DESIGN NAME: COOKOO
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Connected Watch
INSPIRATION: With smart devices now being the gateway to the ever growing professional and personal information flows, the team was in search of a device that would help us navigate the increasingly connected world. We were looking in the market hoping to get something that would help de-clutter and simplify our digital life and look groovy at the same time. But we couldn’t find anything that quite met our needs.
After some initial research, we realized the answer lay in a watch. A real watch that is capable of 2-way communication with smartphones, stays connected in the digital world, and incorporates all those aforementioned features. At that time technology was not ready to support the concept. But when Bluetooth Smart came on scene, we knew we got the necessary technology to start working on a connected watch. A new round of market research and SWOT analysis thus ensued.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: World’s first designer watch that combines an analog movement with a digital display to enable you to stay on top of your connected life. Icons display only those notifications you wish to receive, anywhere, anytime, even when the phone is out of reach.
Underneath the fashion statement timepiece lies the soul & spirit of COOKOO in an App. e.g. press a customizable COMMAND button, you can remotely trigger the camera, remote control music playback, one-button Facebook check-in etc.
There’re App updates for enhanced user experience (SMS,Email alerts and filter feature, etc. coming soon)
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: -
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project stared in March 2012 in Seattle, USA and finished in Hong Kong in November 2012. Worldwide launch was in January 2013.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: To create a seamless user experience, 3 technologies must work together: watch platform, Bluetooth Low Energy connected system, & mobile app running on one of the available mobile OS platforms.
As each mobile OS platform is unique, it requires different expertise to tackle the various opportunities, limitations & challenges; so we partnered with key experts in their respective technology fields, such as iOS app developers, Android apps developers, firmware engineers familiar with the technology platforms that they were using, talented ID designer, & a watch manufacturer.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: • Display Type : Analog for the clock, Digital for Connected Display (icons) • Japanese analog movement • Standard CR2032 button cell battery (no recharge required) • Polycarbonate casing, aluminium bezel, scratch resistant acrylic glass • Soft silicon band • Case Diameter : 44mm • Case Thickness : 16.3mm • Bluetooth® Smart Technology • Water Resistant : 5 ATM • Color : Blue, Pink, Silver, Black and White • The birdhouse packaging ties in with the COOKOO bird theme. It can also be repurposed as a birdhouse/bird feeder or a mini chest. • App supports iOS7 and select Android 4.3/4.4 Bluetooth SMART-ready devices including the iPhone (5S, 5C, 5 & 4S), iPad (4th & 3rd gen.), iPod touch (5th gen.), Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC Sense, HTC One and Nexus 5.
TAGS: connected watch, designer watch, iOS, iDevice, smartwatch, smart watch, connected life, fashion watch
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Survey Monkey was used for quantitative market research before product development. Company’s existing customers & friends were selected as sample population. Qualitatively, we used in-depth phone & email interviews. We selected 20 distributors to take part.
We analyzed data from IDC.com, Gartner & others for market intelligence.
Per findings, we knew the product should:
Help simplify our connected life & at the same time keep us connected.
· be suitable for daily wear (inconspicuous & won’t be in the way).
not require recharging, saving the trouble of keeping tabs on battery levels
CHALLENGE: One challenge we faced was to put both the analog movement and digital display within a watch and to have it look like a fashion statement rather than a gadget. We came up with the idea of placing two replaceable standard cell-button batteries inside the watch. So unlike other connected watches, we don’t need to worry about the charger and regular recharging as the case with most smart devices. Another challenge is to create an architecture in the watch to allow third party software developers to create their own apps for future user experience enhancement.
ADDED DATE: 2013-02-07 21:04:08
TEAM MEMBERS (4) : Nicolas Olivier , Peter Hauser, Xavier Houy and Esther Fok
IMAGE CREDITS: ConnecteDevice Ltd, 2012.
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