Buzzwords Debunked: Wearables

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In every industry and every genre of life, there are specific terms that become the center of attention. As humans, we like to choose certain concepts to focus on, certain topics of interest to fixate upon. It helps to gain a feeling of understanding - when one masters the key concepts of an industry, they gain the ability to claim "expertise". The terms that describe these key concepts are called buzzwords, and they wield an immeasurable amount of power. Although intangible, the focus on buzzwords produces significant and impactful results.


The technology sector is one that has seen a wealth of hot topics come and go over the years. Some of these ideas transform into successful businesses, while others fizzle out into a quiet yet turbulent end. For the general consumer, the flurry of buzzwords can often seem confusing and overwhelming. While some have meaning and express a valuable potential, others deflate when probed too carefully. This article acts as a single part in a larger scheme, a new series focused on clarity and communication. Below is the second buzzword, debunked and explained, in an effort to provide a greater level of transparency into the tech world.

  1. Wearables

It's a term that is thrown around liberally when talking about the future of the tech market. The definition is pretty cut and dry on the surface - technology that can be worn. However it's not always agreed upon as to what this encompasses.

Currently, wearables mostly involve two categories: fitness trackers and smartwatches. Both have been around for quite some time, but have only recently achieved price points considered reasonable by any middle-class consumer. For clarity, it can be easier to define what wearables aren't than what they are. They do not include audio devices such as headphones, whether they be traditional over-ear pieces or water-proof bluetooth earbuds. People tend to differentiate between wearables and virtual reality, although you do technically "wear" a VR headset. Ultimately the nuances are up to the individual, as the human element is responsible for assigning terms any meaning at all.

Fitness Trackers


Fitness trackers come in a variety of forms, shapes, and sizes, the most common being devices such as Fitbit. They're usually bands meant to be worn on the wrist or arm, and are chalked full of sensors and a low-power bluetooth transmitter. Garmin makes a version with an excellent GPS unit, and others have started to follow suite to enable accurate distance tracking. As with all mobile devices, battery life is a constant struggle. There are tracker options that boast a week of battery life on a single charge, but the prices start to rise up into the regime of the unreasonable.

While wristband fitness trackers usually target the more casual athlete, smart clothing aims to be taken more seriously. Lumo Bodytech recently released their product Lumo Run, a clip-on sensor for the statistics-driven runner. It measures a runner's steps per minute, change in forward velocity, vertical oscillation, and pelvis rotation. Athos has created a line of compression shirts and shorts all containing multiple micro surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors. This collection of sensors work together to tell which muscle groups are currently working the hardest, and then transmits the information via bluetooth low energy to your synced smartphone.

Smartwatches

Smartwatches as we know them started back in 2009 with a release by Samsung. This was the first occurrence of bluetooth in a watch, and paved the way for more sophisticated technology. Microsoft had initially tried smartwatches back in 2004 with SPOT, but made the misguided decision to use FM broadcasting as the wireless solution. The result was pretty poor, although Microsoft continued to support SPOT until 2012.

Smartwatches have since evolved into well-designed devices with elegant design choices. Forbes and a few others named 2014 as "the year of wearable technology", headed primarily by smartwatches. In 2015, these devices accounted for over half of all wearable devices shipped for sale. But for all of the excitement and market share, smartwatches still suffer from one key issue: usefulness. While receiving texts on a smaller screen attached to one's wrist has specific functional use cases, the practical truth tends to render smartwatches rather obsolete. For most people, the act of pulling a phone out of their pocket isn't really too cumbersome. Combined with the fact that a smart watch is just another device you can forget to charge at night, they haven't caught on as well as manufacturer's initially dared to dream.

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