In this episode of The Immersive Lens, hosts Paul Engin and Dave Ghidiu discuss emerging technologies and creative media tools before shifting to their main topic. They review "Google Stitch," a new AI tool that allows designers to reimagine websites and export the code, as well as new visual editing features within Google Gemini. The hosts also touch on YouTube Premium's new A/B testing features for thumbnails and titles, share their reactions to the latest Superman and Supergirl trailers, and praise Apple’s emotional new commercial regarding accessibility.
The central discussion focuses on the evolution and utility of wearable technology, ranging from smartwatches to future concepts like smart glasses. Paul advocates for the Apple Watch Ultra, citing benefits like battery life, sleep tracking, and health anomaly detection, while Dave expresses hesitation due to privacy concerns and a dislike for constant notifications. The conversation expands to cover smart rings, clothing, and the potential for augmented reality glasses to eventually replace smartphones. They conclude with a buyer’s guide, suggesting users consider factors such as battery life, ecosystem compatibility, and specific health tracking needs when choosing a device.
Key Topics
Google Stitch Enhances AI Design Workflows: Google has introduced a new tool called "Stitch," which allows designers to upload existing URLs or documents and use AI to reimagine the design code and aesthetics completely. A standout feature of this tool is the ability to annotate and circle specific areas on a preview to give the AI precise direction, solving the common issue of AI misunderstanding vague verbal prompts.
YouTube Introduces A/B Testing for Creators: Creators with access to specific YouTube tiers can now utilize A/B testing to optimize the performance of their video uploads. This feature allows users to deploy different versions of descriptions, titles, and thumbnails to distinct audience segments to analyze which variations generate the most engagement.
The Evolution of Smart Glasses and AR: The wearable market is expanding beyond watches into smart glasses, with companies like Meta and Google developing eyewear that utilizes augmented reality to project information and interfaces directly in front of the user. The hosts predict that as these devices improve - potentially integrating wrist-based gesture controls - they could eventually render traditional smartphones obsolete.
Balancing Features with Utility in Wearables: When selecting a wearable device, users must weigh the importance of advanced health data and ecosystem integration against practical needs like battery life. For instance, while the Apple Watch Ultra offers extensive connectivity and health tracking, other brands like Coros are highlighted as better alternatives for long-distance hikers who require battery life that lasts for days rather than hours.
Mentioned in the Episode
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Transcript
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Paul Engin: Okay. So, the the audio is rolling and the video rolling. So, Dave Ghidiu: yes. Paul: Okay. All right. Here we go. Welcome to the immersive lens, the podcast exploring the technologies reshaping how we live, work, and learn. From AI and virtual reality to creative media and design, we're diving into the tools and ideas shaping our connected world. My name is Paul Engin. Join us as we uncover the people and ideas driving the next wave of interactive experiences. Dave: And I'm Dave Ghidiu. This is the immersive lens. Paul: Dave, what's going on? Dave: All right, I want have you seen Google's new new software called Stitch. Paul: I have not and you've been keeping it secret for me. So secret. Yeah. So what is it? Dave: Google Stitch is for designers. So it's it's built for people like you and you can go to stitch.withgoogle.com and you could give it a URL or some PDFs or well you have to feed it something. Actually I guess you don't need to feed it something. You can start from scratch. Okay. And so I gave it my website and I said this is my current website. Can you re imagine this as if I were a fashion designer and not only just, you know, the aesthetics of it, but I want to be known as the top 10 fashion designers in the Fingerlakes region and it will regenerize or re reactor your website and you can to to be in this case like the number 10. So, it understands that I what I'm trying to do and it understands all the information for my current website and I can change the colors and the themes and I can export it as code. So, it's a really interesting way to use design the design power of AI to reimagine things that you either already have and you need to brush up or just start from scratch. Paul: Wait, so this is going to so this is going to recreate your website. Dave: It will give me ideas. It will give me different templates and then much like any other AI tool, I can converse with and say, "Oh, I like what you did here, but can you tweak this other thing because I don't have text styles on my website, so I want to add them. Can you imagine what it would look like if I were offering different custom textiles and so you work with AI specifically in the name of uh design for websites and and apps. Paul: So then can you download like what's the Oh, you can Dave: you can download the code and it it's unclear to me if it will do everything you need or if you still need to touch the code up and like change the names or or whatever. But I imagine my next step after I'm because this just came out today. Paul: Okay, Dave: my next step is going to be I'm going to