Wearable technology or wearable devices refers to electronic technologies or computers that are incorporated into items of clothing and accessories which can comfortably be worn on the body. These wearable devices include sophisticated on-board computers with, GPS and motion tracking sensors that can provide location, fitness, health, and sleep monitoring features.
The Nike Fuel Band, Pebble smart watch, and the Fitbit band are just several examples of the many products currently in stores that provide these features. For instance, the Nike fuel band will keep track of how many steps you take, the FitBit can track your sleeping cycles, and the Pebble watch can get you directions to the nearest Starbucks and then pay for your coffee.
So, ultimately, whether a device is worn or incorporated into the fabric of clothing, the purpose of wearable technology is to create constant, convenient, seamless, portable, and mostly hands-free access to electronics and computers.
For right now, most current wearable applications are mainly focused on extending notification features from your phone or basic wellness and health tracking giving us greater opportunity to connect the wearable with our other devices along with making us more accountable over our personal health and fitness habits.
Even though this technology is still in its early adopter stage, the potential implications and uses of wearables is far reaching into areas of health and medicine, fitness, education, aging, gaming and music.
There seems to be potential for a big impact on healthcare advancement such that wearable medical technology could help the lives of patients with diabetes, heart conditions and other illnesses enabling people with debilitating diseases to enjoy a higher quality of life.
Having the ability to wear a non-intrusive device like a band around your arm that scans and monitors all of your internal vitals then sharing all that data in real-time with your doctor might be more science fact than fiction in the not-to-distant future.
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