TED Residency
Keith Kirkland: Wearable tech that helps you navigate by touch
Filmed:
Readability: 4.7
1,685,090 views
Keith Kirkland is developing wearable tech that communicates information using only the sense of touch. He's trying to figure out: What gestures and vibration patterns could intuitively communicate ideas like "stop" or "go"? Check out his team's first product, a navigation device for the blind and visually impaired, and learn more about the entirely new "haptic language" he's creating to power it.
Keith Kirkland - Haptic designer
Keith Kirkland is the cofounder of WearWorks, a company that builds products and experiences that communicate information through touch. Full bio
Keith Kirkland is the cofounder of WearWorks, a company that builds products and experiences that communicate information through touch. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Do you remember your first kiss?
0
706
1856
00:15
Or that time you burned
the roof of your mouth
the roof of your mouth
1
3548
2213
00:17
on a hot slice of pizza?
2
5785
1199
00:19
What about playing tag
or duck, duck, goose as a child?
or duck, duck, goose as a child?
3
7532
2853
00:22
These are all instances where
we're using touch to understand something.
we're using touch to understand something.
4
10863
3577
00:26
And it's the basis of haptic design.
5
14974
1892
00:29
"Haptic" means of or relating to
the sense of touch.
the sense of touch.
6
17434
2794
00:32
And we've all been using that
our entire lives.
our entire lives.
7
20252
2730
00:35
I was working on my computer
when my friend,
when my friend,
8
23791
2493
00:38
seeing me hunched over typing,
walked over behind me.
walked over behind me.
9
26308
2928
00:41
She put her left thumb
into the left side of my lower back,
into the left side of my lower back,
10
29617
2896
00:44
while reaching her right index finger
around to the front of my right shoulder.
around to the front of my right shoulder.
11
32537
3754
00:48
Instinctively, I sat up straight.
12
36315
1840
00:50
In one quick and gentle gesture,
13
38179
2192
00:52
she had communicated
how to improve my posture.
how to improve my posture.
14
40395
2299
00:55
The paper I was working on
at that very moment
at that very moment
15
43561
2169
00:57
centered around developing new ways
to teach movement using technology.
to teach movement using technology.
16
45754
3412
01:01
I wanted to create a suit
that could teach a person kung fu.
that could teach a person kung fu.
17
49579
3196
01:05
(Laughter)
18
53434
1802
01:07
But I had no idea how
to communicate movement
to communicate movement
19
55260
2119
01:09
without an instructor being in the room.
20
57403
1998
01:12
And in that moment,
it became crystal clear: touch.
it became crystal clear: touch.
21
60187
3735
01:16
If I had vibrating motors
where she had placed each of her fingers,
where she had placed each of her fingers,
22
64657
3499
01:20
paired with motion-capture data
of my current and optimal posture,
of my current and optimal posture,
23
68180
4366
01:24
I could simulate the entire experience
24
72570
1903
01:26
without an instructor
needing to be in the room.
needing to be in the room.
25
74497
2474
01:28
But there was still one important part
of the puzzle that was missing.
of the puzzle that was missing.
26
76995
3708
01:32
If I want you to raise your wrist
two inches off of your lap,
two inches off of your lap,
27
80727
2873
01:35
using vibration,
28
83624
1713
01:37
how do I tell you to do that?
29
85361
1524
01:40
Do I put a motor at the top of your wrist,
so you know to lift up?
so you know to lift up?
30
88237
3278
01:43
Or do I put one
at the bottom of your wrist,
at the bottom of your wrist,
31
91539
2095
01:45
so it feels like you're being pushed up?
32
93658
1928
01:47
There were no readily available answers
33
95610
1912
01:49
because there was no commonly
agreed-upon haptic language
agreed-upon haptic language
34
97546
2675
01:52
to communicate information with.
35
100245
1546
01:54
So my cofounders and I
set out to create that language.
set out to create that language.
36
102188
2793
01:57
And the first device we built
was not a kung fu suit.
was not a kung fu suit.
