Tag: wearables

These gadgets were designed to help to better understand the eating habits of these mysterious creatures.

A new cool wearable technology study is now underway through researchers from James Cook University (JCU) who will be using the devices to help to better understand the eating habits of sharks.

The scuba diving scientists will be adding special wearables to the tails of the underwater predators.

The researchers scuba dived north east of Cairns on Osprey Reef, where there were special cages filled with tuna heads that were designed to lure the sharks into the area. Those sharks were then lassoed around their tails and fitted with special cool wearable technology. The devices included microcomputers that are comparable to the fitness trackers that have become exceptionally commonplace among consumers.

This cool wearable technology keeps track of the sharks in a similar way to how fitness bands track humans.

One of the lead researchers in the study, Richard Fitzpatrick, explained that these new wearables make it possible to avoid the old technique of having to wrangle sharks back to the boats in order to have to implant other forms of trackers. He said that “With these [microcomputers] we’re able to put them on the shark underwater and then let them go again.”

Fitzpatrick pointed out that “We’re trying to minimize stress to the sharks, do it as quickly as possible so then they return back to normal behavior as quickly as possible and we get better data.” He was also among the researchers who were able to head back to the site and collect the wearables two weeks after they were initially placed on the sharks.

Though it was somewhat challenging to be able to catch the same sharks that had the cool wearable technology, instead of being able to catch any shark and fit it with a device, they were able to successfully do so and gather the data collected by the wearables. This provided the research with significant information about the impact of tourism operators who were feeding the sharks and the way this altered the natural energy consumption of those ocean creatures.

A new report predicts that the rate of wearables in U.S. classrooms will notably increase in the coming years.

According to a report from Research and Markets, the classroom wearables technology market will accelerate at an impressive rate over the next four years, growing at a CAGR of 45.52% between 2016 and 2020. Reportedly, this growth trend is mostly due to the development of wearable devices designed to sync with smartphones.

More companies in the telecommunications, mobile and apps industries are seeking to expand into the wearables market.

The 63-page report features big-name companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft, who are associated with the education sector and who manufacture wearable devices. It also mentions other leaders in the wearable tech market, including Fitbit, Samsung and Nike.

According to the report summary, “various technology companies are investing heavily in R&D to remain competitive. This is resulting in the incorporation of innovative functionalities, such as gesture recognition and augmented reality, in classroom wearable technology devices. Devices such as Fin, Ring, Kapture, and Myo are some of the products equipped with such modern features.”

It notes that Fin is a smart wearable device designed to be worn on the thumb and functions based on finger gestures.

Improved student engagement is one of the key growth drivers of classroom wearables technology.

Improved digitalization in education, school and institutions has lead to the adoption of digital gadgets and tools like e-learning modules and tablets to better student engagement. Wearable technology has taken this improvement further and has enhanced engagement in ways that were once not considered possible.

For instance, Google Glass gives students the power to harness augmented reality. They can create first-person videos and take part in unique point-of-view experiences. Meanwhile, virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift, introduces students into an entirely different immersive 3D learning experience. Such devices can assist students in learning languages among other useful subjects.

That being said, the report does note that one of the major challenges that the wearable tech market faces and will continue to face is the lack of security and data privacy. Still, even with these concerns, the classroom wearable technology market will only continue to evolve with the development and release of new tech.