These Wooden Wearables Are Stylish AND Sustainable
Save the occasional scenic desktop wallpaper of a snow-capped mountain or a forest of lush green trees, we’re not ordinarily reminded of nature in the midst of all-things tech. Durable sapphire glass and lighter-than-air metal are normally the elements of utmost concern in that realm, but this latest Kickstarter campaign actually brings together nature and technology to create stylish and sustainable wooden wearables.
Born from fashion-tech guru Christopher Magick’s love of simple UX and elegant design, Linou aims to bring awareness back to nature with its sleek, smart products. Its two flagship pieces — the Wood Tech Watch and Notification Necklace — both serve as simple notification alert systems. Unlike the do-it-all Apple watch, Magick’s theory for wearables is a little different. “For me my phone is always with me, so having duplicate functions on a watch is just not necessary and often results in the wearable part of the tech not being present in the design,” he wrote on Kickstarter, much to our delight, and his standards show in Linou’s exceptionally handsome accessories.
Both the watch and the necklace gently vibrate when you get a notification, which connects to your phone via Bluetooth. Each piece is embedded with a triangle panel that lights up in different colors to signify the alerting app or contact — on the watch, it’s hidden on the underside of the band, while it’s displayed front-and-center of the geometric statement necklace. All settings can be controlled thorough the Linou app, which will be available for both iPhones and Android devices.
But back to the materials themselves — that’s what it’s all about here, right? The Wood Tech Watch is made of black ebony timber and stainless steel, and its face is covered with sapphire glass. The Notification Necklace comes in bamboo, sandalwood and walnut options. The streamlined designs were meant to be worn by anyone — guys and girls could easily don either piece and we’d imagine they’d end up in heavy rotation, something Magick and his team planned for since the charge on both accessories lasts for two weeks.
What Magick wants out of this project is for users to be reminded of nature, even in the most unlikely places. And if you ask us, Linou nails it. We’re already anticipating the next round of smart wooden pieces, from a notification tie clip to a vibrating cuff (side note: could you imagine rocking Google Glass, wooden edition? *We* could!), so to get this line moving, Linou is asking to raise $200,000 AUD, or about $175,500 USD on Kickstarter by October 13. An $88 pledge lands you the Notification Necklace, and for $178 you get the Wood Watch, which are predicted to ship as early as November of this year.
What do you think of wooden wearables? Let us know in the comments.