Wearable technology refers to electronic devices that can be worn by users and incorporate computing and advanced technologies. Common wearables include fitness trackers, smartwatches, and safety devices. Fitness trackers monitor health metrics like steps, heart rate, and sleep. Smartwatches function similarly but also allow notifications from paired smartphones. Safety wearables discreetly alert others during emergencies. The future of wearables may include longer battery life through energy harvesting, medical devices that monitor health indicators under the skin, and authentication through devices like smart tattoos.

1. Wearable Technology
By: Singhan Ganguly ; July 27th
,2020
Whatis Wearable Technology?
Wearable devices are the high tech
accessories that incorporates computing
and advanced electronic technologies.
They are the devices that can be worn by
a user and often include tracking
information related to health and fitness.
Other wearable tech gadgets include
devices that have small motion sensors
and other kind of sensors to gather
various data and sync them with the
user’s mobile.
Wearables have become remarkably popular over the past few years, but the
basic idea is not at all new to us. Forexample, if you have ever worn a
wristwatch, you've already used a simple kind of wearable. Today's wearables
as they can be actually connected with our existing devices like computers and
smartphones, so we can do a lot of interesting things by taking the help of
internet.
History of WearableTechnology
Back in 1981 when Steve Mann
invented the 6502-based Multimedia
computer that could be worn as a
backpackand had photo, video text
capabilities, came into existence the
first wearable device.

2. Design Elements of a WearableTechnology
1.HUMAN CENTEREDDESIGN:This practice is critical to the success of
wearable devices—design thinking must be embedded in disruptive strategy and
innovation, with a focus on optimizing the customer experience.
2.CONSISTENCYOF DATA: The data from the wearable experience will
need to be integrated more broadly in an interoperable ecosystem, rather than
acting standalone.
Some Commonly Used WearableDevices
1. FITNESSTRACKERS:Whether you are training hard for a marathon or
you are just trying to be more and more active, these devices can help you get a
better understanding of
your daily activity. They
can track the number of
steps that you have
taken, your heart rate, how
long do you sleep, and
many more stuffs. This
data can then be synced
with another device like
the mobile phone, which
allows you to see trends
and patterns in your
activity. For example, you
could find out how far you have walked over the past week or estimate how
many calories you have burned in a day.
Fitness trackers are available in a range of prices and form factors, depending
on your needs. Basic models that clip onto your belt or shoe can cost very little,
but other models such as wristbands can be more expensive.

3. 2.SMART WATCHES: If you have a smartphone, then you are probably very
much used to in receiving a lot of different notifications, like emails, text
messages and phone calls.
But if you don't like looking
at your phone throughout the
day, a smartwatch may be
able to help you in this.
These devices can be synced
with your smartphone, which
allows you to see
notifications on your wrist at
a glance. Most smartwatches
can also be used as simple
fitness trackers, but they're a
lot more expensive. Most smartwatches rely on a smartphone to function, which
also means the model you choosewill depend on your phone. Forexample,
the Apple Watch can only be synced with an iPhone, while the Android Wear
devices—such as the Moto 360 and Samsung Gear—can only be connected to
the Android phones.
3. SAFETYWEARABLES:Safety wearables are those devices that are
designed to help you in situations where you feel threatened or in danger. They
are sometimes disguised as
jewellery so that they can be
used in a discreet way
without letting a potential
attacker know what exactly it
is. Most of them are operated
just by a button that sends an
alert to others, sounds a loud
alarm, or both. The alerts
they send can either be pre-
programmed
texts or recorded voice
messages. A lot of them also
have a built-in GPS, allowing
an immediately share of your location with friends, family, nearby people, or
even the police.

4. The Futureof WearableTechnology
Wearables have become more
and more prevalent in our
society over the past several
years. It's predicted that
wearables will only continue
to grow in popularity, so
naturally companies are
finding new and innovative
ways to apply them to our
everyday lives. Below are just
a few of the directions
wearable production may be headed.
1. Longerbatterylife
Many of today's wearables have a fairly short battery life, especially those that
require a lot of processing power and Internet connectivity. Because of this,
some developers are looking into alternative battery sources. One of the more
popular methods is called energy harvesting, which is a way of converting body
heat, solar energy, and even movement into power.
If this were to become the norm for wearables, it would be a game changer.
Users wouldn't have to worry about the battery dying at inconvenient times or
the hassle of having to regularly recharge it. By eliminating these problems,
wearables could become even more popular in the future.
2. Medicalwearables
A lot of today's popular wearables, like Fitbit and
the Apple Watch, are geared toward helping you improve
your health and fitness. But many companies are taking the
next step and are looking into wearable devices
that monitor and solve medical problems. Forexample,
there's currently an artificial pancreas (shown below) being
developed for diabetics, which can monitor blood sugar
levels and automatically supply insulin.

5. Taking this a step further, the medical industry is looking into creating
wearables that can be embedded underneath the skin. This would allow users to
track all types of medical activity that is currently unavailable to most people.
This could include blood analysis, the effects of drugs, and a number of other
vitals. It may be a while before we see this type of technology hit the market,
but it has the potential to change the lives of many.
3. Authentication
Wearables also seem to be headed in the direction of authentication as a means
of doing things like unlocking
your home, getting into
concerts, and even buying
things at the store without
having to go through the
checkout process. Disney
currently uses a wearable in its
parks called
the MagicBand that gives
customers access to rides, their
hotel rooms, and other features.
There are even smart tattoos in development that could be used for purposes
like these. They're essentially high-tech temporary tattoos that can carry and
transfer information to devices like smartphones and scanners. If wearables
become a common way of authenticating experiences, they could really change
the way we interact with the world by speeding up various processes in our
lives, like visits to the hospital or security clearances.
Thank You.