Wearable technology

Wearable technology, wearables, fashion technology, tech togs, or fashion electronics are smart electronic devices (electronic device with micro-controllers) that can be incorporated into clothing or worn on the body as implants or accessories. Wearable technology, wearables, fashion technology, tech togs, or fashion electronics are smart electronic devices (electronic device with micro-controllers) that can be incorporated into clothing or worn on the body as implants or accessories. Wearable devices such as activity trackers are an example of the Internet of Things, since 'things' such as electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity are effectors that enable objects to exchange data (including data quality) through the internet with a manufacturer, operator, and/or other connected devices, without requiring human intervention. Wearable technology has a variety of applications which grows as the field itself expands. It appears prominently in consumer electronics with the popularization of the smartwatch and activity tracker. Apart from commercial uses, wearable technology is being incorporated into navigation systems, advanced textiles, and healthcare. The history of wearable technology starts with the watch, which was worn by people to tell time. In 1500 the German inventor Peter Henlein created small watches which were worn as necklaces. A century later, men began to carry their watches in their pockets as the waistcoat became a fashionable item, which led to the creation of pocket watches. Wristwatches were also created in the late 1600s but were worn mostly by women as bracelets. Over time, the watch become smaller and more precise. In 1904, the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont pioneered the use of the wristwatch as it allowed him to have his hands unoccupied when piloting. This proved that the wrist is a convenient place to wear a watch which led people to start using wristwatches. People started to create wearables to use in every occasion, from tools that help them win in gambling games, to rings used as a computational device by traders, to electronic headbands used as a costume in theaters, and a wearable camera strapped to a bird to take aerial photos, among others. Modern wearable technology is related to both ubiquitous computing and the history and development of wearable computers. Wearables make technology pervasive by incorporating it into daily life. Through the history and development of wearable computing, pioneers have attempted to enhance or extend the functionality of clothing, or to create wearables as accessories able to provide users with sousveillance — the recording of an activity typically by way of small wearable or portable personal technologies. Tracking information like movement, steps, and heart rate is part of the quantified self movement. The origins of modern wearable technology are influenced by both of these responses to the vision of ubiquitous computing. One early piece of widely adopted wearable technology was the calculator watch, which was introduced in the 1980s. An even earlier wearable technology was the hearing aid. In 2004, fashion design label CuteCircuit unveiled a Bluetooth-connected electronics called the HugShirt at the CyberArt Festival in Bilbao, Spain, where it won the Grand Prize at the festival. The HugShirt, designed for tele-transmitting touch over distance, differs from previous early wearable technology examples (e.g. watches or the helmet designs of wearable computing in the 1990s) because the product is the first wearable technology that took the form of a garment of clothing. As such, it is also the first piece of Bluetooth-connected and internet-connected clothing. This product was included in Time magazine's 'Best Inventions of the Year' special issue. In 2008, Ilya Fridman incorporated a hidden Bluetooth microphone into a pair of earrings. Around the same time, the Spy Tie appeared, a 'stylish neck tie with a hidden color camera'. Fitbit released its first wearable around 2009; Fitbit products have primarily focused upon activity tracking.