37
105987
3167
02:01
(Laughter)
38
109178
1206
02:02
But in a way, it was even more impressive
39
110408
2360
02:04
because of its simplicity and usefulness.
40
112792
2062
02:07
We started with the use case
of navigation,
of navigation,
41
115394
2405
02:09
which is a simplified form of movement.
42
117823
2056
02:12
We then created Wayband,
43
120687
1659
02:15
a wrist-wearable device that could
orient a user toward a destination,
orient a user toward a destination,
44
123561
3829
02:19
using vibrating cues.
45
127414
1868
02:22
We would ask people to spin around
46
130235
1730
02:25
and to stop in a way that they felt
was the right way to go.
was the right way to go.
47
133054
3427
02:29
Informally, we tried this
with hundreds of people,
with hundreds of people,
48
137061
2373
02:31
and most could figure it out
within about 15 seconds.
within about 15 seconds.
49
139458
2959
02:34
It was that intuitive.
50
142441
1467
02:36
Initially, we were just trying to get
people out of their phones
people out of their phones
51
144847
3082
02:39
and back into the real world.
52
147953
1799
02:41
But the more we experimented,
53
149776
1960
02:43
the more we realized that those
who stood to benefit most from our work
who stood to benefit most from our work
54
151760
4167
02:47
were people who had little or no sight.
55
155951
2600
02:51
When we first approached
a blind organization, they told us,
a blind organization, they told us,
56
159387
2865
02:54
"Don't build a blind device.
57
162276
1866
02:56
Build a device that everyone can use
58
164680
2000
02:58
but that's optimized
for the blind experience."
for the blind experience."
59
166704
2338
03:01
We created our company WearWorks
with three guiding principles:
with three guiding principles:
60
169505
3543
03:06
make cool stuff,
61
174792
1150
03:08
create the greatest impact we can
in our lifetimes
in our lifetimes
62
176490
2928
03:11
and reimagine an entire world
designed for touch.
designed for touch.
63
179442
3059
03:15
And on November 5, 2017,
64
183620
2723
03:19
Wayband helped a person who was blind
65
187446
2912
03:22
run the first 15 miles
of the New York City Marathon
of the New York City Marathon
66
190382
2782
03:25
without any sighted assistance.
67
193188
1953
03:27
(Applause)
68
195165
6580
03:35
It didn't get him through the entire race
due to the heavy rain,
due to the heavy rain,
69
203744
3017
03:38
but that didn't matter.
70
206785
1190
03:39
(Laughter)
71
207999
1007
03:41
We had proved the point:
72
209030
1214
03:42
that it was possible to navigate
a complex route using only touch.
a complex route using only touch.
73
210268
3555
03:45
So, why touch?
74
213847
1435
03:47
The skin has an innate sensitivity
75
215903
1691
03:49
akin to the eyes' ability
to recognize millions of colors
to recognize millions of colors
76
217618
3467
03:53
or the ears' ability to recognize
complex pitch and tone.
complex pitch and tone.
77
221109
3254
03:56
Yet, as a communications channel,
78
224387
1627
03:58
it's been largely relegated to
Morse code-like cell phone notifications.
Morse code-like cell phone notifications.
79
226038
3634
04:01
If you were to suddenly receive
a kiss or a punch,
a kiss or a punch,
80
229696
3072
04:04
your reaction would be
instinctive and immediate.
instinctive and immediate.
81
232792
2983
04:08
Meanwhile, your brain would be playing
catch-up on the back end
catch-up on the back end
82
236378
2995
04:11
to understand the details
of what just occurred.
of what just occurred.
83
239397
2293
04:13
And compared to instincts,
conscious thought is pretty slow.
conscious thought is pretty slow.
84
241714
3175
04:17
But it's a lightning bolt
85
245706
1263
04:18
compared to the snail's pace
of language acquisition.
of language acquisition.
