The Cicret Secret

French Wearable Tech

By Anca Gagiuc on Dec 19, 2014 in Technology

Looking back at the course of innovation in technology throughout 2014, it’s clear that wearables have gained a lot of traction. Watch after watch, bracelet after armband, the French are now introducing the wristband – Cicret.

The first thing to know about this little wonder is that the prototype is still in the works and if you want to spend some money on it now, the only way to do it is to donate for the development of its first prototype on the Cicret website. Back to the description.

The Cicret Bracelet is a small wristband that supposedly has the ability to turn the wearer’s arm into a touchscreen. It sounds pretty cool to be able to give up your smartphone in an era dominated by them. The device works through a tiny embedded pico projector and a row of 8 proximity sensors built into the bracelet that point towards the user’s forearm, reminding of the technology behind projected keyboards. These enable the Cicret system to detect the location and movement of the user’s fingers, turning the surface of the skin into a touchscreen. The regular gestures apply: tap, swipe, and pinch.

Cicret will operate as a standalone device and, when activated with a twist of the wrist, projects an Android interface onto the arm. The proximity sensors detect where the user’s fingers are and allow them to interact with the interface as they would on any Android device. Furthermore, the device features an accelerometer and a vibration module, as well as an LED for notifications. Connectivity is provided by way of WiFi, Bluetooth and a Micro USB port. The bracelet will also have its own onboard storage of 16GB and 32GB.

The bracelet will allow users to send and receive emails, browse the internet and play games. It will also be possible to pair it with a smartphone to answer incoming phone calls and activate the speakerphone functionality on the respective smartphone.

Of course, even though the idea has sparked interest in many, it has also brought with is a big wave of skepticism. It wouldn’t be a first, for either scenario. What it does though, is open a new range of possibilities in a world eager to see innovation in the use of wearable technologies. If Cicret will prove to be successful, we’ll be hearing more about it in the course of 2015.