download it and if it doesn't do what I want it to do, then I'm going to import that into to Gemini 3 and vibe code the rest of it and say hey here's my existing infrastructure because I'm familiar with that interface and I can change things granularly. Paul: Gotcha. And so is this just for websites or can you do it with uh like can you create mobile apps or games or is it just like more like an app like uh for a standard application? Dave: You know I'm I'm still exploring it so I I can't answer that but but I can answer that a lot of apps can be websites that are repackaged. Well, you know that because you can use different tools to packages, so you can at least do lightweight apps. But I I'm excited to kind of see where this goes. One thing that I really like about it is just the the way with which you can interface with it and annotate things and circle things right on the the thumbnail and say, "Oh, no, change this." And it understands that. Paul: Oh, so that's how you can identify areas to to clean up. Dave: Yeah, cuz I know uh we talked about this in the last episode, but I'm noticing AI has a tough time understanding direction. So, you know, the icon on the far left or the icon on the far right or you know they're like wait what are you talking about and and I see that in in Gemini when I'm vibe coding when I'm making websites it has that built in where you can circle either the code cuz you can toggle between the code and the preview or right on the preview you can circle something and say no I don't like this change it so that technology has already existed and and I'm starting to see all the individual technologies Google has made is now seeping into all their other tools Paul: oh wait so you're saying Gemini does have that now yeah Oh, now I gotta play. Wait, wait, V with the V3 video model. Dave: No, so far it's just in when you're coding Paul: coding. Okay, Dave: that's really cool. Paul: Yeah. What do you got for me? Dave: So, uh, well, let me ask you. Is that a paid subscription? Do you know? Or is that the Stitch? Paul: Right now, it's actually it's relatively new. It's a lab, so I think that it's Dave: free for now. Paul: Free for everyone. Yeah. Dave: Okay. Okay. Um, so the feature that I'm going to talk about is unfortunately It's got a payw wall to it, but I know. But I recently got access to um a a Google package that allows me to do uh more advanced Gemini and um it gives me access to YouTube. What is it called? YouTube unlimited. Paul: Oh, YouTube premium. Dave: Premium. Yeah. Paul: No commercials. Dave: No commercials. Paul: Whatever you're paying for it, it's pay double. Dave: So, uh the um as part of it though, I was uploading videos and I realized that be when you're at this pay tier You can click on it's called uh AB testing. Have you heard of that? Paul: I well I know AB testing is for website design. So I if I have a website I can AB test it which means some people look at it will see one version and some people will see the other version. Then I can look at the analytics and see okay. So you're saying this is for YouTube now? Dave: Yeah. So for YouTube now I can do a different description, title, thumbnail to see if it's more effective. Um and then you know I can see the results. So I have uh multiple uh basically opportunities to do a description and a and a title and a thumbnail and then evaluate which one is the best and then it'll also give me insight for future posts obviously. Paul: Oh yeah. So it can inform how you would think about things. Dave: Yeah. Yeah. Paul: That is interesting because your engagement you never know if you can do better or not like whatever your engagement is on your video. But now but now you do know. Dave: Now you can. Yeah. Paul: Well, with this tier I I didn't even know this existed until Dave: Well, it's been around for like a decade and you've been sitting there like a chump. You're like, "Oh, Paul: exactly." I'm like, "Wait, everybody had this? who is paying. What's going on? Um, and then the uh other two things that I saw, they're both uh video more related, but um I don't know if you got it. Have you seen the Superman? The latest Superman video? Dave: Yes, my wife and I watched it. We really liked the dog. That was the best part. Paul: The dog? Yeah. How about you, Jeeoff? Have you seen that new Superman? Jeff: I have. Paul: You have? What is the dog your favorite as also? Jeff: A dog was very good. Very cute. Dave: And also Alan Tudic was like Gary is a name. Paul: So So there there a few good zingers in there. Dave: Um, so they just released uh today, which is uh you know, I don't know when you'll be hearing this podcast, but the 11th the trailer for Supergirl, which uh do you guys remember seeing her as a cameo in the Paul: like the end of the movie, right? Dave: She came to pick up the dog at the very end. Paul: Oh, she the dog. That's right. Dave: See, and and we bring the dog into it. So, they just released that trailer. Um I don't know. You guys saw it, too. What What do you What do you think, Jeeoff? What's your thoughts? Jeff: I think they get me about most trailers is you don't really know the story. It's just a lot of eye candy. Dave: So, I liked the trailer. I just don't understand what's happening or what the story is about, but it looks great. Very dark. A lot darker than Superman. Paul: Yes. And I I kind of like that it's going to that darker route. Um and uh I think there's the dog. Dave: Yeah, the dog was is in the movie. Paul: The dog is in the movie. Dave: The trailer and I thank you for sharing the trailer with me. It's a little gritty and it it's I I love a reluctant superhero. movie