What a fascinating topic is Wearable Technologies. No, I am not talking about a mood ring! We can all agree that we live in the future – growing up, I was dreaming of the day I can use a device that would fit in the palm of my hand to see what’s going on in the faraway countries, as it happens, live. Or who did not want to communicate with people through wireless gadgets? Talk to computer? Scan things to see what’s inside? Cook 10 times faster? Microwave, anyone? It is only a matter of time before Scotty beams us up…
So I wanted to share some resources that will keep you up with the latest developments in wearable technologies.
What’s in the news about Wearable Technologies
Wearable technology, tech togs, or fashion electronics are clothing and accessories incorporating computer and advanced electronic technologies. The designs often incorporates practical functions and features, but may also have a purely aesthetic agenda.
How wearable technology could transform business by BBC reminiscences over progress we’ve made so far, from the “wearable computer” introduced in South Korea in 1998, to Google Glasses that are a hit of this summer 2013 and are yet to be released to a consumer base. Incidentally, just few days ago Google bought Wearable Technology Patents from Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, Co., a primary assembler for Apple Inc. – agreeing to invest in Himax Technologies Inc.
WT (Wearable Technologies), the pioneer and worldwide leading innovation and market development platform for technologies worn close to the body, on the body or even in the body, hosted a Conference that took place July 22-23 in San Francisco, CA and is planning another one to take place in Germany next year.
Here is the recap video from that conference by one of attendees, Mutual Mobile: How Wearables are Changing Healthcare (you’ll have to visit their site to view as Mutual Mobile did not have a way of sharing the video)
Missed the WT conference? Don’t want to wait until next year? Here is another one coming on the subject: a Wearable Tech Expo (#WearableTechCon) in December 10-11, 2013 in California, USA. – and you can still sign up to be one of the exibitors – if you are the manufacturer of the wearable technology devices, that is.
You can also attend the Expo for the educational purposes – here is what’s in stock:
Wearable Tech Hands On Demo Forum: try it on for size – wearable tech is that you spend most your time wearing it – and using it.
Wearable Tech Startups: Where Should Investors Look Next?
What’s Wearable Tech Made of: Wearable Technology is also about extending common materials to become wearable in invisible ways. Sounds pretty futuristic to me.
You have probably encountered wearable tech without giving much thought to it – most common is fitness technology, including fitness apps and built-in gadgets.
How Wearable Technology Affects Us
According to The Human Cloud: Wearable Technology from Novelty to Productivity, A social study into the impact of wearable technology performed by Rackspace across UK and US and published in June of 2013:
- 81% of UK respondents and 87% of US respondents claim that wearable technology has boosted their personal abilities
- 61% of wearable technology users felt more informed
- 47% British and Americans felt more intelligent
- 37% stated that wearable technology helped with career development
- 61% claimed that their personal efficiency improved.
Wearable Tech and Business
That is according to personal impressions. Wearable Technologies are on the rise – and so is their use by consumers and businesses, as manufacturing is expected to be in demand, and so is the use by specific industries, such as healthcare industry (I will avoid the military use topic for our purposes).
Challenges to business will include integration into the daily business operations, transition between devices and apps generations, and security of the collected data, with magnitude. Consider this: it is estimated that when it comes to dollars wearable tech in medical field to go over $2.9 billion by year 2016; ABI Research predicts that more then 100 million medical devices will be sold annually.
Wearable medical technology is becoming a hot commodity. As these devices come to market, they have the potential to help both patients and clinicians monitor vital signs and symptoms. Check out 10 Wearable Health Tech Devices To Watch by InformationWeek HealthCare digital bundle it was published a while ago, but a very interesting read.
That’s where the fun for the IT companies will begin – issues such as HIPAA compliance for medical practitioners and safety of patient records, especially when considering devices that utilize wireless technology. It is a very interesting topic and we definitely plan to keep up with it in the near future.
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