Core77

Yea or Nay? A Wristwatch That Conveys the Time Non-Visually and Silently

The Prompt is an "Anti-Watch"

By Rain Noe - February 25, 2020

in Object Culture

I'm generally down on new ideas for watches, which I often find too enamored of technology, but this here is a novel approach that I'm curious to get your take on.

An object called Prompt, which its creators are branding an "anti-watch," is for those who need to be somewhat aware of the time, but are tired of glancing down at their watch every few minutes. It's also for people who interact with others a lot, yet need to maintain a schedule, and don't want to be rude or unintentionally give signals by eyeballing their watch mid-conversation.

So the Prompt is not meant to be looked at. It has no screen, no face, no speaker, no connection to Bluetooth or WiFi. Instead it works haptically and, by design, without precision. What it does is indicate through vibrations, when you discreetly tap it, what quarter of the current hour you're in.

Admittedly, the watch does have a cheat. For those times when you do need the precise time, if you press down on the "lens" for three seconds, LEDs illuminate around the circumference to communicate time down to the minute. This part I'm not too crazy about, since you have to look at multiple places and do a little math:

The Prompt is up on Kickstarter, and at press time its likelihood of launch is anyone's guess: $30,000 goal, $1,551 pledged so far, 29 days to go.

Enter a caption (optional)

So my questions are, do you think Prompt's unique approach would work for you? And/or ought they have just designed the haptic feature into a conventional-looking watch, avoiding the tech-y rigmarole with the LEDs?

o

Favorite This
Q
3

Comment

Comments

Ross Oliver

4 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

If you have to touch it anyway, why bother with the haptic complication, just have raised nibs or whatever to indicate the quarter hours. Or just buzz on each quarter hour unprompted. Also don't see the need for dedicated hardware, as this would be a simple app to write for a smartwatch.

!Report as spam
- Rain Noe
  
  Ross Oliver
  
  4 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  The raised nibs rather than the haptics is a great idea!
  
  !Report as spam
James Deerhaven

4 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Seems like a solution in search of a problem to solve.

!Report as spam