Soon, wristwatches will tell you where you are, check your fingerprints and give you video conferencing
Ashley Norris
Right now one of the most interesting places on the planet is Casio’s watch R&D department. The company, once noted for its dull but rather useful digital watches, has been producing a series of extremely desirable gadgets.
At the end of last year Casio released an innovative global positioning satellite (GPS) watch that displays on its screen exactly where in the world the user is. Soon, it will be joined by a digital camera watch that takes black and white images which are then transferred to a PC via its infrared link. Also due is the first-ever watch to boast an MP3 player. The company is known to have developed a phone watch, and has acknowledged that it is working on watches that interact with PCs.
Last week, Casio treated Japanese journalists to its vision of the future, showing four concept products that display how watches will look in 10 years’ time. Technologically each one is amazing and Casio admits that there is a long way to go before any reach the stores. But they do provide a few clues as to what Casio will be unveiling in the next couple of years.
The simultaneous video conferencing watch: Forget phone watches – even though you can’t actually buy them yet! Don’t bother either with the third-generation video phones that we’ll be seeing in a couple of years. What you really want is this watch that sports four tiny LCD screens enabling you to speak to and see a group of people simultaneously. If you don’t fancy seeing the person you are talking to then you can use it as a standard voice phone. It’ll probably feature voice- activated dialling, but if you have tiny fingers you can also use the number dials beneath the screen.
What we think: Don’t hold your breath! Do you really want a watch that interrupts your snooze on the train with a video-conferenced sales meeting? Besides, unless there’s a major breakthrough in battery technology, the meeting probably won’t make it past “apologies for absence” before the screen goes blank.
Visual navigation watch: The “dream Casio” is halfway there with a GPS watch that displays longitude and latitude. It can even graphically show the direction and the distance of your destination. This concept adds a colour monitor that displays video images of where in the world you are. It can also give you weather reports. Using its two-way antenna you can transmit your exact location to the emergency services.
What we think: This watch will be a real winner with the emergency services. Outdoor types should find it incredibly useful too. We reckon that this one will be in the stores first.
Fingerprint recognition watch: On a big night out all you will take with you is this fingerprint recognition watch. You’ll use it to lock the door of your house, take money out of the bank, and indulge in a spot of online shopping on the way home. It works using an infra-red system activated by a fingerprint sensor that responds to only your digits.
What we think: Imagine if you lost the watch. No keys, no money and, worst of all, no access to Amazon.com. Technically, this watch could be available in a few years. But it’s too scary to contemplate.
Digital TV/music entertainment watch: Thanks to the watch’s digital TV tuner you’ll never have to worry about missing a game of football ever again. The watch’s record button will also archive TV programmes on to its mini hard disk – making it excellent for instant re-runs of missed penalties. The watch will download and play back MP3 files and play video games.
What we think: There’s no doubt that the TV watch is the Holy Grail of timepieces. And, given that Casio is a world leader in both watches and mini TVs, you’d expect the company to be hot favourites to bring one to market.
Although the company denies it, we reckon an analogue TV watch will be on sale in time for the 2002 football World Cup. Casio already has an MP3 watch and a prototype of a phone watch, so a model that downloads and plays back MP3 isn’t an enormous leap. This particular watch is probably at least half a decade away – but put me down for one.