On Tuesday, Oct. 13, a London-based startup raised the concept of wearables design to a new level. BLOCKS, the brainchild of Ali Tahmasebzadeh, an Imperial College of London bioengineering student, and Serge Vasylechko, an Imperial College Ph.D student, launched its Kickstarter program for a design considered the world’s first modular smart watch. The goal was to raise $250,000 to enable the design to be manufactured and sold broadly. The company reached its goal in just 56 minutes. After meeting Tahmasebzadeh at an ARM event in September (see photo right), I caught up with him to get insights into the inspiration, the design, the engineering challenges and his vision for wearables.
Q: How did you get the idea, first of all, to design a wearable and, second, to make it a modular smart watch?
Tahmasebzadeh: I was very interested in gesture control and different ways to control smartphones by small wrist and hand finger movements. Initially I was thinking about a wristband that could identify finger taps in order to control music. I teamed up with a friend of mine, Serge Vasylechko, and we were looking into more sensors to include in this wearable device. He was interested in sensors related to health and fitness, and I was looking for contact-less payment, gesture control, and cellular connectivity. We asked a lot of people about their ideal wearable and sensors and functionalities, and since people have different lifestyles, they had different expectations. There was no ideal wearable that worked for everyone. Late in 2013, I came up with the idea of modularity, which solves this problem.
Q: Why Kickstarter versus another funding mechanism?
Tahmasebzadeh: Kickstarter helps you to gather a community and establish your brand early in the market before competitors. It allows you to get early feedback and build your device based on what people really want. Getting a company to the Kickstarter stage already needs one to two years of work and at least couple of hundred thousand dollars of investment. Crowd funding is the place to show traction and demand in order to raise investment from venture capitalists.
Q: Tell us about the hardware design and why you made certain design decisions and components selections.
Tahmasebzadeh: Other than requirements, the decisions are mostly based on reducing the risk, selecting components that are more readily available and more known to developers, being able to get more supportive partners, and having more development resources. As a start-up, you always need to make decisions that will take the company forward.
Q: Why did you pick the Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 400? And is it used in the modules outside the core module?
Tahmasebzadeh: As a start-up we want to use the components which are reliable and tested. Snapdragon 400 running Cortex-A7 is used in most of Android-based smart watches. Outside of the core module, there is an ARM-Cortex-M0 processor in each additional module.
Q: Wearables is a crowded market. How do you differentiate with your technology?
Tahmasebzadeh: It is about making a wearable that actually does something essential for each person. Wearables are not a must-to-have at this stage, but there is always a unique need and a unique function that can make it an essential device for everyone. Modularity is about letting people find and build a wearable that actually is useful for them.
Q: What technical and market problems are you addressing?
Tahmasebzadeh: On the technical side, it is something that has not been done before. There is a lot of electronics and design challenges. Regarding the market, the whole idea of modularity is new, and there is no success story in a different modular product. We want to make sure people understand the benefits of modularity. Not only are we making a product but we’re making a new way to interact with technology. It is introducing a whole new culture.
Q: What security requirements are to be considered for this design?
Tahmasebzadeh: There are two main considerations: contact-less payments and data. We are relying on our expert partners for making sure it lives up to highest standards.
Q: What would you consider the biggest challenges you’ve confronted with this design?
Tahmasebzadeh: The biggest challenge has been the connectors and industrial design. They have a lot of requirements: low noise, high bandwidth, high number of channels, rotation, it needs to be small enough to be comfortable but have enough space for the electronics. It must have a low manufacturing cost and low number of parts. These make it very hard, but that’s where our know-how and intellectual property come in.
Q: How is this market evolving and what new technologies do you see coming down the road?
Tahmasebzadeh: We will move towards more connected wearables, with more essential useful sensors and less friction in controlling and interacting with them.
Q: What’s your roadmap for things like new services, new devices, technology integration in other devices etc.?
Tahmasebzadeh: BLOCKS is an open platform. Going forward, partners and third-party developers are the most important part of the BLOCKS ecosystem.
Q: How much of your inspiration came from Project Ara?
Tahmasebzadeh: The idea was born before Google announced Project Ara, (Google's Project Ara: Implications for Embedded Desig however as soon as we saw Project Ara, it was a sign that we were working on a serious project and even Google believes in modular consumer electronics.
Q: When Project Ara was put on hold, did that give you cause for concern about the concept of modularity?
Tahmasebzadeh: Not at all. The fact that Google has put itself forward to take on this brilliant project is a good sign. There are always hardships and technical problems that cause delays, but modularity is close.
Q: You’re still studying engineering, correct? What made you want to build a startup at the same time you’re finishing your degree?
Tahmasebzadeh: I did a bachelors in bioengineering and I am graduating this month. I started BLOCKS when I was in my second year, at the age of 20. I’ve always wanted to work on things that will be practical. I started doing academic research in high school and had published books and scientific papers before BLOCKS, but I was looking to make a device that could be used in people’s daily life. A lot of students think they need to wait until they finish studying and then start thinking about a start-up or job. I simply couldn’t wait for it.
Q: Given your journey so far, what advice do you have for other engineers who want to create their own technologies/companies?
Tahmasebzadeh: Don’t wait for the perfect idea; don’t wait for the perfect situation, perfect team, perfect technology. It will never happen. Start working on something you are passionate about, and make something that people want. Be open to change.
Superb interview, Brian, thanks for sharing this interesting story!