Team Turquoise is a young group of innovative scientists, designers and engineers from London. They developed Doppel; a wearable that has an effect on your everyday life. You can meet them at our WT | Wearable Technologies Conference 2015 USA on Jul 9th and 10th . In the meantime, below is a an interview with Jack Hooper, a member of Team Turquoise.
1. Why is Doppel not just another wristband? What is your main target group?
Doppel does not monitor you. Unlike most other wearables Doppel is not trying to track your body, instead it creates an actual effect on the person wearing it. It can make the wearer feel more alert or relaxed on demand. It is natural and proven – it works in the same way as upbeat or downbeat music but with no noise – you can find out more on our Kickstarter campaign http://kck.st/1ejqZlU.
Doppel is for those who want to take more control over how they feel, a tool that can be used in many ways. To stay focused at work or help stay calm under pressure. We’ve had people using Doppel to help wind down for sleep and I use it a lot to keep up the pace while running. One of our reasons for Kickstarting is to get feedback from our backers about where they like to use doppel the most.
2. You decided to seek funding for your first project trough Kickstarter? How has the experience been so far?
It has been an amazing experience and we are learning so much. It is so exciting to get Doppel out there in front of people and start getting the feedback and ideas from our backers. It’s lots of work but completely worth it.
3. You have an interesting project with Disney coming up. Can you share some highlights of this partnership with us already?
I’m afraid I can’t go in to too much detail but what I can say is – Yes we are working on empathic technology for children! And we are incredibly excited for the opportunity to work with Disney on this – they are the masters at connecting with kids.
4. What is your favorite wearable at the moment (besides your own)?
In the current show from our old course (Innovation Design Engineering at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art) one of the students has developed an incredible tool glove. It allows craftsmen to sculpt solid materials like stone… with their hands! It’s called the Happaratus by Morten Grønning Nielsen, highly recommended!
