I began my research with looking at the different screen sizes and shapes that are on the market and the most popular being the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Fitbit Smart Watch and the Huawei Watch.
Samsung Watch Dimensions
Huawei Watch Dimensions
Apple Watch Dimensions
Smart Watch Shapes
As Technology advances and mobile communication have became integral in everyday life, portable technology has recently evolved to wearable technology. At the heart of this are smartwatches. As smartwatches have quickly became the next-generation tool for communication, I wanted to take a look at what academic and industry research has been conducted to gain an understanding to the applicability and how this relatively new technology could be enhanced in someway.
A study conducted in 2015 by Ki Joon Kim investigated how screen shapes (round vs. square) and screen sizes of smartwatches affected the quality and processing of presented information. The main focus was to conceptualise and develop prototypes for new potential interactions and control techniques such as gestures. Additionally, researchers wanted to find out how structural features played a psychological role in the users perception of the device and the information displayed by it. One thing to note is that typically, the devices we interact with such as mobiles, monitors, tv’s and tablets are all rectangular in shape, with round smartwatches presenting a new display type.
Research into the psychological affects of various sizing of screens has been studied many times since 1995, with the general outcome being that:
larger screen = more positive user experience.
Results from Ki Joon Kim’s research reflected these prior findings, indicating that large screens produce a more positive affect on the quality of information as they induced a greater sense of attractiveness and control over the small screen watches. Interestingly, the study found that the superior shape of screen depended on whether the viewer was observing text or images.
When reading the paper, I came across terminology I hadn't seen before and looked into the meaning behind them to better understand the research.