86
246993
2500
04:22
I spent a considerable amount of time
87
250008
2363
04:24
learning Spanish, Japanese,
German and currently Swedish,
German and currently Swedish,
88
252395
5706
04:30
with varying degrees of failure.
89
258125
1707
04:31
(Laughter)
90
259856
2236
04:35
But within those failures were kernels
of how different languages are organized.
of how different languages are organized.
91
263482
4153
04:39
That gave our team insight
92
267659
1707
04:41
into how to use the linguistic order
of well-established languages
of well-established languages
93
269390
3738
04:45
as inspiration for
an entirely new haptic language,
an entirely new haptic language,
94
273152
3362
04:48
one based purely on touch.
95
276538
1733
04:50
It also showed us when using language
mechanics wasn't the best way
mechanics wasn't the best way
96
278950
3569
04:54
to deliver information.
97
282543
1389
04:56
In the same way a smile is a smile
across every culture,
across every culture,
98
284823
3492
05:00
what if there was some
underlying mechanism of touch
underlying mechanism of touch
99
288339
2437
05:02
that transcended linguistic
and cultural boundaries?
and cultural boundaries?
100
290800
2619
05:06
A universal language, of sorts.
101
294235
1933
05:08
You see, I could give you
buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz,
buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz,
102
296646
4422
05:13
and you would eventually learn
103
301092
1451
05:14
that that particular
vibration means "stop."
vibration means "stop."
104
302567
2130
05:17
But as haptic designers,
we challenged ourselves.
we challenged ourselves.
105
305123
2851
05:21
What would it be like to design "stop?"
106
309045
2200
05:24
Well, based on context,
107
312299
1239
05:25
most of us have the experience
of being in a vehicle
of being in a vehicle
108
313562
2444
05:28
and having that vehicle stop suddenly,
along with our body's reaction to it.
along with our body's reaction to it.
109
316030
3674
05:32
So if I wanted you to stop,
110
320545
1729
05:34
I could send you
a vibration pattern, sure.
a vibration pattern, sure.
111
322298
2017
05:36
Or, I could design a haptic experience
112
324339
2760
05:39
that just made stopping
feel like it was the right thing to do.
feel like it was the right thing to do.
113
327123
3542
05:43
And that takes more than an arbitrary
assignment of haptic cues to meanings.
assignment of haptic cues to meanings.
114
331496
3790
05:47
It takes a deep empathy.
115
335704
1600
05:49
It also takes the ability to distill
human experience into meaningful insights
human experience into meaningful insights
116
337950
4770
05:54
and then into haptic
gestures and products.
gestures and products.
117
342744
3525
05:59
Haptic design is going to expand
the human ability
the human ability
118
347133
2761
06:01
to sense and respond to our environments,
119
349918
2175
06:04
both physical and virtual.
120
352117
1733
06:06
There's a new frontier: touch.
121
354292
2514
06:09
And it has the power to change
how we all see the world around us.
how we all see the world around us.
122
357545
3383
06:13
Thank you.
123
361325
1182
06:14
(Applause)
124
362531
5301
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Keith Kirkland - Haptic designerKeith Kirkland is the cofounder of WearWorks, a company that builds products and experiences that communicate information through touch.
Why you should listen
Navigation is inherently visual, and nowhere is that more clear than for the 285 million people in the world living with a visual impairment. With WAYBAND, a wrist-wearable haptic navigation device for the blind and visually impaired, WearWorks has created and patented an intuitive way to guide a person to a destination using vibration, without the need for any visual or audio cues. In 2017, WAYBAND was used to help a person who is blind run the first 15 miles of the NYC marathon without sighted assistance.
Kirkland is a public speaker, mechanical engineer, accessories designer and industrial designer with experience developing innovation-based concepts and experiences. He has worked with organizations ranging from the MET Museum, The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, Unilever, Futureworks, Mini Cooper, Discovery Channel, Dropbox, The Yokohama Government, Coach and the National Science Foundation.
Keith Kirkland | Speaker | TED.com