5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal for beginners in the field

I.R. · September 18, 2018

This book is intended for a technical audience, of course, but not necessarily one with prior experience with wearables. It starts assuming this is the developer's first exposure to the field and covers the material clearly and thoroughly. I would say it's a be all and end all book, but as a place to start, it's perfect.

4.0 out of 5 stars A slim introduction to the landscape and philosophy of wearable computing

M.J. · February 9, 2017

Wearable Computing is a hot concept right now. You can't read a tech blog or forecast without coming across a reference. At the same time, it's one of those concepts like fusion power or flying cars that always seems just around the corner. To date, the mass market hasn't seen very many commercial products that could be termed "wearable computing." The Apple Watch, certainly. The Fitbit, and similar activity measuring devices. The much-lampooned Google Glasses. That's most of it.According to author Scott Sullivan, though, there's a lot more in the pipeline. There are devices to augment perception, and even cognition. In this book he presents a wide range of devices under development as well as a philosophy of wearable computing- what it can do, and why it should be embraced. His notion of wearable computing covers a wide range, and includes just about all wearable or cartable technology, including things like wristwatches (the wearable computing of the 15thC), calculator watches (big in the late 1970s), today's smartphones. and even apps like Pokemon Go.The bulk of this book is a survey of the wearable landscape as Sullivan sees it. There's also a short section on how to implement prototype wearable systems using the Arduino platform and the Processing framework and the Arduino IDE. It's not enough by itself to get started but there are enough pointers there for someone who is already familiar with Arduino to get started.This is a fairly short book for an O'Reilly manual bit there's not all that much out there on wearables- yet. This book is probably best suited for the experienced prototyper or developer (or hobbyist) with an interest in wearable computing looking for a brief, condensed introduction to the area. Like any such reference in a changing computing landscape, it'll probably obsolete in a year.

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Theories on Future of Wearables

*. · April 9, 2017

If you're interested in learning more about the current & future state of wearable technology. Then this book is certainly worth reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and informative

A. · February 26, 2017

As a non-technical person who infrequently consults on other projects, I wasn't sure if this would be over my head but needed a quick, easy to understand overview....this was perfect. It is nicely balanced between "how" and "why" but really stands apart due to the readability. Rather than a dry technical manual, I found this engaging and informative.

4.0 out of 5 stars Explains How Existing Wearable Devices Work, Principles of Interface Design for Wearables

�.L.E. · February 28, 2017

For an O'Reilly book, DESIGNING FOR WEARABLES: EFFECTIVE UX FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVICES seems a little short on technical content. About half of it is a fairly comprehensive, descriptive catalog of existing wearable devices (e.g., FitBit, Jawbone, Pebble smartwatch, Google Glass, Lumo Lift, GoPro, Pokemon Go, Thync). The remaining half is devoted to to actual designer's thinking, tools, problems, and methods (e.g., service design and machine learning, embodiment and perception, prototyping and prototyping tools, selling the invisible).The author points out that wearable devices offer "services", so that designers must focus on UX (user experience), and create interfaces that translate the data gathered by the devices into things that are helpful and meaningful to the users. For example, an activity tracker that records steps is a mere pedometer, unless the tracker does extras, such as tabulating the wearer's daily, weekly, and monthly activity, heart rate, calories burned, sleep time, etc.For a wearables designer, an important consideration is figuring out what sort of technology is available to gather the data that can be reported in ways that the user will find helpful and motivating. For example, the Fitbit Charge HR uses a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor to measure heart activity, and a gyroscope and accelerometer to count steps.If you're not an actual designer, but happen to own one (or more) of these devices, it's interesting just to read up on what it's intended to do (from a designer's perspective), and how it actually works.

4.0 out of 5 stars Timely and Informative Overview of Wearable Technology Devices

K.J. · February 24, 2017

Scott's Sullivan's Designing for Wearables provides a concise summary of how wearable technology devices have evolved and where this industry may be headed in the future. Given the current popularity of smart watches and activity trackers, it seems inevitable that consumers will have an increasing appetite for gadgets that help them monitor their schedules, environment and health in ways that un-wearable devices like tablets and phones cannot match.I found the chapter describing the failed Google Glass experiment to be particularly fascinating, leaving me convinced that something similar to these devices will become huge sellers in the near future, if they can overcome the concerns about elitism and privacy that doomed the Glass. I was also interested to learn about the development of devices that can monitor moods, gauge stress levels, and estimate your caloric intake. Once these evolving technologies are refined, I fully expect we will see companies coming up with gadgets and supporting service models that help consumers monitor key aspects of their lives in groundbreaking ways. I'm not a techie, so the sections describing prototyping processes and tools were not meaningful to me, but overall I found this short book to be timely and informative.