Wearable Technology

Wearables

Not a day passes without some innovator producing a gadget,an app or a new device or process to meet  a"new market requirement." Innovation happens to be as much about high fashion,as high tech. 

Technological advance is about doing something different rather than doing the same thing better. The initial is WT -Wearable Technology. 

We will soon hear about Apple Watch or "AW", which will be brought out to the market to reinvigorate the iPod / iPad sales.Whether it will command the sales in its first production or later,it is here to stay.

According to CISCO research,there will be half a billion "wearable devices"in use around the world by 2019,including smart watches,fitness trackers,sensors in track shoes,smart clothing and other technological devices "worn close to the body,on the body,or even in the body."

Body Art

We have all seen the body tattoos,"henna drawings," the studs piercings all over the body, as fashion accessories. The latest is birth marks which have a fascination in "body art."

Wearables are now among the latest in "Body Art," and why not?


Invasion of privacy

Wearable Technology has according to critics, been developed for a special purpose, more than its special effect. It is to collect data,information to track
your time,distance,pace,calories via a sensor. Its evolution is not about the gadget on the wrist or any part of the body, but what is done with the data that it collects, or rather what can be done with that data. Could we soon see data overload,like the DNA data collected by Ancestry and Heritage sites?

Sooner rather than later,insurance cover for accident and life cover, will attract favourable or heavy premiums,dependent on the analysis of this private and confidential information, which up to now was available in the medical domain.

Sooner rather than later, guidelines may become normal for the amount of sleep that children,teens should get and for older folk,as monitoring of sleep patterns will provide health data. Sleep deprivation and insomnia are most common sleep disorders, but the real underlying problem can be illness, often mental,or substance addition,like coffee or medication.

Sooner rather than later,like the utility in having email and internet browsing on call on the person,on the move, there will be added personal monitoring of the home,one's health,one's bank balance, one's shopping habits,one's holiday's,as well as a variety of other chores.

Embedded Mobile Connections   

Wearables will have embedded mobile connections,but most will channel their data through smart phones. According to some sources by 2019 more than 69% of the world's population, will be mobile user.

The spew or the spitting of data is all claimed to be in the name of advancement, perhaps, in comparison to earlier mobile devices for sound and music integration. First,there was the MP3 Player,with music integrated to the player and then the player became integrated into our smart phones.

What has become obsolete?

With each new market innovation, technology perhaps,in the recent past,has tried hard to replicate the five senses of Man. It had its advantage in alleviating disability and health disorder. But unlike the past, when Man had the choice of accepting or refusing technological advancement, Wearable Technology is claimed to be a different phenomenon.

Wearables will be a constant interaction between computer and user. Like our wristwatch,there is no need to turn devices on and off. It is always "on", carrying on multi-tasking, without stopping what you are doing or performing. It could be a boon or a nightmare for the user, but what about its use?

Programmed Living 

Wearables from "Google Glass" to "Apple Watch" are experiments in programmed living. They may no doubt promise the best use of our time and energy. They may promise the best of modern technology. They hope to get technology to do the things that we want to do whilst keeping our "hands free" and avoid the need to stare down at the screen all the time. In this respect they may help prevent "repetitive movement syndrome", or nerve muscle strain. 

Wearables do not even need a conventional screen to be useful. Bracelets like those from "Fitbit" or "Jawbone" communicate with you, through vibrations whilst storing information for you to access by plugging the device into a computer later at leisure. This is a boon for those trying to improve their fitness or to keep their finances in shape.

Remote Control 

"Technology will evolve to enable us to stay in control of not only our lives, our health, our living space remotely: we can now record programmes using services like "Sky Plus," switch our heating on and off from our mobile with solutions like "Hive," "Nest" or "Control 4" and turn lights on and off with the "Hue" pack from Phillips. 

What is next in line or what already is in the pipeline, is when someone manages to package all these different technologies into one simple solution.

The Munich Wearable Technology Conference 2015 which ended in the first days of February 2015, is undecided whether Man actually regains control of "remote control."

Victor Cherubim