Wearable Research – Darren

Finger Cots

Practice it works in
Informally known as finger condoms, you probably have seen these little wearables around before such as the grocery store. It is widely used in various industries but two prominent ones that I will mention are in the office and for medical use. In the workplace, finger cots can prevent paper cuts when going through many pages of paper and prevent contamination when dealing with delicate parts like semiconductors. In the medical field, it can be used for a range of medical procedures such as topical applications and keeping a wound dry because of its water-tight properties.

Specific Use
Often made up of flexible and materials like silicone, rubber, and latex, its specific use is for protection against accidental cuts, water, and heat. Additionally, it is made of anti-slip material like latex and rubber and often laced with grooves, allowing one to have a firmer grip.

Mobility
Being small and made of flexible material, mobility of fingers/hands are not affected by the wearable. Additionally, it is more comfortable and less restrictive compared to a glove.

Utility vs Fashionability
The finger cot has plenty of utility providing many functions (mainly protection) but is not as fashionable because of how odd it looks just covering your fingers. It does come in different colors such as bright orange or plain beige. 

Oculus Rift

Practices used in

The Oculus Rift is a developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division in Facebook, and released in 2016. The headset is often used in Virtual Reality entertainment such as games, education, media, and art. It is also used for furthering the development of the VR technology (testing) with development kits.

Its specific use

The VR headset is connected to the system which allows its users to be immersed in a virtual reality by surrounding your sense of sight and hearing. It has other equipments such as as controllers, a head tracking system, and an operating system. It even has an app store (Oculus Store) to purchase software/programs for VR. It is used for all kinds of uses from media, education, social, industrial, but mainly for gaming. 

Mobility

The worn device is connected to a computer via a cable and movement with the headgear is limited to the length of the device. You are able to move your head around in all directions from your neck as part of the VR experience.

Utility vs Fashionability

The Oculus Rift is clunky and slightly heavy but it does a darn fine job of obscuring your senses to make the experience seem super surreal. It is not fashionable at the very least in terms of appearance (you won’t walk around with the headgear in public) but the carbon black makes it look pretty sleek.

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