Features - QOTW: What do you think about wearable technology?

[HEXUS]

Fad or useful tech? Let us know your thoughts.

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[DR]

I use a Fitbit all the time just to see where I've walked and well to be nosy.... I love and hate the idea of Google Glass.

[peterb]

I have seen (and briefly used) Google Glass. It certainly attracts interest from a novelty point of view, but it is reminiscent of the bluetooth earpieces that were all the craze a few years ago.

There is also the question of (perceived) privacy, with the built in camera. On the other hand, having the head up display to see maps, read SMS messages is a definite plus.

The voice recognition is done remotely, so you need a wi-fi or 3g/4g connection to make the best if it, and it will only pair with the android platform.

Privacy issues aside, I think it does have its uses, and I suspect Google Glass is the forerunner of other similar devices from Microsoft and Apple.

[kalniel]

It has certainly been agreeable to appointments and attendances now that we have the pocketwatch. A clock about one's person, imagine that!

[peterb]

From a wider perspective, wearable technology has wider reaching consequences, prosthetic limbs, eye and ear implants are already within the realms of possibility and have the potential to be life changing, as have heart pacemakers, which have been around for years.. It is the marriage of wearable technology with remote processing that gets interesting.

I use a Fitbit all the time just to see where I've walked and well to be nosy.... I love and hate the idea of Google Glass.

I use a wireless heart rate monitor while I'm at the gym, only a simple one, but that will connect to a smartphone app to provide a training record.

[Tumble]

I think it's too early to tell at the moment. It all hinges on energy density - all this stuff needs power to run, and as the processing capacity increases so does the demand on batteries. I firmly believe that the power source should be the focus for designers & developers. If you could build a battery that's small enough to fit in a piece of jewellery, and will run a quad-core mobile processor for 24 hours - that's the holy grail. Until these devices run for a day or more on a single charge (and charge again in 15 minutes from flat) I don't think they're going to be incredibly useful. The smartwatches are getting a good toehold, but they're just building on an idea from the 80's using modern tech (but they still don't last long enough on their batteries).

TL: DR - wait and see who builds the best battery and ask again.

[Mama Sumae]

People seem to have missed the most important use of something like google glasses, emergency workers.

Particularly police forces, making their use mandatory (operating like a car dash cam) would go a long way to protect the officers and the public both on the streets and in court.

If they would be happy to undergo the extra scrutiny though is another thing...

[zdn1042]

Smartwatches seem to be the next big thing but I'm still not totally sold on it yet. I would really want to see more features that will make it a must buy for me. We'll see more this year.

[minicale]

I don't see the point just like I don't see the point in smart phones when I am never going to use one in public and when I am at home I'll go on my pc or tablet.

[g8ina]

Havent been tempted by anything yet, can't *really* see anything currently available that would tempt me either. Bit of a dinosaur I spose

[Ferral]

I'm tempted by the Sony Smart Watches to pair up to my Xperia T

Not sure if this will take off though, its one of those situations where once you get one you will use the various features for a few weeks then it will be just another gadget not being used to its full potential.

[peterb]

The other question is what do we mean by 'wearable technology'? This isn't really anything new - the first piece of wearable technology would probably be the mechanical fob watch - a piece of micro mechanical engineering that was at the forefront of technology of the day. Fast forward a couple of hundred years and the first electronic wrist watch became the forefront of wearable technology.

Fast forward a bit more and a lot of today's wearable technology is taking existing tech and making it smaller - enabled by improved manufacturing techniques (smaller, more powerful lower power consumption processors), improved battery/power supply technology and strong light weight cases. The limitations then are the sensors and transducers to enable the device to communicate with us - the wearer. Even processing power becomes less critical if that can be offloaded to some other processor, communicating wirelessly. The wearable technology then only needs enough processing and battery power of convert the input and output devices to a data stream and transmit it somewhere.

So wearable technology at the moment is about making existing things smaller and in an alternative form factor. Where it will get interesting is when new methods of interacting are developed. The field of medical electronics may be one to exploit wearable technology, as I mentioned in an earlier post. Continuous blood monitoring, advanced heart pacemakers, artificial organs, eye and ear implants, improved prosthetic limbs - these will be the really exciting things that will have a major life changing effect on people.

[TooNice]

I use HRM when exercising so as far as I am concerned, wearable technology *can* be useful, but perhaps not all are. I am not completely sold on a smartwatch, but I am more likely to get a smartwatch than some luxury watches that does little more than tell the time and (subjectively) look pretty.

[kalniel]

The other question is what do we mean by 'wearable technology'? This isn't really anything new - the first piece of wearable technology would probably be the mechanical fob watch - a piece of micro mechanical engineering that was at the forefront of technology of the day.

Exactly the point I was making (in my usual forum way )

Portable clocks weren't just fashion items though - they enabled a huge amount of new enterprise and via navigation, exploration and discovery. Who knows where today's technologies will take us?

[Lowe]

I think it's still got a fair way to go before being a useful consumer product, however integration with other things like for example a car could be interesting. A 'Google Glass alike' pair of glasses that give you a projected HUD with engine info, Sat Nav directions or even image enhancement in low light conditions etc, that stays within your field of view would be useful.

[SkarKrow]

There's potential, particularly in glass for things like maps.

I don't see myself really using any of it though.