Technology, Watches, and Wearables Oh My

With the #AppleWatch event only minutes away, the internet is a buzz about wearables and the next big thing. ‘Wearables’ refers to the electronic technologies or computers incorporated into watches, contact lenses, eyewear, bracelets, rings, clothing and more — all designed to be worn on the body. Wearables can be anything from wristwatches that discreetly alert users to text messages and emails, to activity trackers that measure blood pressure, heart rate, daily steps taken and sleep quality. There’s also eyewear such as Google Glass that provides the wearer with a small computer screen that overlays their field of vision.

Wearables aren’t new. For example, check out this 1972 digital watch that cost more than a car. “That model sold for $2,100, which was more than a new Ford Pinto went for at the time,” journalist Harry McCracken wrote in a retrospective on early digital watches.

Pictured here is the Zebra Technologies (formerly Motorola Solutions) WT41N0. It’s been used in warehouses for about 3 years now.

“Eventually wearables will become an everyday part of people’s lives. Wearables are distinct because they are intimate. They are connected to your body so the kind of information they can provide is unlike tablets or phones or PCs. In terms of identifying you, they have unique characteristics. They are persistent. They can provide information about things in your life all day long as opposed to just when you pull them out of your pocket or backpack. And they’re immediate. You can have a wearable that is always listening to you. That’s hard to do with a phone on your desk or in your pocket,” said Steve Holmes, vice president of the new devices group at Intel.

Teena Hammond from ZDNet, writes “The one thing that is certain is that the wearables industry will look vastly different in five years. The data collected could be used in a variety of ways, from streamlining doctors’ visits with instant access to health information, to maximizing fitness workouts by determining how to get the most benefit from a session, or giving employees the ability to work hands-free in remote settings.”

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