With wearable tech everywhere except actually on people's bodies, a design studio has gently poked fun at the hype for this year's Milan Salone 2014 with a series dubbed Holdables, while at the same time highlighting the capabilities of cutting edge, transparent lighting materials.
taliaYstudio developed the Holdables as a satirical way to playfully explore design applications for transparent OLED lighting technology, developed by specialists Osram. The unique objects integrate OLEDs as an essential component and range from a depression-defeating light-up foxtail to a kiss-activated camera. All are activated using unconventional motions and gesture control, bringing a sense of tactility to an often impersonal realm.
Among the concepts are monOled, a bizarre, handheld monacle which is activated simply by removing it from a pocket and lights up what you're looking at, while simultaneously magnifying the user's eye. SAD Lolly, meanwhile, is a brooch designed to blunt the gloomy effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder by automatically illuminating when the surrounding light levels are low. By holding the device up to the eye - and utilising interchangeable filters - the light acts like a medically-inspired  'shot' to the system to combat wintry glum and morose.  
Lastly, Kiss Cam is a button-free camera which is activated by kissing the panel, subsequently triggering an OLED flash. The idea is to look through the viewfinder to find something you love, before giving the transparent material a light smooch to capture the image - a tongue-in-cheek play on the sentiment behind Facebook and Instagram likes, transformed into active gesture. The KissCam toured Milan and the results were posted on the kisskisscamcam Instagram.
"They're a bit of a satirical commentary on the current wearable tech frenzy," taliaYstudio's Talia Redford told Dezeen. "We love technology but found the current wave of wearable tech frenzy mostly insensitive, unspecific and often looking generic."
Some instances where wearables have tried to at least step out of the box include June, a sleek bracelet intended to combat sun damage, Skrekkøgle's existential and minimalist vibrating watch, Durrt, and Google's smartwatch OS, Android Wear, unveiled earlier this year. But we certainly see taliaYstudio's point, wearables are in their infancy and sport fairly niche functionality for the time being.