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QOTW: What do you think about wearable technology?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 3 January 2014, 17:00

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Wearable technology is sure to be one of the technology memes during next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

First coming to our attention with calculator-watches in the '80s, wearable technology now encompasses smartwatches such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Qualcomm Toq, exercise bands from Fitbit and Nike, and eyewear such as Google Glass, to name but a few.

In fact, creating new genres of wearable technology is relatively simple: marry a low-cost sensor, inexpensive CPU and some form of wireless transmission and away you go.

So, without further ado, how do you view wearable technology? Is it an unnecessary fad or genuinely useful technology? Let us know in the comments facility below.

HEXUS Forums :: 36 Comments

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Posted by DR - Fri 03 Jan 2014 21:43
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.
Posted by peterb - Fri 03 Jan 2014 22:24
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.
Posted by kalniel - Fri 03 Jan 2014 22:26
It has certainly been agreeable to appointments and attendances now that we have the pocketwatch. A clock about one's person, imagine that!
Posted by peterb - Fri 03 Jan 2014 22:32
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.

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.

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.
Posted by Tumble - Fri 03 Jan 2014 23:01
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.

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