Wearable technology refers to the kind of technology which can be worn on the user’s body. These devices can be in many forms such as jewelry, accessories, medical devices or clothing. The capabilities of each device may vary based on processing and communication abilities.
Wearable technology finds its usage in wide spectrum based on their working principle such as in health, fitness or entertainment. Most of them contains microprocessors, batteries and internet connectivity so that the collected data can be communicated or transferred to other electronics such as smartphones or laptops.
Wearable techs have sensors incorporated in them so that the body movements can be tracked, location tracking and assistance or biometric identification. The most common wearables are trackers or smartwatches that come with straps which can be tied around the user’s wrist to monitor their physical activities or vital signs throughout the day. Unlike these wearables there are some other wearables which can function without necessarily being in contact with the human body. Cell phones, smart tags or computers can be carried along and still can track the movements. Other wearables use remote smart sensors and accelerometer to track movements and speed and some use optical sensors to measure heart rate or glucose levels. One thing which is common among all these devices is that they monitor data in real time.
The prominent uses of wearable technology are:
- Health and Fitness– Along with heart rate and blood pressure monitoring, wearables are also used for calorie intake, physiological tracking and fitness monitoring. The Covid-19 pandemic kicked the use of wearable technology as consumers were more concerned about personal hygiene and taking precautions to prevent infections.
- Sports– Sports teams use wearable devices that are built into the fabric of the sports accessories or incorporated in the sports equipment. Body cooling and heating, outdoor tracking and navigation, performance monitoring are some of the use cases of this technology.
- Entertainment and Gaming– Virtual traveling, video streaming, AR, Interactive gaming. This industries was the first one to adopt the VR headsets, smart glasses and controllers.
- Healthcare and medical– Heart rate fluctuations, chronic disease and vital signs monitoring can be done using these wearables. Users receive notifications about their heart rate and blood pressure and they can monitor their calorie intake .
- Fashion– Eye-catching fashion with built-in technology for fitness or health monitoring has gained popularity over the past few years. Smart jackets can activate mobile devices to answer calls, play music or take photos by touching a sensor right on their sleeves.
Wearable technology offers significant benefits across the everyday life with enhanced convenience, efficiency, and real time insights.
- Enhanced workplace productivity– Using this advanced technology at your workplace will boost efficiency and safety. For example, patient monitoring and diagnosis done by AI-powered assistants will be more easy and efficient than any human.
- Improved Safety and Security– Wearables can ensure security for individuals as well as businesses. Smartwatches have GPS system that can help parents to monitor their children’s location, and wearable panic buttons improve personal safety for people with some disability or vulnerability. Wearables can also be used as emergency alerts in the industry, where there are chances of hazardous conditions.
- Hands-free access– AI-powered assistants and gesture controlled devices making possible hands-free interaction, which eases and fastens up the tasks like controlling smart homes, making payments and checking notifications.
- Enhanced communication– Bluetooth devices and smart glasses allow users to make calls, send messages or retrieve information instantly, which improves collaboration and accessibility.
- Real-time data and AI integration– AI and IoT integrated with wearables can make real-time insights, provide predictive analysis and automate tasks. AI-powered smartwatches observe user’s habits and provide personalized health, and fitness recommendations.
Despite all these pros of wearable technology, there exist some cons too, related to privacy, affordability and ethics.
Wearable devices collect a big amount of personal and biometric data, this will lead to concerns about data privacy. Smartwatches and trackers, sometimes send their data to cloud services, which increase the risk of cyber attacks. AI-powered devices are often so costly which makes them inaccessible to ordinary people. Most wearables need to be charged frequently, which is inconvenient for users. There are some researchers who have raised the concern about the potential long-term health risks due to these wearables. The effects of radiation from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals are harmful to human body. Additionally, increased usage of smart devices may lead to addiction and reduced face-to-face interactions.
There are some possible future innovations that are in implementation phase and might become a part of our everyday life soon. Let’s take a quick look on them:
- Solar-powered clothes– Regulates the wearer’s body temperature.
- Wearable sticker– senses real emotions of the user by measuring things like skin temperature and heart rate, and the sticker is rechargeable.
- Brain sensor– This can be inserted into the minuscule spaces between hair follicles and slightly under the skin. The sensor offers high-fidelity signals and makes the continuous use of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) in everyday life possible.
- Pacemaker– It can maintain a healthy heartbeat and heart muscles contractions. The size of this device is smaller than a grain of rice.