Sgnl - Make Phone Calls with Your Fingertip

[EEVblog]

How variable is this going to be?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sgnlstrap/sgnl-make-phone-calls-with-your-fingertip

[MK14]

My original reply seemed to misunderstand the product, so I removed it.

As I understand it now, I can see why some people would like it. As it seems to allow people, while walking in the street, to somewhat discretely receive and talk back to people WITHOUT needing to touch or take out their mobile phone. Interesting. Also interesting is that apparently, the original company this comes from is Samsung. This project somehow (I don't properly understand why/how) got released from Samsung into a separate company or something.
I still don't properly understand this product, but it is beginning to make sense to me.
I suppose it is a bit like the Star Trek Next Generation communication devices, which only needed the user, to touch the Startrek symbol on their jacket, to activate. With this, instead, you just touch your ear, and it works. Interesting/strange and weird all at the same time.

[electr_peter]

As I see it, it is Bluetooth headset with notification capability. Main feature - sound is channelled through the bones from the wrist band. You have to hold you finger near skull/ears to be able to hear. This is similar to specialised headphones where sound is channelled through bones as well. Thus, you can hear what is said even in loud places - I like such idea.

Whether or not it is a viable product, only time will tell. The main advantage of sound thought the finger is also the main disadvantage - you have to touch finger near your ears to be able to hear anything, effectively losing one hand and looking very strange.

[m98]

So how is this going to be better than a Bluetooth headset?
I have some experience with body conducted sounds as I developed a product using this technology. Sound is strongly attenuated by human soft tissues like fat and muscles while being only weakly attenuated by bones. Therefore most bone conduction headset transducers sit directly above the os temporale, to have to pass the sound only through a comparably thin layer of skin and fat and then have a comparably short path through bone to the middle ear. And even there, there is a quite significant attenuation of the signal. And this watch even wants to pass the sound first along your whole hand. Without any further evaluation, it's clear that the transducer in that watch has to have a significant output level to pass anything recognisable to the ear. So you'll be able to feel every single word of your conversation partner, but luckily it'll only last for a few minutes...

[zapta]

So how is this going to be better than a Bluetooth headset?

Carrying a bracelet instead of a BT headset is more discrete and has a screen you can interact with.

[edy]

I have my doubts as to the comfort of this thing. For one, to get proper vibration transfer to the bones of the wrist will require some steady pressure of the BCU to your body. You try wearing this all day, how will you feel? Also, this device is not "hands-free" as you have to stick your finger on your ear or more disgustingly in your ear. Why would I want to use this if I am not hands-free? And as to being inconspicuous, well I think people will still wonder why someone is talking to themselves with a finger touching their ear. 

My wife has long hair, with full Bluetooth earpiece you sometimes can't tell she is even wearing it. That's inconspicuous! If she gets a call, she quickly places it in her ear just during the call. No need to have pressure on your wrist all day. If your fingers are dirty, in gloves, busy doing something, the Bluetooth works perfectly and is hands-free with good sound quality.

I just don't see the practical use in everyday situations. This is another example of a device that looks cool but otherwise full of drawbacks.

As to the whole Samsung relationship and crowd-funding, I think this is another marketing tactic and to boost investor confidence to get to the next level. They originally asked for $50k, now they have still under $400k... not enough I think to pay for the efforts and to set up a production line and software development for this team. They must be getting some millions in the background already promised as they have been going at it since 2014. I suspect Samsung was not entirely convinced this was a killer product and spun it off but I'm sure they still have a hand in it.

[1design]

Why is talking on the phone marked as something you don't want to be seen doing, but rather walking around talking to yourself, looking like a lunatic?! This seems like a good idea for people working in noisy environments who wear noise protection and would still be able to talk on the phone (I worked in a club and that would have been great at the time).

BR

[Xenoamor]

In all seriousness having a visible bluetooth earphone/microphone is good so people know you're on the phone and not talking to them, or even worse yourself!