Google has designed a contact lens that senses glucose levels in tears, which it's working on bringing to market. This certainly isn't the biggest revelation in digital this week, but it's the sort of device that I get really excited about. Mass market wearables deservedly get most of the press, but in the long run it's the ecosystem of niche apps and devices that fundamentally change lives and businesses. As the economics continue improving for bringing devices to market, I'm excited to see what new big needs can be fulfilled for small groups. Other Good Stuff This Week:
- Sam Matson's Immersion prototype headset reads your biometrics and adjusts game intensity to improve stress management in games. This is a cool concept, and I wonder how this might be enhanced by responding to brainwaves, similar to what Neurowear has been doing with the Mico.
- The video for the lead single on Damon Albarn's first solo album Everyday Robots used actual cranial scans to assist a CGI artist in slowly building up a digital model of his head in three dimensions.
- Mother is a controller for a network of personal and home tracking devices. It's made by Sen.se, though, not by Weyland-Yutani.
- I don't mean to go on about the Oculus Rift, but Inition's abstract project for Gareth Pugh's Carbon Life is an interesting experiential application of VR.
- SYZYGY Group's 20 Things 2013 is a fun sight puzzle of things that happened in digital in 2013. Some of this already feels like ancient history, which is probably a sign of how quickly things are moving.
- Noteloop's Fake User Interface gallery includes FUIs from TV and film as well as credits for the designers who implemented them.
- AJAX social wipes is a clever Facebook and Twitter app that removes spam and clutter from social feeds.
- Beats Music launched in the states. I can't get access in the UK yet, but I'm almost as intrigued by its focus on playlist curation as I am by its family plan. I love Spotify, but it certainly isn't perfect.