TokyoFlash has been creating unusual digital watches for a while. They have a variety of different ways to represent time on the watch, some straight forward and inventive, some a little tougher to read. The Kisai Upload walks between the line between the two, using the same type of system utilized for road markings to disguise the time from the casual, straight on glance.
Looking straight down on the watch makes the display look like a collection of fat lines across the face and thin lines up and down. If you know the trick and concentrate, I imagine you could read the watch this way, but when you tilt the watch a bit, the display becomes much more readable, much like you can read the markings painted on the road from your car.
The watch case comes in two variations, a darker sandalwood with a matching wood and polished stainless steel bracelet and a lighter maple with a matching wood and gold colored stainless bracelet. The watch itself is always on, with a back light for night time reading, a date read out and an alarm. The battery is rechargeable through a USB connection. The watch is pretty big, 59mm tall x 40mm wide and 13mm tall, but the bracelet is adjustable for smaller wrists.
But where is does the data smuggling come it? Well, the USB port is not just for recharging. Hidden behind the screw down back plate, next to the battery, is a 2GB MicroSD card. You can connect it to your computer or other device via USB and use it as an external storage device. So if you don’t want to carry around a USB stick on your key chain and you seem to keep sending SD cards through the wash in your pockets, here is a way to keep the complete technical details of the Death Star close at hand.
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Tokyo Flash Kisai Upload
- Price: ~$90 USD
- Who we think it might be for: Anyone who goes to ComicCon.
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: Not for me, but I would as a gift for the right person.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Skip the gold on the maple version.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The use of wood, especially the sandalwood.
