Reverse Engineering the World’s First Smartwatch

While many would think of the Pebble or even the Apple Watch as the first smartwatch to hit the market, Seiko actually had one available, the Data-2000 and UC-2000 in the early 1980s. While capabilities such as Bluetooth communication or a color screen were well beyond its technical prowess, it could run a few games and a calendar application, as well a BASIC programs. It also featured a novel wireless communication method that works induction coil setup similar to how wireless charging docks work today.

As seen here, after getting introduced to this watch-computer, hacker Alexander (aka “Azya”) decided he needed his own. After obtaining the device, he set to work reverse engineering it (translated). This included research on the small amount of information that can still be found, as well as construction of a new wireless programming dock using an ATtiny85 chip.

With this new tool, he started replacing instructions, finally stumbling onto the correct procedure to output text. After further experimentation, he began to figure out how the gadget worked, allowing him to write his own programs, including Tetris and a number of custom watch faces seen in the videos below.

Check out this project’s GitHub page for even more info on how this hack was accomplished.

Another clever trick is shown in the video below, where he’s actually able to use an Android phone’s speaker as an induction coil to transmit data to the watch. Perhaps this speaker-based programming method could have uses well beyond “ancient” smartwatches!