Today marks the fifth anniversary of the 2015 debut of the original Apple Watch, and designer Imran Chaudhri, who was part of the original Apple Watch team, has shared some interesting bits of information on the Watch’s development process. (Via TechCrunch)
Chaudri shared a photo of the Apple Watch team taken on launch day, as well as a reproduction of his original sketch for the Apple Watch’s Home screen, with the circular icon shape inspired by the clock of what was originally called the dock.
here’s a reproduction of my original sketch for the home screen. the shape of the circular icon was driven by the clock that lived in the centre of what i originally called the dock. the crown gave the home screen a dimensionality, allowing you to scrub through layers of the ui. pic.twitter.com/w2QITncvHl
— Imran Chaudhri (@imranchaudhri) April 24, 2020
Digital touch was originally called E.T. for electronic touch. Chaudri says he called it that for its potential as a new form of emotional connection. The drawing “ink” was inspired by his graffiti days. the ephemera was designed to communicate transmission while making it guilt-free.
The first Apple Watch was built using a 6th-generation iPod Nano strapped to an Apple Watch band. It was created to demonstrate Siri and the Notification Center as early Apple Watch features.
my first prototype was built on a 6th gen nano strapped to this band. i had just wrapped up ios5 and took it down to show the ID team what notification centre and siri was – and what it could be in the future. i never got to share it with steve. we lost him right after ios5. pic.twitter.com/j4JJYNIgIu
— Imran Chaudhri (@imranchaudhri) April 24, 2020
Chaudhri shared other tidbits, including how the Solar Watch face was created as a way for Muslims observing Ramadan to quickly see the position of the sun, How the butterflies in the Apple Watch Motion face were dead when they were captured in images to prevent harming live butterflies.
The Apple Watch has come a long way from the original version, now known as “Series 0.” with numerous new and improved features over succeeding generations. These include LTE connectivity, GPS, ECG functionality, fall, detection, and much more.
Rumors suggest future Apple Watch releases will include blood oxygen level monitoring and sleep tracking. We can’t wait to see what’s next. Happy 5th birthday, Apple Watch!
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