Mobile & Wearable App
MA Degree Project
2024 - 2025
The Royal College of Art
Tools:
Project Type:
End-to-end mobile app, branding, wearable UI, and coding
A mobile app paired with a wearable sports and environmental device that helps users navigate to their destination or choose routes based on cooler climate and temperature conditions.
Weather apps lack ground-level precision, and current wearables don’t track ambient temperature. WATI bridges this gap by combining on-body ambient sensing with Earth Observation data to deliver real-time heat alerts and adaptive route guidance, helping individuals reduce risk, stay safe during heatwaves, and build daily climate resilience.
WATI is an end-to-end system combining a companion mobile app and a wearable device designed to help users navigate heat safely. Developed over a year at RCA, the project integrated user research, testing, and iterative design to address needs such as real-time ambient temperature, weather alerts, route selection based on cooler conditions, and community sharing.
The mobile app includes personalized heat profiles, live satellite thermal maps with route options, crowdsourced environmental data, live weather updates, and analytics tracking steps, mileage, and temperature exposure.
The wearable UI mirrors the app with eight minimalist tabs for on-the-go navigation, inspired by 1980s IBM mainframes and the Nothing grid weather aesthetic, and can be worn on the arm or clipped to clothing.
How can I navigate to my destination via the coolest and safest route available?
How can I protect myself from rising urban temperatures in my daily routine?
01
outdoor athletes and runners -
ideal user group for testing
02
elderly people - heat related mortality increases by 85%
03
young children (0 to 4) and pregnant women - struggle with thermoregulation
04
individuals with chronic health conditions - cardiovascular, kidney, respiratory problems
05
transportation and construction workers - bus drivers, train drivers, bikers, delivery drivers
high physical exertion outdoors
12–18% slower: non-elite marathon runners’ pace drops in ~25 °C
sensitive to heat stress & dehydration
10 – 21 per 10,000: runners in 10 km races face exertional heat illness
optimise performance with temperature awareness
90% adoption: recreational runners use tech (watches/apps) to monitor performance
used to and open to trying new sports wearable tech
$18.4B market: global sports wearables valuation in 2023
Why outdoor runners & athletes?
Click to toggle WATI UI: Light 🔆 ↔ Dark 🌙
