Android Wear Design Contest!
Last week I went to a GDG Ann Arbor Android meetup on Android Wear. The presentation was set up by Google and had a bunch of information on the upcoming Android Wear SDK. At the end, it was announced that there would be a few vouchers for Android Wear devices available. A design contest was announced and the deadline was set at Sunday.
Being naturally competitive and really into new technology, I made a design mockup for a home automation app that I thought would be useful to have on a wearable device (the most common form factor happens to be a watch). Here’s my submission that I originally posted to Google Plus:
The app uses the user’s location as a way to provide feedback only when it’s necessary, and to stay out of the way when it isn’t. In this example, the app can detect when a user is arriving home and can ask if they want to switch the lights on.
Instead of switching individual lights on and off, the user can create preset groups and activate them with voice commands. Users can set commonly used groups like “living room” and “kitchen.”
Night owl users can set reminders to go to bed, and the app can turn off lights if the user decides to stay up late.
The app can also use sensors to detect when motion is occurring in the home and alert the user if no one is supposed to be at home. The user can decide whether the motion is a false alarm or if further action should be taken.
There is obviously much more that can be done with a home automation app, but these are just a few scenarios that would work well on an Android Wear device. I’m looking forward to experimenting on Android Wear when it becomes available!
I heard this week that my submission was a winning entry, so I’ll get an Android Wear device as soon as they go on sale some time this Summer. Thanks to Google and the GDG group here in Ann Arbor for setting up the event!