Talk to the hand with mobile nails
By Sophie Nutt | 04 January 2018 | News, Products & Treatments
Mobile network, 02, has announced a collaboration with beauty brand, Nails Inc, and inventor Sean Miles to create the first ever ‘mobile nails’, allowing users to make a phone call simply by lifting their fingers.
The tech will consist of false nails and accompanying jewellery embedded with mobile and bluetooth technology, creating a removable ‘handset’ that you can talk into by raising your finger to your face. The mobile nails can be modified with different nail art designs to suit the individual courtesy of Nails Inc, who will reportedly be designing a range of manicure sets to accompany the tech.
Nina Bobby, chief marketing officer for 02 in the UK, says, “We are always looking ahead to the next developments in the mobile and to be able to bridge the gap between fashion and tech is a really exciting challenge.” Nina continues, “People have been customising phones for years but this is the next step towards tech and the human body working together to connect our customers in a totally new way.”
The product and collaboration announcement comes as a result of 02’s recent report, The Future of Mobile Life.
For the report, 02 teamed up with futurologist, Dr Ian Pearson, to explore how the human body of 2049 could look – discussing possibilities from sensors embedded in the skin to augmented reality visors. The report claims that advances in embeddable and wearable technology have the potential for the human body to replace smartphones by 2049 and will completely change the way that we interact with each other.
Dr Pearson also predicts that a mixture of embedded sensors and wearable technology will change human interactions. For example, the report suggests that such technology will allow us to feel physical interactions such as handshakes or the feeling of being in the same room as someone without actually physically moving.
The ‘mobile nail’ was available to test for a week in December at the Nails Inc Bar in Harvey Nichols, London, but there is no word yet as to when – if ever – this service will be available to consumers!
Read the full report from O2 by clicking here.
