The Esiva bridges smartwatches with jewelry to make wearables fashionable

What if a smart-band didn’t look like a band? What if it assumed the roles of a smartwatch, but looked like a chic bracelet? Esiva makes the case that tech and fashion can coexist in a way where tech takes the back-seat and fashion shines through. If smart-jewelry were a term, the Esiva would fit perfectly into that category. It looks nothing like a traditional smartwatch, but does the job of one, delivering notifications, telling you the time, and tracking your fitness. The band comes with an all-metal design, featuring a minimal 3-part arc-shaped display.

The display’s slim shape means a simple, bare-basics interface with only relevant information, along with a minimal interaction involving just tapping and swiping. Two crowns on the rim help you perform a host of other tasks like summoning your phone’s Voice AI. Ultimately, the Esiva forms an extension of your smartphone, delivering information to you in a crisp, concise, and charming manner… and even though it doesn’t have a large, square-shaped interface that you’d get lost in, its elegant design will ensure all eyes are on it!

Designer: Burzo Ciprian

MIT’s Pandemic Response Design Challenge winner is a mask that actively scans the air for germs

A winner of the MIT Pandemic Response CoLab #ReimagineMask Challenge, the Social Mask doesn’t just stop microparticles and microorganisms from entering your respiratory system… it alerts you of their presence too.

The mask comes with a transparent design, which seems fitting since it focuses on data transparency too. The mask sports a 3D-printed frame that houses filters along with a biosensor that actively monitors the air you breathe. Air quality metrics are sent to your phone, capturing not just pollution levels but the presence of germs too. The sensor detects the presence of air-borne pathogens, alerting you if there’s something hazardous in the air. Data transparency goes both ways too, with a temperature sensor built into the cheek-area of the polycarbonate frame, allowing people around you to know your own body temperature… a feature that lets others know if you’re healthy or feeling feverish.

The Social Mask flips the contact-tracing argument by just tracing the air instead. More than just filtering the air you breathe of contaminants, the Social Mask lets you know if they’re there in the first place, and works to create a map of the places you visit, actively giving you stats of what the air was like when you were there. Pretty neat, eh?!

Designer: Burzo Ciprian