Abstract: Embodiments relate generally to electrical and electronic hardware, computer software, wired and wireless network communications, and computing devices, and, in particular, to a wearable device implementing a touch-sensitive interface in a metal pod cover and/or bioimpedance sensing to determine physiological characteristics, such as heart rate. According to an embodiment, a wearable device includes a selectably opaque surface configured to emit arrangements of light to form a display, and a touch-sensitive I/O control circuit coupled to the selectably opaque surface to detect a capacitance value as an input signal to modify the display. Also, the wearable device can include one or more straps coupled to a wearable pod, at least one of the one or more straps including electrodes for sensing a physiological characteristic. A display controller can be configured to display a representation as a function of a value of the physiological characteristic via the selectably opaque surface.