Time - International (2019-12-02)

Time December 2–9, 2019

STYLE

THE WATCH YOU

LOVE, SMARTER

Sony wena

“We basically want to turn

every vehicle into a moving

theme park,” says Nils

Wollny, co-founder of virtual-

reality startup holoride. The

company, an Audi spin-off,

has developed a virtual-

reality app that reads

vehicle data like accel-

AR & VR

BACK-SEAT GAMING

holoride

eration and turning and

incorporates it into a VR

experience. If you’re flying

a virtual spaceship in your

headset and the car turns

left, the spaceship veers

left as well. The founders

say the feedback reduces

motion sickness, while

allowing passengers to do

anything from reading the

news to saving the galaxy

from the back seat. They

plan to roll out holoride to

ride-share services next

year and have their soft-

ware in car models starting

in 2021. For now, holoride

is committed to the theme-

park image: in October,

the company launched a

Halloween experience at

Universal Studios.

—Alejandro de la Garza

As a student,
Teppei Tsushima
got strange looks
when he wore his
analog watch and
smart watch on
the same wrist at
the same time.
But he didn’t want
to sacrifice the
look of the analog
or the capabilities
of the techie ver-
sion. With Sony’s
wena watch strap,
a smart band that
can be fitted to
any watch face,

Tsushima, wena’s

inventor and

project manager,

has found a way to

“keep the beauty

of the analog

watch and the

convenience of

the smart watch”

in one. Sony

offers six watch-

face styles to

add to either the

stainless steel

wena wrist pro or

black rubber wena

wrist active, but

customers can

also attach any

watch face they

prefer. A narrow

display panel built

into both wena

band options lets

users discreetly

track calls and

messages,

fitness activity,

e-payments and

more. “You can

check your noti-

fications without

anyone noticing,”

Tsushima says.

Currently avail-

able only in Japan,

Ireland and the

U.K., where the

bands start at

£349. —Megan

McCluskey

The device

comes with six

attachments to

dry, curl, wave

and straighten

hair

OF

2019

THE 1 0 0

BEST

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