Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
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Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#2This thing reminds me a great deal of the 1980s design aesthetic used in a bunch of "digital dash" cars, such as the Nissan 300Z:
https://www.google.com/search?q=300Z+dash+digital&num=100&cl...
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#3How about a little "where are they now"...
MIT Wearable Computing, circa 1996:
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#4That Epson RC-20 model looks ready for a re-issue, and with a programmable Z80, I wouldn't even mind an exact copy (with modern battery technology). The future looked so cool back then.
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#5How about a little "where are they now"... MIT Wearable Computing, circa 1996: https://imgur.com/a/AlnEYkW
Epic shot
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#6Slightly less capable I think but HP-01 was a wrist calculator (with data flow oriented operators) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hp-01+watch&atb=v119-3__&ia=web
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#7Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#8Another interesting bit of history was the Seiko Message Watch, which had time-sync and one-watch messaging over an FM radio sideband:
https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/tribute-to-the-seiko-messagewa...
Back before cell phones were ubiquitous that was pretty novel. I remember being struck by how cool it was to step off the plane in Taipei and see it update to local time while I watched. Getting pages about server downtime using the email gateway was also a nice way not to lug a pager around.
The system didn't outlive Y2K, however, and since it was clear where the market was going they simply shut it down rather than fix the Y2K bugs.
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#9Another interesting bit of history was the Seiko Message Watch, which had time-sync and one-watch messaging over an FM radio sideband: https://mako.cc/copyrighteous/tribute-to-the-seiko-messagewa... Back before cell phones were ubiquitous that was pretty novel. I remember being struck by how cool it was to step off the plane in Taipei and see it update to local time while I watched. Getting pages about server downtim…
Microsoft also tried to build a smart watch in 2004 with the SPOT watch.
It’s remarkable how a concept can stick around for decades waiting on an implementation that’s good enough to be viable.
Instead of trying to think of new things it’s perhaps better to go read tech magazines of prior decades finding failed ideas and trying to breathe new life into them.
Re: Seiko UC-2000 (1984) – the dawn of wearable computers
#10How about a little "where are they now"... MIT Wearable Computing, circa 1996: https://imgur.com/a/AlnEYkW
aww yiss[1]