AliceYes, you read that correctly. French company CN2P SAS has created the Cicret Bracelet, effectively making the wearer’s arm their new touchscreen. Like a tablet – only existing on the wearer’s skin – it enables a user to check and write emails, read the news, use Google maps, play games, check the weather, answer the phone, and more, with a quick flick of the wrist to activate the band.
Helping get the product off the ground (along with some hefty funding) are two ex-Apple employees who make up the executive team, and over the last few months, the company has created a working prototype that has reportedly been proven to work.
CN2P SAS is currently preparing a timeline for production dates and is working out ‘detailed costs’ in order to create the first working samples. Following that, the product will be launched and will start distribution.
What’s In It And How Does It Work?
Available in 16 and 32GB versions and in a choice of 10 colours, the band works on every skin colour, is water resistant, works with iPhone and Android, offers phone screen mirroring and includes a removable battery.
Inside the bracelet is an accelerometer, a memory card and ROM, a processor, a vibrating device, a micro USB port, a battery, eight long range proximity sensors, a Pico projector, Bluetooth low energy, a Wi-Fi component, LED and a snap button.
The Pico projector projects the phone or tablet’s interface directly onto the user’s arm: when they put their finger on the interface, they stop one of the eight long range proximity sensors included inside the band. The sensor sends the information back to the processor, which is also inside the Cicret bracelet. The band is linked to a user’s phone or tablet via Bluetooth low energy.
As it turns out, Cicret was a product first built to assist with another of CN2P SAS’ developments, as the company first developed a secure communication application that was similar to Signal, an encrypted instant messaging and voice calling application for Android and iOS.
“The primary purpose of the bracelet was to act as a secure hard drive to handle all the data from this App,” Guillaume Pommier, co-founder, sales, marketing and PR for Cicret tells CE Pro Eu.
“Then, we looked at the technologies that allow us to see what’s inside the bracelet, without a real screen: we took a closer look at the Pico projector and the sensors.”
Guillaume confirms that everything seen in the video is possible, although at present the band is unable to project the colour black.
“The Cicret bracelet is a standalone machine that can work independently, but that can also be synced to a smartphone,” he clarifies.
“With it, the user can do everything that they usually would with a smartphone, but in a much cooler way. They can also use the bracelet to project on any surface and interact with it.”
The bracelet is still in its early stages, but given that phones and tablets can be used to control heating, security cameras, lighting, audio, blinds, coffee makers and smart locks, CE Pro Eu had to ask if CN2P SAS plans to explore home automation possibilities in future.
“Yes,” enthuses Guillaume, “We have B2B and B2C markets that we are already working on for professional uses. In future the bracelet could be used to turn on the lights, it could display on someone’s arm the image of a camera installed in their home, or could be used to order food that the wearer has run out of in their fridge.”
If the bracelet proves a success (not to mention working in bright conditions and fitting on skinnier arms), the smart home and IOT possibilities could be limited only by what’s possible on phones and tablets, educating the consumer market about the wider possibilities found within home automation.
Once the product starts shipping, it will first be available in the US, followed by the rest of the world.
For more details, visit the Cicret website.