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Sean White on 20 years of Wearable Technology

Sean White is the CEO & Founder of Bright Sky and has researched wearable technology since the mid-90s. In today's conversation, recorded on June 23, 2015, we reflect on 20 years of wearable technology. Follow Sean on Twitter @seanwhite.

Over the last 20 years, Sean White has been leading and collaborating on creative explorations of the technologies, systems, and experiences that connect us to each other, our environment, and our information through entrepreneurial, executive, advisory, management, and maker roles.

His work and expertise ranges from building successful start-ups to research and products around wearable devices and sensors, augmented reality visualization and interfaces on handhelds and glasses, HCI, AR games, environmental sensing, botanical species identification, large scale information architecture and networks, online communities and growing carbon nanotubes for fuel cells and solar cells.

He is on the Steering Committee for IEEE ISMAR. 30+ peer reviewed publications and 20+ patents granted or filed and was a 2009 Tech Award Laureate for his work on a system for botanical species identification on mobile devices. 

The Future of Wearables series is made possible by Sourcebits and The Heterotopian Design Group with a special thank you to IEEE.

Ramez Naam on the Freedom of Wearables

photo by Christopher Michel

Ramez Naam is a technologist and science fiction author of the riveting SciFi trilogy – Nexus, Crux, Apex. In today's episode, recorded on June 23, 2015, we discuss the freedom wearables can give you. 

Ramez Naam was born in Cairo, Egypt, and came to the US at the age of 3. He's a computer scientist who spent 13 years at Microsoft, leading teams working on email, web browsing, search, and artificial intelligence. He holds almost 20 patents in those areas.

Ramez is the winner of the 2005 H.G. Wells Award for his non-fiction book More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement. He's worked as a life guard, has climbed mountains, backpacked through remote corners of China, and ridden his bicycle down hundreds of miles of the Vietnam coast. He lives in Seattle, where he writes and speaks full time.

• Follow Ramez on Twitter @ramez.
• Be sure to check out his books, Nexus, Crux, Apex!
• Ingress, is the game Heather mentions (& obsesses about) 
• Ringly, the well designed wearable for women

The Future of Wearables series is made possible by Sourcebits and The Heterotopian Design Group with a special thank you to IEEE.

The Future of Cars and the Open Road

I’m not ready to give up the feeling of being behind a wheel, wind blowing my hair, driving at speed on the open road.

I contacted Alex Roy to talk with me about the future of cars. I learned about Alex years ago when he broke the Gumball 3000 record – driving from NY to LA in about 31 hours. I have to admit I was a little jealous of that road trip. I wanted to know Alex’s opinion about augmented driving technology. Was he willing to give up the wheel to a robot? Because I wasn’t.

Here's our podcast talking about the Future of Cars. We had so much fun discussing the future, this podcast inspired a SxSW panel submission which we provocatively titled: The Automotive Singularity is Not Near. If you want to hear more - vote for it! 

Our panel will discuss what we lose – and gain – when we switch to autonomous driving cars. What the transition might be like, and new problems and unintended consequences this technology might bring. 

Fatemeh Khatibloo on Data Ownership

Fatemeh Khatibloo is a Principle Analyst at Forrester Research. Our conversation, June 18, 2015, explores device interoperability, including the god box problem, data ownership and our deep emotional connection to our devices. Follow Fatemeh on Twitter @fatemehx2. 

Fatemeh is an analyst at Forrester Research where she leads research about personal data, privacy and identity. Her focus is on the emerging systems and processes that will put us -- individuals -- in charge of how we manage and share our personal data.

Her seminal research on personal identity management (PIDM) describes how consumers will soon manage the sharing of their personal data with each other and with businesses. Her report "Adaptive Intelligence" further defines a framework for privacy-compliant data sharing between organizations to gain insight, reduce risk, and increase profitability.

Fatemeh's research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD, CNBC, and AdAge. She has contributed to the Harvard Business Review and Financial Times, provided commentary on NPR and the BBC, and been credited in the World Economic Forum's "Rethinking Personal Data" report. She is a frequent speaker at industry and client events, including SxSW, DataWeek, and PrivacyIdentityInnovation.

The Future of Wearables series is made possible by Sourcebits and The Heterotopian Design Group with a special thank you to IEEE.

Liza Kindred on Textiles and Wearable Tech

Liza Kindred is the founder of Thirdwave Fashion. In today's episode, recorded on June 9, 2015, we discuss textiles and wearable technology. Follow Liza on Twitter @lizaK.

Liza Kindred, the founder of Third Wave Fashion, has been writing and speaking globally for many years. She is considered a top expert on fashion tech – and she’s literally writing the book about designing for wearables and connected devices. Audiences love to hear her speak; she’s been called “inspiring” and “courageous”, as well as “fabulous and informative”. She has keynoted, spoken at, and moderated panels for dozens of conferences and events. 

The Future of Wearables series is made possible by Sourcebits and The Heterotopian Design Group with a special thank you to IEEE.