Whilst watching Google’s I/O Conference keynote this week, something stood out for me: When Google introduced their smart watch- and wearables-optimized version of Android, they kept saying “the entire system is optimized for notifications.”
We are rapidly moving from a world where we once spent considerable amounts of time in front of our PCs and later laptops (in the early 2000’s we measured engagement in minutes); to a world where interactions are happening on our mobile phones and thus through apps (where we want our information available immediately when we opened the app); to a world of micro interactions. A quick glance. A gentle notification. A curious hint. One to three seconds. That’s all you got.
“The future of the human/computer interface are micro interactions. Build for this future NOW.”
I bet you money that this will enable a whole new wave of market entrants and thus opportunities. The modalities of today won’t work anymore when you consume information on a smart watch or some other form of wearable computer. The opportunities to provide the user with novel, interesting and useful ways to interact with and bridge the real and virtual world are enormous.
If I were to start a software/services company today — that’s where I would place my bet. And move fast.