Space Invaders and the not-so-smart watch

Rise of Selective Tech

Sometimes, technology can offer us too much.

Smartphones deliver cameras, games, music, video, communication, tracking, sorting, work, play, and, yes, phone calls, all in one sleek package that can slip into your pocket.

Almost the same could be said of the smartwatch. They have become an essentially shrunken-down version of the smartphone. They forever tether us—for better or worse—to this technological age of constant information, alerts, tracking, and, yes, phone calls.

But as processing power continues to grow (in power) and shrink (in size), some desire to limit how much and how often they immerse themselves in the digital everything.

The evolution of tech will never stop, but that doesn’t mean we have to embrace its everything, all at once, in every device we own.

Enter the rise of Selective Tech, devices created to give you just a taste of technology, often in a retro, playful, or intriguing package; always carefully designed around pin-point themes and ideas.

Developer Panic’s crankable, black-and-white, 1-bit display Playdate handheld console is a great example of this. It’s tech designed around self-conceived restraints in a way that is meant to empower rather than limit creativity.

It doesn’t try to be cutting-edge, in fact, it aggressively avoids that path.

The people at Floor 84 Studio seem to be taking a similar approach with the introduction of their first entry in the My Play Watch line of products: A not-so-smartwatch that taps deeply into the nostalgia of Space Invaders.

The Space Invaders: My Play Watch is a smartwatch in the sense that it has a screen and chips that power it, but it cannot connect to your phone or any other devices. Instead, it delivers Space Invaders-themed watch faces, a version of the game, and some health tracking.

In other words, it is a bit of Selective Tech, something designed as much around what it doesn’t do as around what it does.

For Floor 84 Studios founder Jeff Hardy, these watches aren’t as much about cutting-edge tech as they are about self-expression and maybe temporarily disconnecting from the wider world of attention-needing smart tech. 

Hardy tells me that he is an artist at heart. His background is in the arts, he’s been an artist since he was a child, and that eventually led him to found the studio 24 years ago, with $300 in his pocket and a ‘97 Nissan Altima in his name.

Over those years, the studio has been what Hardy calls a “support tool” for all of the major entertainment companies, including Disney, Mattel, Warner Bros., the NBA, and Amazon.

“We’ve usually focused on forward-facing technology,” he said.

That work has primarily been in video games. In the past few years, though, the company has been increasingly interested in the smartwatch and how it continues to dominate the market. 

But he and his team knew they couldn’t create a feature-rich gadget to compete with the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Google. 

So instead they starting thinking about what it would look like to create a person’s second watch.

“Let’s look at the form factor, but let’s not make it so connected,” he said. “This is your second watch; this is the fun watch. The one you don’t want beeping and vibrating every 22 seconds while you’re having dinner with your wife.”

Hardy compares the device to an accessory, like sneakers, socks, or a hat, that you can wear to tout your fandom. 

In this case, fandom for Space Invaders.

“It’s iconic in the industry,” Hardy said. “It was a building block of the entire business.”

Taito, the game’s developer, and Tomohiro Nishikado, the game’s designer, both loved the idea when Hardy and his team went to them.

“I was really fortunate to have the opportunity to spend some creative time with Mr. Nishikado,” Hardy said. “He was a really sweet guy, and it was a fun and creative experience.”

The watch, which is currently on Kickstarter for $75, comes in three color bodies, each with a unique set of straps that feature the invading aliens. The watches will also feature a number of original watch faces tied to the iconic game. The watch's fitness elements—heart rate, pedometer, and calory burn—will all be displayed with a unique Space Invaders twist. And of course, there will be a playable version of Space Invaders.

Hardy said the embedded game will make use of the watch’s crown and touchscreen to play while remaining as true to the original as possible.

What it won’t have is Bluetooth, Wifi, or any other way to connect to anything. That was a central idea from the beginning, Hardy said.

“There are people at a certain age and time in their lives who are like, ‘You know what? Being not connected is actually quite freeing.’ So we had to think about how we could still get some of those contemporary features we love in a smartwatch but also kind of give ourselves a little less stress.”

Hardy believes that the growing ubiquity of connected devices will one day lead to major pushback, an idea that clearly informed some of the watch’s design choices. He talks about trying to listen to the radio in his car but instead having to deal with Apple CarPlay first or looking for the time on his watch but being asked to tap in a code first.

“I really just want the time, friend! Can you just do that for me?”

It’s likely too early to tell if the appeal of a smartwatch that isn’t too demanding is in demand. But such a watch that features Space Invaders certainly seems to be. The Kickstarter campaign for the watch was fully funded on its first day, with more than 300 people backing it.

The watches are expected to be delivered later this year, but that’s just the start for My Play Watch.

“We are going to deep dive into this retro vein,” Hardy said. “We think that category of product just pairs really nicely with what we’re doing on the Play Watch right now.

“We do have a couple of other deals done that I can’t share yet, but there’s a line-up planned, and we’re excited to use this as our canvas.”

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