where you're wrestling internally with and that's what it looks like for her. Paul: The hero's journey, everyone's journey. Dave: The hero's journey. Look it up. Yeah, go look it up. Paul: It's what Star Wars is based on and many other movies. Um so, uh the other thing that dropped uh we also watched it recently, but uh Apple dropped the um musical tribute to disabled students. So, uh it's called Accessibility. I'm not remarkable. Um and it's a I think it's a great video. that shows indirectly how Apple products make life easier for people. Um, but it's really cool the the way they have integrated it. I don't know what your thoughts were. Dave: So, that's about it's it's just shy of 3 minutes and I don't know if that's going to be a TV commercial or if it's just going to make its way on social, but I I will say it it moved me like that 3 minutes was very moving and very touching and I I I'm not an Apple person, but I really respected that commercial. I thought it was kind of what the world needs right now. Paul: Yeah. And I I think it's definitely a topic that we should touch on accessibility in the future and something that we can talk about. Um because I know that even for our institution, it's something that we're really focused on as well. Dave: Yeah. Uh and yeah, accessibility is going to be a huge topic uh in April of 2026 uh because just because of federal regulations, but also, you know, something that we've been paying attention to at the college for a number of years, and I'm I'm very excited to be doing an episode or two about that in the future. Paul: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, what's our topic today? Dave: Our topic today is wearables. Paul: Wearables? You mean like Dick Tracy, Michael Knight or what are we talking about? Dave: Dick Tracy had the the little TV watch. Yeah. And and Michael Knight from Nightrider had the watching kit, come pick me up or whatever. Paul: That's right. Dave: Yeah. Those were early iterations of of technology. It It's kind of funny when you think about also, you know, the 1950s whenever Dick Tracy was which technology that exists in universe that actually comes to fruition. Paul: Yeah. Dave: Like I no one was designing that watch but it it happened and then you look at Back to the Future like of course we'll have flying cars and Paul: right or the skateboards the hoverboards. Dave: My god love those. But yeah so we're going to be talking about Paul: smart watches. There's the all sorts of like health benefits from health monitors. There's um uh rings that are wearable and and patches even. So there there's all sorts of good stuff. Dave: And what what can what can we use to define What do you think we can use to define a wearable? Is it the is it the data tracking? Is it the simple fact that you put it on your person to to activate it or like what how do you think you would define it? Paul: I would say wearables initially started as a convenience. I don't think that they were originally intended for collecting all sorts of data. Dave: So they were more of a convenience. If you don't want to have your phone or your phone's in your pocket, you can look at a text message. And it was it became quite natural to say, "Oh, well, we can also take your pulse." And then oh, Also, we can take the your your pulse oct your your blood oxygen. Oh, we can also do your your blood pressure. Oh, we can tell if you've fallen. So, there have been all sorts of medical benefits. And I think Apple's really done a great job leading the charge in all of those and and saying, "Well, we didn't think you could do blood pressure, but you can get pretty pretty dang close." So, I'm appreciative to Apple, too, for for doing those. But let's I would say when we talk about wearables today, we're talking about like the analytics, the data, the data collection, but generally speaking, they were more of a convenience initially. Paul: Yeah. You know, I remember the first Apple Watch that came out and uh I was thinking, "This is amazing." And you can make phone calls with it. Dave: Were you like, "Oh, Dick Tracy, finally." Paul: Finally. Dave: Years later. Years later, Paul: the catch was that you needed your phone with you. Dave: Oh, yeah. And but then they at some point they were like, "If you charge $5 a month, you can Paul: Yes. You can actually get sell signals and you can actually make Wi-Fi call." So, David, like you said, it's one of those things where they got something out there. It was like bare bones, but it did a lot of things, including tell time. But then, uh, with every iteration, it seems to get more and more advanced, and they're realizing they can do more and more things with it. Um, so I I really think obviously you and I both have smart you have a smartwatch. Dave: I don't. Paul: You don't? Dave: I don't. And I I had one and I I couldn't take it. Paul: Why? What do you mean? Dave: So, this is going to seem odd. I mean, you know me well, so you know I'm on the bleeding edge of technology. It was just too much, man. I did not want Paul: notifications. Dave: I didn't want notifications. I don't want the ability to to distract myself. I really just So, this watch right here is like a $10 special that I got at Walmart. It's Casio. It's the the the world time. I saw it on TV show once. Uh and I was like, I want that watch and Walmart or Amazon sold for 20. I I don't like being tracked and you know, I'm into privacy and and security and and it was just too much. But that being said, I totally recognize the And I understand why people have them and almost all my friends have the smart watches in some degree or another. Paul: