Cicret Bracelet Turns Skin into Touchscreen – Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The Circret Bracelet turns users’ arms into a touchscreen that functions just like an Android smart phone or tablet screen.
The Truth:
The Circret Bracelet’s concept is real, but it has not actually been created.
Circret, a technology company based in Paris, unveiled a realistic promotional video that claims the product can “make your skin your new touchscreen.” In the video, light projects from the bracelet to create a touchscreen that looks just like an Android smart phone or tablet.
More than 7 million users have viewed the video, many of them unaware that computer animation was used to bring the concept to life, tech website WTOP.com reports:
The (video) doesn’t mention that the phone-arm interaction is a computer-generated mock-up. Not surprising, since a prototype Cicret Bracelet hasn’t been invented yet.
“The video we put online is an illustration of what our Cicret Bracelet could allow users to do,” says Cicret co-founder Guillaume Pommier.
Pommier says he and three partners are trying to raise money on their own, through PayPal instead of standard crowdfunding vehicles such as Kickstarter.
“We need someone who’d put up some money to allow us to finish a prototype,” says Pommier.
Cicret’s website says it needs to raise 300,000 Euros ($425,062) to develop a Cicret app, and 700,000 Euros ($993,177) to finish the first prototype. The website also warns readers about scammers possibly trying to cash in on confusion about the bracelet:
“WARNING: We are still working on our prototype and didn’t launch any pre-order/order of the Cicret Bracelet. So don’t trust any website selling it yet.”
In December of 2014, Prommier said the device would hit the retail market in about 18 months with a price of about $400, GizMag.com reports:
The Bracelet comprises a pico projector and a row of eight proximity sensors that point towards the user’s forearm. It operates as a standalone device and, when activated with a twist of the wrist, projects an Android interface onto the users arm, much like Chris Harrison’s Skinput research. The proximity sensors detect where the user’s finger or fingers are and allow them to interact with the interface as they would any other Android device.
TruthorFiction.com has reached out to Cicret for comment on this story. Future updates will be posted here.