An Ultimate Cheat Sheet on Wearable Technology

 

Any type of electronic equipment designed for use on the user's body is considered wearable technology. These devices come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including jewelry, accessories, wearables, and parts of garments. While wearables can vary widely in terms of advanced features, the term "wearable computing" often refers to processing or communication capabilities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) hearing aids, Google Glass, Microsoft's HoloLens, and a holographic computer in the form of a virtual reality (VR) headset are some of the most advanced situations of wearable technology. A disposable skin patch with sensors that wirelessly transfer patient data to a control unit at a medical facility is a representation of a less advanced type of wearable technology.

How does Wearable Technology Work?

A wide range of devices fall under the broad category of wearable technology today, including smartwatches, Bluetooth headsets, VR headsets, smart jewelry, web-enabled spectacles, and activity trackers like the Fitbit Charge. Depending on the category they fall under—health, fitness, or entertainment, for example—wearables function differently. 

Microprocessors, batteries, and internet connectivity are the main components of wearable technology, allowing the data it collects to be coordinated with other devices like laptops and mobile phones.

Sensors that monitor physical motions, offer biometric identification, or help with location monitoring are integrated into wearable technology. The most popular wearables, activity trackers, and smartwatches, for example, include a wrist strap that the user may wrap around to monitor their vitals or physical activity levels all day long.

Certain wearables operate without coming into contact with the user physically, even though the majority are either worn on the body or attached to clothing. Users' movements can still be tracked by cell phones, smart tags, or computers.

Some Applications of Wearable Technology

Wearable tech is widely used in consumer electronics, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches. However, because of recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technology is now being used in a wide range of contexts, including professional sports, consumer goods, healthcare, navigation systems, and smart fabrics.

The most widely used wearable technology applications, both present and future generations, are as follows:

1. Skin Technology on the Epidermis: 

Wearable electronic skin for health monitoring was developed by the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, according to ScienceDaily. This ultra-thin e-skin patch, a wearable of the future generation, may be used for up to a week and is attached to the wearer's breast area using a tiny wireless transmitter and water spray. 

Its sensitivity allows it to detect and record electrical signals, such as muscle contractions and heartbeats, which can be transmitted to medical professionals via the cloud for their remote monitoring of the health of the individual.

2. Health monitoring: 

Wearable technology is being used by people to track and get notifications for their blood pressure and heart rate, monitor their calorie consumption, and organize their exercise routines. The COVID-19 pandemic increased consumer awareness of personal hygiene and the need to take preventative measures to stop the spread of illnesses, which in turn increased wearable technology use. 

For example, Apple updated the Cardiogram app and added a sleeping beats-per-minute function that tracks COVID-19 patients' heart rate variations.

3. Games and entertainment: 

VR headsets, smart glasses, and controllers were initially adopted by the gaming and entertainment sectors. Well-known VR head-mounted displays, such as the Sony PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest, and Meta Quest, are used for gaming, watching movies, and virtual travel among other forms of entertainment.

4. Style and Smart Clothing: 

The term "smart clothing," sometimes known as "intelligent fashion," has gained a lot of attention in recent years. Wearers of smart jackets, like the one developed by Levi with Google's Project Jacquard technology, which has electrical fiber threads throughout, can take pictures, play music, and answer calls right from the sleeves. 

Popular examples of wearable technology include smartwatches, bracelets, smart shoes, and smart jewelry.

5. Military: 

Along with VR-based simulation exercises and environmentally friendly technologies like boot inserts that measure how well soldiers are supporting the weight of their equipment and how topography can impact performance, these wearables also track soldiers' vital signs.

6. Exercise and sports: 

Sports use wearable athletic devices that are either integrated into the equipment, such as balls and bats, or into the fabric of the sportswear. Coaches use laptops and other connected electronic devices to receive real-time data from devices that are linked to GPS and Bluetooth for analysis.

Examples of Wearable Technology

Below are some examples of Wearable Technology:

1) Smart Jewellery: Watches, wristbands, and smart rings can all be examples of this. For display and interactivity, smaller wearables usually require a smartphone app.

2) Placed Sensors on the body: These sensors are applied to the body to track and share biological data for medical purposes.

3) Trackers for Fitness: The majority of these wearables are wristbands, straps, or headbands that track indicators of health and physical activity. Trackers and apps can be connected wirelessly for data processing, reporting, and storing.

4) Smart clothes: Built-in technology in this kind of clothing can monitor health and fitness, communicate with phones and other devices, and adjust fabric properties to match the user's preferences, activities, and surroundings, among other functions. 

For example, the apparel brand Tommy Hilfiger introduced solar-cell-equipped clothes in 2014 that could be used to charge gadgets.

5) Headgear for Augmented Reality (AR): AR headsets allow users to interact with both virtual and real-world environments by utilizing a real-world setting and integrating digital information into a display of their surroundings.

