Wearable electronics that’s actually worth wearing?

Shown at CES this year, NOVA’s “Smart Earrings”.

From NOVA

I could tell immediately that this was a good idea because I had this idea ten years ago.

Actually, this isn’t exactly what I imagined, but it’s on the way.

First of all, let’s consider the actual product. 

Basically this is a pair of Bluetooth ear pieces fit into pearl earrings.  They aren’t any “smarter” than any other Bluetooth earbud, though I guess they are smarter than the average earring.   The point, of course, is that the look way better than utilitarian Bluetooth.  They may be more comfortable to wear, too, I dunno.

So that’s cool.

It’s also worth noting that these are surely feminine style (not that men can’t wear them), which is nice, too.  Women surely use Bluetooth and phones, so why should they have to deal with wearables that say, “I’m an awkward teen age boy.”

This is a nice (if pricey) bit of kit.  (Do fashionable women call it “kit”?  I doubt it.)

But it’s not the cool thing I envisioned.

Looking at some locally produced jewelry with nature themes (e.g., earrings depicting flowers and birds), I was inspired to imagine adding a short sound track to the jewelry. 

A personalized soundtrack.

So…I imagined that I give my lady some earrings that, when donned, would whisper a short endearment from me.  Right in her ear, only for her ear, just from me.

Alternatively, it might play be a short sound loop of a bird song or other pleasant sounds. (Here, I’m thinking of something that complements the design theme.)

Or, I suppose, the accessory might be a self-chosen prayer or affirmation, whispered at the beginning of the day, or at times of stress.

The key feature is that the personal adornment would–briefly and only in certain circumstances–whisper in your ear, and the message would be heard only by you. This is not a sound track (you’ve got that). It’s a brief, personally meaningful moment. No one else knows about it. (And, in general, you could miss it if you aren’t paying attention.)

I imagined the implementation being self-contained, i.e., loaded on the earring or other accessory.  The playback would be triggered by some local mechanism.  Movement?  Heat?  Touching in a specific way?  Environmental trigger? Voice activation?  TBD.

Bluetooth is overkill for this concept, and the infinite capacity of a phone is not only overkill, it defeats the “brief personal moment” vibe.

On the other hand, you certainly could create an app that implemented the functionality I envisioned.  You could make it kind of a “screen saver” deal.  Put your phone in airplane mode, and fire up the app.  The phone detects the right moment, triggers the personal whisper, and then shuts down. 

That would be cool.

I’d still like it loaded on the accessory itself, because I’d like it to work when you have ditched your phone, or are using your phone for something else.

Anyway, if and when something like this comes to market, I want to be able to take credit for thinking of it.