After beginning its hiring spree in November, Thalmic Labs has announced an executive hire in Abhi Bhatt, who will act as Thalmic’s VP of product experience.
Bhatt is formerly head of connected products at Under Armour, where he led the overall product story, definition, and execution of all connected products including the Under Armour HealthBox and Under Armour’s SpeedForm Gemini 2 connected running shoes.
Bhatt led Under Armour’s strategic partnerships for their connected products portfolio, leading to successful product launches around the world. Prior to joining Under Armour, Bhatt held product and management roles at companies like Microsoft and Motorola.
In September, Thalmic announced a massive $158 million Series B, and hired former Samsung exec Tara Kriese as its chief marketing officer following its San Francisco expansion. Lake has said the next product will “reimagine human-computer interaction” for its Myo armband, but has been secretive about what it’s working on now.
Speaking with BetaKit, Lake denied that the company was entering the clothing space, but that Bhatt would instead contribute to bringing design thinking to the company’s newest product. While, of course, he wouldn’t reveal what this product is, BetaKit asked what it means to reimagine human-computer interaction — and whether this seamlessness meant that we would just be trapped with VR headsets in our basement.
“I believe that technology is amazing, and if you think about where we’ve come in the past, the power today is mindblowing. We have access to information; we can communicate around the world immediately. It’s a really exciting future where we reap those benefits of tech without heading towards dystopia,” Lake said.
“Wearables can be there supporting you in the physical world. Rather than drawing off or staring at a screen, what if I interact with people in the world, but still have elements of the benefits of technology,” said Lake. “There’s a positive future where technology, and specifically wearables, let us connect and be more present while giving us benefits of tech.”
In October, the company opened a factory dedicated to building its new device. Overall, Lake made a point to add that he was excited about what’s in store for the future of the Waterloo Region corridor, as the number of companies doing ambitious things increases. He doesn’t believe we need to compare ourselves to the Valley anymore.
“I cringe when I see those comparisons, because the reality is that we’ll never compare ourselves to the Valley. And we have to think about, what are the strengths we have in the ecosystem and how do we best leverage those and support those?”