Akarsch Singh
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