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Rethinking the Ergonomics of the Watch Band

The elaborate ErgonBand

By Rain Noe - August 27

in Human Factors

It takes a lot of guts to rethink a form as well-established as the watch band. But Canadian company ErgonBand reckons that plenty of activities, from cycling to running to typing, place our watch faces at the wrong angle to read. Thus they designed the rather elaborate alternative their company is named for:

I would not have guessed this design would succeed, but the company held a successful Kickstarter during the pandemic; four years later, they're still going strong.

The materials choice puzzles me: It's made out of real leather. For their part, the company says you can keep it on while washing your hands, but I imagine the leather would get funky over time. And they say you oughtn't swim with it on.

If this is your thing, they run $220 to $230.

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Yardley Yardley

2 months ago

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I am going to completely ignore the aesthetics of this... thing. Any possible upgrade in viewing angle is outweighed 10x by the strap impeding your grip. Not to mention in almost every example above the info you would gain from looking at the watch is available on the other device, the bike has a handlebar mounted monitor, the car tells time, the computer is fully sync'd. This thing is contrived and i doubt many people find it particularly useful.

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Alex Berkowitz

2 months ago

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This seems to be similar in thought & approach to drivers watches, which feature an angled watch face for easier reading while driving. The concept is sound, but it does make one wonder if all of that extra geometry and material is really necessary or if there are perhaps simpler ways to angle a watch on the wrist...

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Luka Lu

2 months ago

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This world is full of nonsense products, but I admit, this one pushes everything a little further.

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