[ExI] Transhumanist Apps

[Adrian Tymes]

Aww, wish you'd been out here last month.  VLAB just hosted a
panel on wearable tech, back in January, that touched on quite
a bit of this.  And in October, they hosted an Augmented Reality
panel - fortunately, there's video of that if you want:
http://www.vlab.org/article.html?aid=430

The key takeaway from the January event was that, at the
moment, wearable tech is as much - if not more - about fashion
than function.  Yes, a smart watch has a "glance" UI that no other
platform has.  But as far as peoples' willingness to use them (which
is the chief limit on their utility to most people), they are more about
- and more constrained by - what the wearer thinks the impression
on others is, than on what the wearer can do with it.  Similar
constraints apply to non-smart-watch wearable tech, unless it is
completely hidden within clothing (which limits what it can do).

In other words, "wearer looks cool (or at least less uncool) while
using it" is as much of a market requirement as, say, "device has
enough battery life" or "device reliably performs its function".

That said, I have - in my notes from the January event - a list of
companies you can look up that are active in this space:

Allerta, Inc / InPulse watches
Basis
Casio
Eurotech Group
Evena Medical
Fitbit
Garmin GPS Edge 800/500/200; Vector
hd3 Compilation
Jawbone UP
Kisai
LAKS / Watch2Pay
Lark
LOOXCIE
Meta Watch Ltd.
Minimal / TikTok, LunaTik
Motorola Mobility Devices / MotoACTV
Nike
NYXIO
Perfect Third Inc: WakeMate
Philips
Recon Instruments
Robomotic / Ellipse
RoundArch
Shimmer Research
Si14 / I'MWATCH
Sifteo
Sony Ericsson / LiveView
SWAPCO
Vuzix
WristOffice
Xybernaut
Zeal Optics
Zeo Inc.
ZIIIRO Celeste

Does this help?

2012/2/26 Natasha Vita-More <natasha at natasha.cc>:
> Hi everyone –
>
>
>
> I am working on a project and need your help.  If you can provide any
> information or ideas on the following it would be great! All contributions
> will be included in the references of the project and any work that you are
> doing will be credited and referenced.
>
>
>
> 1.     What wearable technologies (including hand held devises, appendable
> devises, and other technological interfaces and software for human use):
>
> a.     What apps are in use, being developed, or might be developed for
> humans to better understand their physical bodies?
>
>                                           i.    This concerns issues such as
> physical health – (e.g., apps that might monitor a person’s hormone level,
> glucose level, etc.)
>
>                                          ii.    This concerns issues of
> physical exercise – (e.g., apps that might help a person who is at the gym,
> which would have her exercise routine, or for running a marathon that might
> encourage the runner to keep going!)
>
>                                         iii.    This concerns issues such as
> mental health – (e.g., apps that might connect people if they feel lonely,
> depressed, etc.)
>
>                                         iv.    This might concern issues
> such as a person drinking too much alcohol, drugs, etc. (e.g., an app that
> remind a person that he is not supposed to be having more than 2 glasses of
> wine, or not to have more than 3 cigarettes a day, etc.)
>
> b.    What apps are in use, being developed, or might be developed for
> humans become more intelligent?
>
>                                           i.    This might be apps that
> would help a person with his memory by reminding him to make visual or
> verbal associations, etc. …
>
>                                          ii.    Or, this might be apps that
> would help a person with mathematics, linguistics, aesthetics – etc.
>
> 2.     What apps do you think we need to create that would help humans
> become transhuman or posthuman?
>
> 3.     What do you think we need to create that would help a person better
> understand ways in which s/he could become aware of posthuman futures, the
> singularity, etc?
>
> a.     What apps are in use, being developed, or might be developed for
> humans to enhance (human enhancement).
>
> b.    What apps might remind a person about choices s/he makes that could
> affect his future longevity?
>
>
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Natasha
>
>
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