6) Virtual Reality Goggles: Virtual reality headsets augment virtual reality by completely replacing the user's surroundings with digital data. 

7) Artificial Intelligence Hearing Devices: Artificial intelligence (AI) in hearing aids allows them to automatically adjust and filter out unwanted sounds to meet each user's specific hearing needs while performing optimally in their current surroundings. These gadgets, often known as wearables, can also have features like audio streaming, fitness tracking, and translation.

8) Virtual Helpers: Certain businesses make speech and gesture-activated wearable virtual assistants that attach to a user's clothing. One example is the AI Pin from Humane, which has a small projector that can turn the user's hand into a touch screen and a virtual assistant that is driven by the GPT-4 language model.

Challenges of Wearables

• Battery Life: 

A lot of wearables have trouble holding a charge, especially the more advanced models. It might be inconvenient for users to always need to charge their devices, particularly if they depend on them for vital services like continuous health monitoring.

• Data security and privacy: 

Wearables gather private information about a person, such as location and health data. Safeguarding the privacy and security of this data presents an important barrier. Strong security measures are necessary to protect user information.

• Connectivity & Standardization: 

The wearables industry consists of a range of devices from many manufacturers, each with different connectivity needs and operating systems. It can be challenging to achieve interchange and standards since users may run into issues.

• Accuracy and Reliability of Data: 

Wearable sensors may not always produce accurate and dependable data, particularly with more affordable systems. Wearables can be less effective for health tracking and other purposes if readings, such as heart rate or sleep patterns, are irregular.

• Design & Fashion Appeal: 

Wearables are fashion pieces in addition to being useful gadgets. It might be difficult to find the perfect combination between practicality and beauty. If wearable technology doesn't fit well with their style or if they do not find the designs appealing, some users can be reluctant to embrace it.

• User Engagement and Preservation: 

Wearables frequently have a high initial level of user engagement, but it can be difficult to maintain their attention over time. The user could become bored or lose the desire to use wearables, particularly if they feel that the devices are no longer useful or if they have trouble using their functionalities.

• Health and Ethical Issues: 

The use of data and the possibility of excessive diagnosis are two ethical issues brought up by continuous health monitoring. Additionally, consumers run the risk of depending too much on wearables to make health-related decisions and maybe ignoring advice from medical professionals.

• Limited Computing Capacity: 

Compared to larger devices like computers or smartphones, wearables' processing capacity is limited by their small dimensions. This may limit the range of features and services that wearable technology can provide in terms of complexity.

• Social Acceptance and Standards: 

It's becoming more difficult for wearables to be accepted in social settings. Although a lot of individuals feel at ease using smartphones, the adoption of smart glasses.

• Cost & Affordability: 

Wearables of superior quality are frequently very expensive. Some people may find this price to be a barrier, preventing them from making use of wearables' advantages, especially in areas or among certain groups of people who have less money.

The Future of Wearable Technology

Future technology is about to experience a major shift because of wearable technology, which is growing in popularity. Although smart clothing, fitness trackers, VR and AR headsets, and smart devices have been widely accepted, they are just the tip of the iceberg.

Tech experts have projected the following upcoming items and concepts, along with how they will influence wearable technology in the future:

1. Apple Eyewear: 

According to initial sources from Bloomberg and The Information, Apple Glasses might be available by 2023. The purpose of these AR smart glasses is to project data from a user's phone onto their face. By connecting with an iPhone, these glasses will allow users to see texts, emails, games, and other content across their field of vision.

2. Gathering Energy:

Wearable technology has a disadvantage in that it needs to be taken off for routine charging. Research is being done on energy harvesting, which could increase battery life by using sun energy, movement, or body heat. 

One method of energy harvesting is piezoelectric power which uses materials with piezoelectric properties to transform the vibrations your body makes when you move into energy.

3. Smart Contact Lenses: 

Smart contact lenses that can project real-time information into the human eye are on the edge of becoming a consumer product; they are nothing short of a work of science fiction. These soft electronic smart contact lenses are being developed by tech giants like Google, Mojo Vision, Samsung, and Sony. 

They can connect to smartphones or other external devices to deliver real-time, hands-free information in addition to vision correction.

4. Artificial Intelligence for the Human Brain: 

Safe sensors with AI integration that support thought processes are presently in development. Facebook is working on a brain-computer interface that would allow users to enter updates for their status on the social media platform without having to use their fingers. Neuralink, Elon Musk's startup, is also developing an interface that may benefit those with major brain injuries.

Conclusion

The growing popularity of Wearable Technology calls for a careful evaluation of its advantages and disadvantages, including cost, battery life, suitability for all users, privacy and security concerns, convenience, and real-time monitoring. Mobile electronics that are conveniently placed on the body or attached to clothing are referred to as wearable technology. 

Getting information conveniently, making daily tasks better, and improving experiences are the main objectives of wearable technology. Many sensors that gather information from the user's body or the environment around them are built into Wearable Technology.