Yeah, I'll I love it. I Dave: tell me why. Convince me. Paul: I So, I didn't think I was going to like it. Dave: And you have the the Apple Watch, right? Paul: I have the I have the Apple Watch. Um and the Dave: version of the Apple Watch. It does make a difference. Paul: It does. And that's where I was going to get into. So, I have the Ultra, too. I'm curious about that piece, too. Um so, I had the original obviously the standard uh Apple watches. Um and they're bad. battery life was not obviously it's gotten better and better. It's but at at the early stages it was like four or five hours and you have to like charge it if you were using it you know for tracking and all of that stuff. Paul (cont.): Um but now with the Ultra I love this because it's literally I go about a day and a half and I don't I literally wear it sleeping. I wear and I'll explain why I do all of this stuff but um I wear it for everything. So the only time I take it off would be like um if I'm playing a sport and they don't allow me to wear it. If I'm playing a sport and they allow me to wear it, I track everything. I track Dave: I'm a big data. Paul: Are you doing stuff with that? Dave: Yeah. Okay. So, and I'll I just remind me, but I'll tell you Dave (cont.): because one thing to track yourself, it's another thing to like actually do something about it, make it actionable. Paul: Um so, the uh the nice thing about this is basically um you know, if I'm showering, I'll charge it. Um if I Does it charge fast? Paul: It does char depending on the charger you have. It charges faster depending on um the power that is being supplied. But uh so really I I don't ever think about charging it. Does that make sense? Like I can I just go through my day. Sure. And then when I take it off I put it on a charger and then when I'm done doing whatever I'm doing I put it back on Paul (cont.): and I don't So I'm not Back then before this I used to have to put it on a charger wait six hours or three hours and Um, so in that regards, I really like it. Um, I love the size. Obviously, my eyesight's getting worse as I get older. That's where you say you're not that old, Paul. Dave: Yep. Paul: No. Okay. That hurts. That hurts. Dave: Carry on. Paul: Um, come on, Jeeoff. You could have at least said that. Geez. Jeff: Maybe. I'm sorry. I I couldn't hear you. Paul: Thanks, both of you. Um, so, uh, so I like the size. I think it's a nice form factor. I know that if you're uh have a smaller wrist, or smaller hand that that's also like you might not like that bulkiness. Dave: Yeah. But the Can you just light that up again? The the amount of information you can see on that's practical and it's usable. Paul: Yes. So, and you can reconfigure the interface however you'd like obviously. So, less or more data. Dave: That is one thing I like about the smartwatches. That was one of the seductive reasons why I wanted it because you can make it you can customize the face of it. It's like Oh, that is that is cool. Paul: Yes. Yeah. So, the the data tracking part of it is what I I like. Um it it's actually really interesting. When you when it tracks your sleep, if it does it in a cons consistent um pattern, it will actually give you anomalies. So, like two weeks ago, it gave me an alert when I woke up that says that said it looks like you're getting sick. Dave: Oh, no. Were you getting sick? Paul: And I was getting sick because it it checked my temperature. My heart rate went up. Dave: I can do temperature. Paul: Um and for for women, it actually can detect cycles, too. Dave: Really? Paul: So, um it did say maybe I was on my cycle, but I Dave: did it really say it. Paul: Yeah. Dave: Okay. Paul: So, it it g it gives you obviously it doesn't know exactly what's wrong, but it knows that there is a discrepancy. Um, and then obviously for for me, I use it for tracking my uh like how many steps I do cuz I I try to like try to one up myself or I I use it for I use Pelaton and it syncs with Pelaton so I can see my number and I'm like Dang it, I didn't beat it. Like it gives me motivation to like I got to beat my number. Dave: That would just give me anxiety. Paul: Oh no. Dave: It's like a race to the top, right? Like you're like I did my number was 71 today. It's got to be 72 tomorrow. Like where do you go from there? 73. Paul: Yeah. Well, that's a and and it's funny cuz my wife is like, "How'd you do?" I'm like, "I didn't do great. I didn't beat I didn't beat my number." And and it's like, you know, but I like that because I'm a I'm competitive, so I need if I'm not going against any one I need to go against myself. So, I'm going to try to like, you know, level up. But, Dave: and and I do see the utility of it. So, if you go for a run, you don't need your phone, which is big and bulky. And it does like your watch is those new watch are like IPS waterproof. And Paul: I I put my earbuds on when I run. Okay. All my music is on here. I don't carry my phone. Dave: And if you get in a jam, you can call from your phone. And And I I recognize that utility and that's nice. But I I mean, I had a watch and I was like, "Oh, I'll be able to turn on off all the light bulbs in my house with my watch." And I was like, "Dave, What are you doing, man? Like, that's not a good reason to get a watch. Paul: Yeah. Um, and so, you know, I think that this is a great step um to wearables, but there are a bunch of other things that I know that are coming down the line, like the the the um glasses. Dave: Oh, the smart glasses. Paul: The smart glasses. Dave: Yeah. And I I do want to say something about the watches. I I read this book by Andy Clark and it was written, I think, in the 90s