Geek Chic
If you wear your geek heart on your sleeve, you’ll love these high-tech wristwatch concepts. For this slideshow, we rounded up some of the most beautiful, fun, and impractical timepiece designs we could find.
For more information on intriguing and unusual gadgets–some real, some imaginary–see:
* Glam Gadgets: The Priciest Personal Tech in the World
Tima by Julien Bergignat
The flexibility of e-paper led Julien Bergignat to dream up a single, slim band with a changing watch display. This design would be perfect for anyone who gets high and mighty about telling time the old-fashioned way, but secretly prefers digital readouts to standard clock hands.
Timeless USB by Ondrej Vaclavik
Watches with built-in USB flash drives are commercially available, but I’ve yet to see one that improves on this concept by Ondrej Vaclavik. Just attach the clasp, and no one will ever suspect that you’re actually wearing a 1GB USB drive.
Ora by Alexandros Stasinopoulos
This complex system of tape measures and conveyor belts won’t win any awards for convenience. It’s more conversation piece than timepiece.
The Digital Wallet Watch by Rachel Eardley
In 2004, HP Laboratories dreamed up a handful of high-tech concept watches. Most of them look dated in the age of smartphones, but Rachel Eardley’s Digital Wallet Watch still seems useful: It would let you unlock doors, make wireless payments at stores, and access digital loyalty cards and coupons. I’d wear one just to get those wretched grocery discount cards off my keychain.
eCO2 by James Kershaw
Need some fresh air? The eCO2, powered by kinetic energy, purifies air that’s passing through. For extra guilt-trip points, the watch connects via Bluetooth to other devices and alerts you to how much carbon you’re emitting.
Invisible Laser Shot by Andy Kurovets
Looking cool has a price–in this case, laser radiation. Andy Kurovets’s Invisible Laser Shot beams the time onto your wrist. It doubles as a phaser, too. (Not really.)
Timeflex by Igor Solovyov and Maria Solovyova
Cold weather demands jackets and long sleeves, covering up your precious timepiece. Fortunately, the Timeflex adheres to any surface, providing a watch-like interface without the actual watch.
The iWatch by Peter Burns
Tetris Forever by Lysandre Follet
Finally, a watch that kills time. Corny joke, I know, but you can’t argue that having Tetris appended to your wrist wouldn’t be the death of productivity.
Tiwe by Lv Zhongfang
You know the flick of the arm that some watch owners do to pull back their sleeve? With the Tiwe watch concept, that sudden jolt has added purpose. Shaking this watch or tapping its face causes the OLED screen’s randomly scattered dots to assemble into clock hands.
Toxic by Virtual Ideas
Easy to read but totally creepy, Toxic reimagines the wristwatch as a pair of injection tubes. I guess it’s better than delivering an electric shock.
CuckooWatch by Hannes Grebin
Cuckoo clocks are obnoxious, but the CuckooWatch might be cute enough to win hearts. Every hour, a tiny, “Tamagotchi-like” bird chirps digitally. Actually, that still sounds pretty annoying.
Zero Point Zero by Berumen Design
Now here’s a watch with purpose. “This watch…claims we can be handcuffed to a watch,” says the designer, “but we will never be slaves of time.” That’s what you tell the cops when they start asking questions.
Future Mobile Music by Mac Funamizu
This music watch has it all, including flexible screens, a transparent display, and wireless earbuds. Of course, this device is impossible to manufacture until someone can figure out how to fit all of the necessary electronics into the tiny slivers of gray on the ends of the clasp–or how to make the electronics invisible, too.
Sharing Watch by Maezm
The simplest watch design on this list might be my favorite. No fancy screens or impossible technology, just a face that’s rotated 90 degrees from the traditional orientation, allowing others to read the watch when you hold your wrist up. It’s actually less social than most watches, because you never have to say anything when someone asks you for the time.
For more information on intriguing and unusual gadgets–some real, some imaginary–see:
* Glam Gadgets: The Priciest Personal Tech in the World