The Sony E-paper Watch: crowdfunding tested, Sony approved

Sony recently announced plans for a new watch made entirely of e-paper. The watch, however, is newer than the announcement. In fact, it’s been part of a crowdfunding campaign for a company called FES (Fashion Entertainments) that began on September 8th that was successfully funded on September 26, 2014.

So when Sony broke the news about their e-paper watch, it wasn’t so much an announcement about the watch as it was an announcement the the FES e-paper watch was actually the Sony e-paper watch.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the Sony E-paper watch. They explain the reasoning behind the secrecy,

“We hid Sony’s name because we wanted to test the real value of the product, whether there will be demand for our concept,” a person involved in the project said.

 

Sony’s idea is not limited to watches, as the team is also developing e-ink-based bow ties, hat accessories or paper holders. The idea behind the project –being carried out by five Sony engineers who are mostly in their 30s and with assistance from an outside design company–is to re-define the electronic paper as a fabric, the person said.

 

Under an initiative of Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai, the electronics company is encouraging its employees to come up with new product or business ideas by providing financial and advisory support. Sony Real Estate, the real-estate service company launched in April, was another fruit of the initiative. The Japanese firm also launched the Sony Seed Acceleration Program earlier this year to foster creative ideas through auditions.

The watch itself looks pretty flimsy and I doubt this is going to be the smartwatch on the wrist of the tech elite in 2015, but that’s not really the goal of the thing. It’s more of a proof of concept, and the applications of the e-paper, fabric type, wearable go far beyond telling time.

Out of curiosity though, would you wear a watch like this?

via [The Wall Street Journal]

Source [FES] [Makauke]