Photo Credit : Forever Digital
Did you know that next generation Wearable 2.0 solutions are already here and today’s wristwatches, eyeglasses, and everything in-between, are redefining mobile technology?
The age of wearable 2.0 devices and gadgets is upon us.
The market for wearable devices is starting to gain momentum
If you want to learn the potential of next generation Wearable Devices to enrich your life, then check out the following range of wearable product categories…..
WEARABLES – SMART WATCHES
A smartwatch has more in common with the latest, cutting-edge mobile device than it does a simple watch.
While a traditional timepiece could keep track of the hours and minutes of your day, a next-generation smartwatch can access the Internet and tap unlimited data. A regular watch counts off months and years, while a smartwatch stores music and photographs, using the latest connectivity technology to pair with nearby devices.
A smartwatch typically comprises two parts, namely the main body and the wrist band.
- Main Body – Typically as thin as a regular wristwatch, smartwatches are built from durable metal or plastic. Some smartwatches break the traditional looks we’re all familiar with in our timepieces, whilst others look more like something you’d find in the local jewelry store. Most smartwatch body shapes to date follow the classic round-face or square design.
- Wrist Band – The straps used by smartwatches are functional, fashionable in appearance.
Although the majority of smartwatches on the market come with a simple strap and slender metal case configuration we all know, some suppliers are offering wraparound high-tech wristband and bracelet designs that include a tiny microphone, speakers, and even a camera!
Like other Wearable 2.0 devices, smartwatches come in a variety of colors.
SMART HEALTH & FITNESS DEVICES
As they say in many parts of the world ‘Your health is your wealth’ and how true it is.
Technologies such as smart health and fitness devices can play an important role in making it easy for you to set overall health goals, track progress, and get inspired to manage your own personal wellness in a more hands-on way.
Specifically, health and fitness devices are available to measure your vital signs, how well you sleep, activity, and measuring calories burned.
This information is then uploaded to an app on your smartphone or tablet, where you get a reasonably strong indication of how healthy you are.
Wearable devices such as dedicated smart health monitors, smart bracelets, and wearable activity sensors hold the potential to improve your health in the coming years.
Smart Health Monitors
Blood pressure monitors, digital weighing scales, and sleep management smart health monitoring devices have become quite popular in recent times.
Blood Pressure Monitors
Next-generation blood pressure monitors provide an easy and accurate way to self-measure your blood pressure and heart rate.
They operate as follows:
- Wrap the Blood pressure monitor around your arm
- The monitor cuff on your arm gets connected to your smartphone wirelessly over Bluetooth or via a cable.
- Launch your app and tap an icon!
- Proceed with measurement
- At the end of the measurement, your blood pressure and pulse rate are saved on your smartphone or tablet device.
- You have a couple of options when it comes to processing your readings, namely:
- View results with colorful easy-to-read displays and charts on your smartphone or tablet
- Email to your doctor or caregiver
- Synchronize with your personal health record stored on the Internet.
- Compare results against your historical averages.
If you are into the social networking scene, then most of these blood pressure monitoring apps will support sharing with friends on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Smart Weighing Scales
A smart weighing scale lets you easily record and manage your weight over the long term. Weight gain and indeed loss is something that requires regular monitoring! Newer models of digital scales allow us to closely track your weight changes over time. They operate as follows
- Step on your scales.
- Your weight is displayed.
- Measurement data is automatically uploaded in real-time to a password protected Web-site.
- You can then use a PC, MAC, Android, or Apple mobile device to analyze your statistics with easy-to-read graphs of your weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and % body fat collected by your smart scales.
Sleep Management Tools
Most SMTs consist of two main parts:
- A washable, lightweight headband that contains sensors to read your brain’s electrical signals. This band is worn on your forehead, whilst you sleep.
- A mobile app that runs on your smartphone receives the brain wave information from your headband and keeps tabs of your sleep habits.
Smart Bracelets
A smart bracelet hugs the wrist, using a stylish form factor that wraps comfortably around your skin. Comfort is important in this situation as smart bracelets are manufactured with long periods of wear in mind.
Key characteristics of smart bracelets include:
- Multiple sensors paint a comprehensive picture of physical condition.
- Accelerometer, Heart-rate, temperature, perspiration, and sleep pattern tracking.
- Low-profile construction.
- Syncs the latest stats to a smartphone for greater real-time data analyses.
- Weatherproof
- Goal-oriented software motivates wearer to excel.
Activity Tracking Devices (ATDs)
ATDs are used to measure your daily movements and allow you to set specific goals to become more active. Setting up is simple and involves wearing your ADT and syncing with a smartphone or tablet app. Once set up, an ADT operates as follows:
- It tracks your daily activity including walking, running, climbing stairs, and whatever movements you do during a normal day.
- The activity data gathered throughout the day is transferred reported to an app.
- The app will then allow you to visualize your daily activity to see when you’re most active – and when you’re not.
Not only do ADTs track your physical activity, but some of the more advanced models allow you to share your social results on various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, G+, and Linked-In.
ATDs are typically available as a bracelet; however, there are other wearable form factors available – for instance necklace attachments and clip-on for your belt.
SMART CLOTHES & JEWELLERY
Considered to be the ‘softer’ part of wearables, smart clothing is expected to be used in a wide range of interesting possibilities. Current uses for smart clothing range from monitoring body vital signs to environmental protection.
The smart jewelry market, still a fledgling construct funded by crowd-sourced websites, follows a similar trend to smart clothing products, acting as a stylish satellite device for a smartphone.
WEARABLES – SMART GLASSES
The label used to define wearable products that cover your field of view is smart glasses.
A pair of smart glasses is basically a mini-computer, equipped with a projected display, one that’s hooked in some way to the Internet to deliver content as a virtual floating display, which hovers above your eyesight and resembles a 25-inch television no one else can see!
A voice command input tells the glasses to search for a spoken keyword or to check favorite social sites for updates. In fact, the glasses act just like a smartphone, delivering communications applications, taking pictures with a built-in camera, and uploading those pictures to social websites.
Translation capabilities and mapping capabilities are also useful tools for people who use smart glasses.
A number of key issues and myths need to be overcome before Smart Glasses become adopted by the general population.