and it was called Natural-Born Cyborgs. And this is actually what was the, you know, the kicked me off on this trajectory of cognitive science and technology. And so this is well before smartphones or mobile phones. And he said, you know, when you walk up to someone on the street and you say, do you know what time it is? They can say yes, even though they might not have any idea, but by the time they turn their wrist to their face and see the watch, they know to the minute what time it is. And he was using that as a metaphor for all sorts of what would become wearables and just our extended mind, like where where we can put information. It's not in necessarily in our brain. But we have instantaneous access to it. Paul: Yeah. Dave: And and so I use that as an example all the time for now we have smartphones that are our second brain or you know Google Docs and Google Drive and all that stuff. We can access information whenever we need it and and so I think he it would be interesting to have him rewrite a book about wearables in in the the natural-born cyborg. Paul: That's really cool. Yeah. The the whole concept of how it's evolving into it. Yeah. Um and I know like so we talked about the watches and I think these are going to obviously evolve into more and more relevant um health. I think a lot of the stuff is health tracking um but I I think it's going to be used for another utility and that is to support glasses. Um and I we can get into the glasses in a minute but um I also wanted to mention that besides the glasses what is it? There is uh smart smart clothing and There is the rings. Dave: Yeah, the rings that go on and I Google was uh doing contact lenses for a little while spec very specific for if you're diabetic to kind of monitor your glucose levels. Paul: Yeah. Yeah. Dave: And and I'm being informed by a fact checker Jeff in the uh audio room that the book Naturalborn Cyborg came out in 2003. Paul: Oh, all right. Dave: So, thank you for that. Paul: Well done, Jeeoff. Dave: Yeah. Um yeah, there's rings. There's um I bracelets, too. Paul: Oh, bracelet. Yeah. Dave: Yeah. And Nike had one years ago. Paul: There's fitness track the fitness trackers. Yeah. That aren't necessarily watches. Paul (cont.): Um there is a smart clothing. There's the I know a lot of uh I don't know. Would you consider like what the professional uh footballers wear to track their heart like the vest they put under their jerseys? Dave: Oh, that sounds like a wearable. They're wearing it. Paul: Yeah. Um to track their their body, their heat, their temperature to see if they're putting max effort in, Dave: which I I like that. the the specialized use of it. Like I used to have a Garmin like a years ago. It was about like one inch by three inches was huge. It was a brick and I'd only wear it running. I'd never wear that anywhere else. Paul: Yeah. Dave: Um but so I like the specialized use and utility of those or or the ones in football helmets like American football helmets that can track concussions and Paul: Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's So those would all be considered wearables. You think? Dave: I think so. But there I mean when we think of wearables, we think of day-to-day, but we're talking a little bit about the special eyes like you're wearing them a very specific nuance situations. Paul: Yeah. Um and so I guess this is a good time to jump into the glasses. Um I know like there are Meta Glasses uh that use Meta AI Paul (cont.): in the Rayban. They teamed up with Rayban. Dave: Yeah, they teamed up and uh I guess I just saw this yesterday, but Google is uh it's called Google Aura and they're developing uh glasses based on their Android XR which they just released. Uh so that same ecosystem. Paul: Okay. Yep. That's They're okay. Dave: And I think they're going to be partnering like Warby Parker um for the glasses themselves. Paul: I I like Warby Parker's mission driven. I I like that. So, I'm glad to hear Google's Yeah. teaming up with them. Dave: And I guess uh they're It's really interesting because I saw a preview of what they're doing. And it's going to be a lot closer to, you know, what the Vision Pro and what the um uh Android XR headset. Paul: So, more more virtual reality. Dave: Yeah. augmented. Okay. Paul: It's gonna be augmented reality, but you'll see more interface in front of you and you'll have more ability to like watch like full videos. Dave: So, the Google Glass, which came out like 15 years ago, was just on one of the lenses in the upper right hand corner, a teeny tiny little TV screen. And I think that's what Glass Paul: Yeah, that's what the Meta one is now. Dave: But you're talking about like the whole both lenses will have the ability to project all sorts of information on it. Paul: Yep. And uh like shared the desktop so it could be more efficient for Dave: Is that be like when they show in the Iron Man movies where you can see like Paul: Oh yeah, Dave: it's calculating the threats and the missiles coming in and all that. Paul: That's what I want. Okay. Paul: Yeah. So, I think that that's the direction it's going. And uh I know people poo poo the uh VR, but the VR systems and the um all the lenses and the technologies and everything that's going into it, it's like the starting point, right? And now we're integrating it into these other Paul (cont.): avenues and augmented reality is going to be I I guess in my head the way I I picture this is um right now, you know, if you're doing directions, if you're looking up anything, you always need to have your phone out. So your phone is always in front of you versus if you have your glasses on and you