Finding Your Place With Wearable Tech

by Mary C Long 

It’s no longer enough to keep your cutting-edge technology on your desk — or even in your pocket — now you have to incorporate it into your wardrobe.

​Wearables are where tech is headed and the hype is tremendous – and deserved. And top tech companies are getting ready to assimilate. Are you? 

​The power of the smartphone is coming out of your pocket and the data it once provided is everywhere you look. Or, as Bill Wasic puts it, “A new generation of wearable tech is coming – and it will transform the way you experience the world.” 

Everywhere You Look 

Literally everywhere you look. Perhaps the most talked about product in wearables are smart glasses. Despite a somewhat shaky start, the reports of the demise of Google Glass were premature and a new model better suited to outdoor use and with a more traditional look is in the works. And Recon, a new entry into the field of wearables, is hitting the market with a wide array of smart eyewear, much of it geared toward the needs of specific sports such as skiing.
In addition to smart glasses other trending wearables include: 

• Smart watches – of course the one that springs to mind is the Apple Watch, but other companies are entering the market as well. At least 11 different Android Wear devices will be on sale before Christmas.
• Sports and fitness wearables – products are flooding onto the market designed to help you optimize everything from your golf swing to your REM cycles.
• Gaming gear – The gaming world is embracing wearables as a means to heighten the fantasy and to ultimately take the gaming experience out of the living room. And products like Oculus Rift are making virtual reality less sci-fi and more ‘the way things are headed. 

Beyond the Gadgets 

The technology is seeping into other, more traditional markets as well. Has it come for your vertical yet? If not, you can be sure it will: 

• Smart Clothing – 2015 has been a breakout year for smartclothes. Leading the pack in this category are smartshirts: Heddoko makes shirts embedded with sensors that track everything from heart rate to muscle movement to enable athletes to improve their performance.
• Cars – automobile manufacturers are creating connected cars that have the ability to link seamlessly with their drivers’ wearables. Mercedes-Benz recently exhibited a concept in which the vehicle linked with a smartwatch to do everything from control the radio, to monitor fuel levels. Ford has plans to include devices that track the driver’s biometric readings and if the car senses that road rage is imminent it might suggest changing the radio to some easy-listening. 

And Beyond THAT – Changing the World  

Some innovative companies are pushing wearable tech into entirely new areas that hold the promise of truly changing the world. Energy company, KalpTree has designed solid-state batteries that can be manufactured as flexible wire or fabric that then can be shaped into a nearly limitless array of shapes.

• This means that the military will have wearable battery vests that are light and flexible.
• It means that the weight of electric cars will be reduced and thus energy costs reduced.
• And it means that the batteries for electronic devices can be embedded in the casings. 

What will we think of next? 

It seems that the trend is toward a world in which nearly everything we interact with is threaded with wearable technology that all interacts seamlessly.

Perhaps we are looking at a future in which our belt buckle senses that our stomach is empty, sends that information to our tablet that has been tracking our eating habits, the tablet chooses the type of food that we should have and sends that info to our smartwatch which finds the closest restaurant offering it, and lets our car know where to go while making reservations so that our table is waiting when we get there.

Is it that improbable to consider? And where does your business fit in all of this? It’s time to sort that out!
What wearable device do you use now? What wearables would you like to see? 

This post originally appeared on Business2Community