Wearable Technology
Wearable technology, or wearables, is the next frontier of personal computing and stands to revolutionize not only how we take care of our health but ...
Wearable technology, or wearables, is the next frontier of personal computing and stands to revolutionize not only how we take care of our health but also how we live and work. Like the laptop, tablet and smartphone before it, wearables are quickly becoming commonplace among consumers from using basic activity trackers that count steps and calories burned, to clothing with sensors woven into the fabric to detect the body’s vital signs like a second skin.
Wearables of all kinds are increasing in demand. There were 500,000 smartwatches sold in 2013 and an expected 5 million to ship in 2014. ABI research found 30 million ‘wireless health devices’ were shipped in 2012 and by 2017 predicts 170 million will be sold, growing at an average rate of 41 percent per year.
Financially, worldwide spending on wearables will hit $1.4bn in 2013 and grow to $19bn by 2019. Research by the University of London found that 71 percent of Americans and 63 percent of Brits said wearable technology has “improved their health and fitness.”
Activity trackers including Fitbug, Fitbit, Jawbone, BodyMedia and Nike Fuelband are helping people with their health and fitness goals by providing real time information on their movement and diet.
The big players in the wearables space
Nike’s CEO Mark Parker realizes the importance of technology to the company and said in a Fast Company interview’ “The digital and physical worlds are starting to come together more seamlessly [and] it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s coming.”
Nike isn’t the only large multinational that is investing in wearable technology however. Google with its optical head mounted display Google Glass is another large behemoth that sees the future of technology is wearable.
Wearable technology, or wearables, is the next frontier of personal computing and stands to revolutionize not only how we take care of our health but also how we live and work. Like the laptop, tablet and smartphone before it, wearables are quickly becoming commonplace among consumers from using basic activity trackers that count steps and calories burned, to clothing with sensors woven into the fabric to detect the body’s vital signs like a second skin.
Wearables of all kinds are increasing in demand. There were 500,000 smartwatches sold in 2013 and an expected 5 million to ship in 2014. ABI research found 30 million ‘wireless health devices’ were shipped in 2012 and by 2017 predicts 170 million will be sold, growing at an average rate of 41 percent per year.
Financially, worldwide spending on wearables will hit $1.4bn in 2013 and grow to $19bn by 2019. Research by the University of London found that 71 percent of Americans and 63 percent of Brits said wearable technology has “improved their health and fitness.”
Activity trackers including Fitbug, Fitbit, Jawbone, BodyMedia and Nike Fuelband are helping people with their health and fitness goals by providing real time information on their movement and diet.
The big players in the wearables space
Nike’s CEO Mark Parker realizes the importance of technology to the company and said in a Fast Company interview’ “The digital and physical worlds are starting to come together more seamlessly [and] it’s only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s coming.”
Nike isn’t the only large multinational that is investing in wearable technology however. Google with its optical head mounted display Google Glass is another large behemoth that sees the future of technology is wearable.