can see everything that was on your phone and it's like giving an arrow of like walk here, walk here, go here, or um you know, Joe just emailed you and I can see what he wrote and then I can just quickly respond to him either with a voice Or and this is where the other watch will come in. Like Meta has a wrist tracker. Dave: Oh yeah. For the muscles, right? Paul: Yeah. So you can you can just Dave: It's like a bracelet. Paul: Yep. Dave: But it can sense which vibrations like which fingers you're clicking together or something. Paul: Yep. And the direction you're moving. So this way you can kind of write in the air. Uh but you know if you have a watch, what if what what's to prevent a band from doing it? Dave: Oh, that's interesting. Paul: Cuz uh you know I think with the Apple Watch, you can kind of like do a a a turn turn and it will so you get six signals there. But with the Apple Vision Pro, can't you It has finger tracking so you don't even need anything on your You can like pinch and zoom and it knows what you're doing just by watching your fingers, right? Paul (cont.): Yes. And you don't even need to put it in front of the c you know, usually you put it in front of your face so you can see it. Dave: Oh, I see. Paul: You can actually just keep it down by your side and and just do it. But um so it's interesting cuz I feel like right now the limitation is what the watch was at the beginning. So, you need a device. They some people will call it a puck, some people will call it a phone, obviously, but you need something else to connect to it because the hardware and the the computer can't just exist in the glasses. Dave: Correct. Okay. Correct. Whereas like the Vision Pro, the um Quest, the uh Hollow Lens back, I know that's deprecated now, but Microsoft AR like gigantic helmets you wear so it can have the batteries and the computer and everything, right? So, that's like a self-standing. Whereas these glasses right now are going to be dependent on something else. But I see the potential there. The battery life is going to be horrible. I'm sure it's going to be like two hours, you know? Paul: Yeah, cuz projection is not cheap. Although, if you're only projecting certain bits, I bet it's I bet it's more than two hours. That's my guess. Cuz I think Google Glass was two hours like 10 years ago. Dave: Yeah, it might be. Might be three hours. Paul: It might be. We'll We're gonna hopefully get a pair. So, we'll see where the meta the meta glasses um and their their duration. Um but I think that that's really an avenue to explore and I think the tracking and I I I don't know why at some point I picture phones this sounds weird but phones going away. Dave: Yeah. Right. Paul: And just having a watch and glasses listening to you talk I'm like oh yeah like what do we need a phone for now? Dave: Right. Well as cuz this will hold and you know you could put stuff in the band. Dave (cont.): I am I am a little curious. So two things. One when learners in my class are taking notes on their phone. I'm like, I would never do that. Like reading on my phone is hard enough. I can't be productive on that. So, I can't imagine being productive on the watch. But I also have started doing more and more talking to AI verbally like um Google Gemini when I'm driving. I'm like, "Oh, this is way better than typing." So, I can imagine a future where like almost everything you're doing is easier to do when you're, you know, just talking. So, so maybe you're right. Maybe you don't need to be productive on a screen, Paul: right? And so, I think that that's something that will I think it again we're way out from there but I think it's something that uh is definitely coming and obviously there's those rings as well that you can wear that does all the mood tracking Dave: I think that's also called the aura Paul: the oh is it okay but um have you I don't know anyone who has that but I know that's all data tracking as well right Dave: yeah and and I don't know what how I feel about that I mean I would love it in another 10 or 15 years, I'm like, "Yeah, I want cardiac emergencies to be to alert the authorities or if I fall, um, I should probably have that now, but I also don't want to be superly providing all sorts of data to people about like my own biometrics." Paul: Yeah. Yeah, I get it. But I Yeah, I know what you mean. Dave: Insurance. I don't like paying insurance, but I'm glad I have it. Paul: But it's, you know, I don't know if you've seen those commercials where people got in a car accident and the watch detected that there was a big uh collision and so it dialed you can set it up on your watch but it calls 911 automatically and you hear the phone calls and you hear the people on the like you know they're like I just I just rolled over. I don't know where my phone is. I hear you. And I'm like holy smokes. And that was that was the way one of the Apple events started one year and I was like Dave: oh that's shocking awe. Paul: Yeah. Right. Dave: Although alternatively one of my buddies has on his phone like crash detection or whatever and it triggered and I got an alert and his mom got an alert and she was in Florida and she called me. She like Dave like I I tried calling him. I don't know where he is. Like what's going on? So like I went to where the car or where the phone was and was like sitting in the front seat of his car. I was like oh my god he's gone. He's missing but he was just like he was on a run. He just happened to toss his phone into the car. Paul: Oh I gota Dave: and so that that's probably Apple did not want to start their convention. Paul: Yeah. Well so you know talking about AI I know