The future is exciting indeed with technology seeping in everywhere. Our lives are becoming easier and more opportunities are presenting themselves to us. The latest and, supposedly, greatest of technological innovations to wow people around the world – smart watches and wearables are here to stay. Smartwatches are a relatively new creation, making its first appearance in the commercial market in 2014. Samsung started the race with its Tizen-operated smart watches with LG and Motorola following in the race. Apple was last of the giants to come up with its own Apple Watch.
The hype surrounding wearable technology is enormous. People are expecting wearables to take over our lives and they can be proven right, in the not-so-distant future. But right now, the technology is far from perfect and only in the infant phase of its life. The wrist wearables of today can be categorized into two sections: health trackers and notification-based smart watches. While the fitness trackers have a definite purpose, the smartwatches lack clear direction in its range of capabilities. A true revolution will only start when these wearables will be able to integrate into our daily use and also create its own niche. Here are a few attributes that will help wearable technologies achieve their true potential.
Efficiency
The battery life is the biggest obstacle facing this particular technology. It is supposed to last weeks and months like regular watches, unlike just hours and days like it currently does. All these affects the function of smartwatches and prevents it from working as a stand-alone gadget like it wants to be. Alternative methods of charging using solar energy could be used instead, to ensure better longevity.
Personalization
What we wear is a very personal choice. How Apple has created a space for third-party manufacturers to create and sell Apple watch bands sets an example to why wearables need to be personalized enough for people to have the incentive to sport them all the time. In the process, these devices will be invisible, making them more efficient and powerful.
Accurate
All of our devices are constantly taking data from our body and its movements. Many aspects of our lives are now closely connected to numbers. These wearables can, technically, be able to correctly capture and analyze data but industry standards on accuracy levels are yet to be developed.
Sentient
These devices need to have the capacity to understand its surroundings and evolve according to demands of the client. People grow new interests every day and the wearable devices need to adapt and be relevant in the long run, without which, sustenance for these products can be jeopardized.
Seamless
The most exciting prospect about wearable technology is that it can sync with your home appliances and give us a unique experience. We will no longer have to push buttons to get things but they will happen on their own automatically, using various triggers in our body that make them manifest. Flashes of the TV series ‘Black mirror’ come into mind where they complete household chores effortlessly.
Permission
The prospect of having an entire new platform with its own set of apps and programs is making marketers very curious about the possibilities that lie in front of them. Even though they get to engage customers with new ideas, users will also get the option to set their own privacy and get a more personalized experience in return.
In summary, the future looks bright. Smart watches are a great prospect that will earn a lot of money and also make our lives easier in every possible way.
So what makes Facemoji Keyboard different from all the other keyboards out there? Over my week or so using the keyboard, I have to say that it is the most fun one I have ever used. The first thing you will notice is the emphasis on personalization within the keyboard through keyboard themes and emoji styles.
After spending some time making the keyboard look just the way you want, you can finally get into the typing experience itself. At the top of the keyboard, you will notice several hotkeys. The left-most one that resembles a four-leafed clover will show you different settings options. The shirt icon will let you choose a theme to apply from any of the default themes or those you have downloaded. You can also quickly access the theme gallery to find a new one. The cursor icon in the middle lets you precisely move the cursor around to place it exactly where you want. While I appreciate this addition and love how useful it is, I wonder why it was not done in a similar fashion to Google Keyboard where you long-press the spacebar and drag to position the cursor. This way would have freed up a spot in the top bar for another hotkey, but at least the feature was included in the app.
The inclusion of stickers and GIFs is what set this keyboard apart from many others that I have used. For those of you who do not know what stickers are in a keyboard app, they are basically advanced emojis that are more detailed and sometimes animated. I personally have never used stickers or GIFs when texting anyone, but the features were integrated so well into Facemoji Keyboard that I decided to give them a try. The included sticker pack is iOS-style emojis that have been animated, but you can search through the sticker gallery and download any pack that you find interesting. I personally like the sloth pack, but your options are numerous.
The overall typing experience with Facemoji keyboard is about average, and I still cannot match the speed I get with Google Keyboard. The inclusion of swiping to type is wonderful, but I found myself typing at the speed I get with most other keyboards. There were a couple of problems I encountered while using this keyboard, too. If a word was autocorrected to another word after I pressed the space bar, I could not simply backspace and be given a list of words in the top bar (like I do in Google Keyboard). This meant I would have to retype any word that was wrongly autocorrected.
