Wearable technology and it’s past, present, and future

Let’s start with what is wearable technology?

Well, it is a smart electronic device that can be incorporated into clothing or fashion accessory or worn on the body as implant accessories.

Few wearables like activity trackers is an example of IoT

Apart from commercial use, this technology comes handy in navigation, advance textile, and healthcare.

Apart from fitness and healthcare, the popularity of wearable device Fitbit and google glass have a tremendous impact on other industries.

The constant desire of young consumers shows the rapid growth of wearable technology products. Bypassing time, it appears that there will be a rise in unlimited possibilities of innovative advancement in wearable technology.

Flashlight on the history of wearable technology –

If we talk about wearable, then the first thought which comes to mind is smartwatches and fitness trackers

If we talk about the past, then the first-ever corrective lenses AKA eyeglasses were worn more than 700 years ago. Since then, innovation and advancement keep on influencing the technological world. From abacus ring to wristwatch calculators, technology is upgrading at a face pace.

Stats and industry trends –

After the smartphone, wearable has become one of the most demanded and best selling consumer electronics. For autonomous wearables, projected sales figures are above laptops and televisions. According to research, the smartphone continues to dominate the market with projected sales to top 1.6 billion units in 2020.

Smartwatches and googles glass autonomous wearable are capable of running third-party applications. This is possible due to built-in connectivity and advance processing features. In comparison to this, Fitbit and related technology can give just biometric data about users.

We will encounter upcoming in smart wearables like Apple Watch and Microsoft’s hololens as per IDC senior research analyst Jitesh Ubrani. So the quest for technological advancement has open up opportunities for vendors, app developers, and accessory makers. For eg, android wear, Tizen, and watchOS are moving fast with an improved user interface, user experience, and applications.

As per the study of globalwebindex, 71 percent of people age between 16-24 want wearable tech in the form of a smartwatch, smart wristband, or google glass.

Different industry type of wearable technology –

• Fitness

• Healthcare

• Entertainment

• Media

• Communication company

Well, if we talk about the fitness world, then as per a study fitness wearable will continue to dominate the market until 2018, soon smartwatches will replace all fitness wearables and will become the trendiest fashion accessory.

The market is offering two classes of fitness devices “basic tracker like Xiaomi MiBand” and more complex devices like “Fitbit Surge, Microsoft Band and Samsung gear fit” these more advance devices offer additional features like music control, calling, notification, etc.

Fitness world wearable offers customers to choose from the multitude of tracking devices, sensors, software app, and wearable apparel technology.

The range is from gamification to full body suits fitted with sensors to track physiological data and help consumers gain insights into fitness goals and progress.

Healthcare industry –

With technological advancement, the healthcare industry has witnessed an enormous solution through wearable technology. When it comes to wearable technology, the sky is the limit, and it has excellent potential in technological advancement beyond activity tracking. As per Forbes contributor Unity Stoakers “We are already using sensors that improve quality of life, enable home diagnostics, make virtual health and remote monitoring possible, and that you can call it the tip of the iceberg.”

Gadgets or wearable included in the healthcare industry are headband and software platform to detect head injury, a wristband to monitor blood oxygen wireless, home diagnosis, and smart patches, the user’s blood sugar level monitored by the smart contact lens, and tattoo-like patch to monitor vital signs.

Even Great Lakes NeuroTech received a $1.9 million grant to develop a wearable that can help patients with Parkinsons’s disease from the National Institute of health.

Few trendy wearables and there past present and future-

• Activity tracker

Past: Jawbone UP

Present: UP like similar products are in the market now like Fitbit, Fitbug, and Nike. They are doing similar work and tracking how much activity you are doing.

Future: Smartphones now have movement tracking chips, and soon it will be seen embedded in watches, shoes, or even implanted in the body.

• Smartwatch

Past: well wristwatches are one of the oldest forms of wearable technology and replacing pocket watches. The first popular wearable computers were in the form of wristwatch calculators developed in the 1980s.

Present: smartwatches have taken over
the industry by the boom. One of the very famous is Pebble. It delivers a snippet of information from connected devices. It saves time by reading messages and call notification without taking the phone out of pocket.

Future: now, big brands are getting involved in launching smartwatches other than Pebble, Cookoo, and Meta watch. Samsung launched Galaxy Gear, and even google and apple are not behind. Now see your wrist as a quick summary of information.

• Smart glasses

Past: even glasses did not lack behind. They, too, have a long history. From the 13th century, it is used as a magnifying glass, vision correction, sun rays, and UV rays protector.

Present: wearable technology in glass form is the most famous google Glass. Head up display through search, a portable computer lurks inside the one arm of the glasses, and a tiny display delivers information into the wearer’s field of vision.

Future: we can expect to see smart glasses in the form of sunglasses and eyewear, and with prices coming down, it will come in popularity.

• Wearable clothing

Past: Kanye west boasts his bespoke suit and natty pea coat well yes, for generations “smart clothing” means elegant clothing

Present: Angella Mackey’s VEGA clothing have LED lights which helps cyclist and keep them safe at night. Companies are experimenting with shoes and dresses to embodied technology use in it.

Future: research is going on developing smart clothes that will regulate body temperature and change their properties based on weather. Even in advance form, it can generate electricity to charge gadgets.

Conclusion –

To sum up this blog, we can only conclude that we are moving at a fast pace in the direction of the whole new level of wearable technology. We can say it fashion technology, tech togs, microcontroller, or smart electronic devices implanted in body or accessories, which help us attain the next level of technological advancement. It is the era of young and old, everyone wants to keep themselves updated and upgraded, and technology is helping us to a great extent. Consumers, especially young ones, are more attracted to wearable technology, and according to Euromonitor, it is expected to be $27 billion industry and more with passing year.

So whats are your views on it? How do you see technological advancement in the coming years? Share your views and ideas in the comment section below.