that the meta glasses they all these glasses are going to be utilized. AI. Um, and there's another thing called the Rabbit OS, too. Are you familiar with this? Dave: Well, I knew the first one, and correct me if I'm wrong, was just something you wear around all day and records everything. Paul: Yes. And it was just it's like a little uh like a clip you'd clip it on to your to your shirt or whatever, but it was all AI driven and it was all um in device, so it didn't need a cloud service. Paul (cont.): And that is separate than the whatever Joanie Ives is working on with OpenAI. That's going to be some type of wearable device with AI. Dave: Yeah. It's different completely different but I think it's around the same realm but Paul: yeah and I do see the utility in that like it is interesting you know a lot of times we're recording meetings and we can get insight from there but can you imagine doing that cuz I I think that's the thing is like it will capture everything and it can give you like can be your memory like oh yeah you met you did meet with Dave this day and here's what you guys talked about Paul (cont.): and you can ask it things it'll talk back to you um it does have a touch interface to it but it is like you were saying it's more of that discussion like you're talking to it. Dave: Yeah. And it I like it. I don't like that it is intrusive on people who might not want that. So I don't know like societyy's gonna have to manage their expectations about this. And there are certainly like legal requirements in different states. Paul: Well, Google Glass that look at what an issue that was. Dave: Yeah. The people just there was so much backlash that people were wearing this in bars or Paul: Yeah. They were ahead of their time though. Dave: They were Oh, I wish they Well, it it went from consumer to business cuz it was there was a business business need in manufacturing for that type of wearable cuz uh it can also give you instruction on the fly. So while you're working on a machine, you have free hands and you can say so you know where does this bolt go and it just and it show you and you know Paul: yeah Dave: um so there's a lot of practical reasons to glasses and keeping handsree. Um but what I wanted to also talk about is uh I think when we're talking about these type of devices there's some things that we should keep in mind. I know um we talked a little bit about this, but you know, battery is a big thing for people. So, battery life. Paul: Uh I know my my daughter was a big She was like, "I wanted to go camping over the weekend. Will I will I need to charge? I'm going to be running marathons." Dave: She has like a Garmin or a uh tracking watch. Paul: Yeah. So, she had an original just a standard Apple Okay. Apple Watch, but it you know it it would die cuz you work all day and then you go on your and it has brilliant LCD screen. Yeah. Yeah. Dave: Yeah. There's a lot going on there. Paul: And you know, she was using it for uh notifications and everything else, but she would go on a run and halfway through her run, obviously, it would die. So, she was like, you know, I need something else. So, um you know, she she came up with Have you heard of Choros? Dave: Yep. My My wife has a Choros. Paul: Okay. Yeah. But it's got like 32 hours of battery life. And Dave: I mean, so Katie, my my wife hiked a Pacific Crest Trail two summers ago and she got a chorus specifically for that and she I think she only had charge every like 2 or 3 days and she was hiking all like 20 hours a day and it tracked your map like right it it had the map built into it so you could track your your trails. Paul: Yeah. I I don't know if she used that feature as much but she certainly had the analytics. She she still used it for sleep. I mean she used it that's her everyday carry anyhow. Um but it tracks sleep. It's a great watch. The battery is fantastic on that's what they're known for I think. Paul (cont.): Yeah. And so that's a big factor. So uh some things that you can think about are you know what do you want in your wearable? And right now we're talking about watch is, but I assume the wearable would also be a ring, it could be your glasses, um, it could be clothing, um, it could be a bracelet. But some things to think about would be, you know, do you want allound health tracking, how much tracking do you want? Dave: Yeah. The thing that scares me is like when once insurance companies start getting that data and then they start adjusting prices, you know, I'm wearing maybe I'm wearing my watch and they're like, "Oh, Dave is just sitting around all day. We can we should increase his premium, Dave (cont.): right?" You know, like I So that's that's one of the downsides of of all these analytics. Paul: That that is true and that again you have to keep in mind I I trust that Apple does a good job at security. Dave: Yeah. But depending on your platform that's a great point. Um you know obviously think about battery life. What are you doing? Do you need do you need it for 10 hours or are you just using it for 3 hours or like how are you going to use this device? Paul: Yeah. Marathon versus like a ultramarathon, Dave: right? Um do you want payments on your watch? So uh do you want like Apple or Google Pay. Paul: That is convenient though. Dave: That's convenient. Paul: It is. I mean, to think like you don't need I know we go everywhere with our phones, but you don't need your phone all the time and you could do all of this on your watch. Dave: We went from being wallet driven to walletless with phones and now we're going to phoneless like you said and like everything can be done with a watch and and there's some devices that don't support it. So again, you have to evaluate is battery life more important than maybe the pay options. Paul: Sure. Dave: You know, It's so I hate making those decisions. What do you What do you want? What do you want? Cuz you use technology a lot. Paul: I So I like uh I I need I I love the Ultra because it gives me a little bit of everything. I need the iPhone or I watch Ultra the Apple the Apple Watch. Yeah. Um because it gives me battery life. It gives me Apple Pay options. It's It gives me the notifications that I want when I want them. Dave: So you have to customize those so you don't get overwhelmed. Paul: Exactly. Um so and again, you have to decide, do you want notifications? Most devices have some type type of notification, whether it's a vibration, a actual popup. Um, do you want to make phone calls from your device or is it okay that there that's not, you know, an option? Does it need to be waterproof? Does size matter as far as the face of the watch or, you know, is the glasses too chunky? Are the rings too thick? Paul (cont.): You know, these are all factors that you might have to think about. Um, and does does look matter? I mean, do you care that the glasses are super chunky or Dave: Yeah. The batteries have to go somewhere like over your ears or whatever. Paul: Right. Right. Or do you care that it's a not a circle uh face of the watch? It's a square. It's a square or so, you know, these are all things that you have to figure out. And then is there an ecosystem that you belong to like the Apple ecosystem or Android ecosystem? And do you want to kind of play with within the ecosystem that you're in? Dave: Oh man, I don't Can people hire you to kind of like be their like watch concierge? Paul: Yeah. And again, we we're talking about watches, but it could all these things still apply for rings, for wrists, for for the glasses. Um, so I think those are things that, you know, practically we have to think about. Um, and then there's some things that are coming out in the future which I think are interesting. Have you heard of this C the what? Cisret bracelet. Dave: Cis that I saw the picture you put in the show notes for today and it's like a bracelet you wear and it has a teeny tiny little projector that can project on your arm like the face of a smartwatch. Paul: Yep. And then you could just click on your your on your wrist uh where the you see the overlay. Dave: Yeah. Paul: Um and you can do everything from there. Now I I believe this was fake and but you know I think you brought it up. We saw MIT doing something with this type of uh interface in in the past where it's like a projection based. Dave: Yeah. MIT was doing this probably more than 15 years ago the in their um human computer interaction lab. They've done all sorts of things where it has cameras and small mini projectors and I'm like oh that is cool. Paul: Yeah. Yeah. And and so I've seen that too. And I just think like there's something there. I don't know what it is, but there's something there to that type of interface. Dave: Yeah. It's nice that it's small. It doesn't require a screen, but it still gives you all the benefits of a screen. Yes. So it's you don't even need a watch with a tiny screen and worry about the size because you can make it bigger or smaller and it's always on you. Paul: Yep. Exactly. Exactly. Dave: So um people will have to kind of look look that up. The CI T bracelet. Paul: Yes. And it is it is fake. So buy anything until you really do your research on it. Dave: But but it will be like that. I think you're right. This we'll see this in the next 18 to 24 months, I bet. Paul: Yes. So, keep in mind everything that we talked about if you're thinking about wearables. Uh the time, the health tracking, the battery life, do you want to stay in an ecosystem? Do you want pay? Do you want notifications? Do you want to make phone calls? Is it waterproof? Does that matter? The size matter? Does the look matter? Does the ecosystem that you belong to matter? Um and really Those are all factors that are going to go into what you're going to buy as far as the um function goes of the wearables. Dave: Yeah. And if you need all of those, you just get the Ultra then because that looks like it has everything. Paul: Well, it still doesn't have the battery life that for the the 3-day hiking people that don't. But yeah, so that's all the time we have for today. Uh my name is Paulen Dave: and I'm Dave Goo. If you enjoyed our conversation today, please be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Uh let's be careful out there and share. with a friend or a colleague. Until next time, stay curious, stay connected, and thanks for looking through the immersive lens with us. This episode was engineered by Jeff Kid. Recorded at Fingerlakes Community College podcast studios located in beautiful Canondua, New York, in the heart of the Fingerlakes region. Offering more than 55 degrees, certificates, micro credentials, and workforce training programs. Thank you to public relations and communications, marketing, and the FLX AI hub. Eager to delve into passion, discover exciting and immersive opportunities at www.flcc.edu. Announcer: As part of our mission at FLCC, we are committed to making education accessible, innovative, and align with the needs of both students and employers. The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Fingerlakes Community College. Music by Den from Pixab Bay. This is the immersive lens. And there it is. Dave: There that's that's why that's why I do this. Paul: So fire. So fire. All right.
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