Tag: wearables

Wearables are creating a new world of feedback and instruction that could guide users to better health.

When it comes to the latest in consumer tech, smarthphones have become exceptionally commonplace, but it is wearable technology that is currently making some big waves in revolutionizing the industry.

These little devices are especially impactful in the areas of health and fitness, for a personalized experience.

At the moment, the most common forms of wearable technology for fitness and health have to do with providing wearers with a kind of monitor so that they can track their steps, calories burned, blood pressure, heart rate, sleep quality, and a number of other factors. However, there are wearables that will soon be on their way to market shelves that will also be offering their users personalized health and fitness tips, to take the feedback that they receive a step further and to give them some direction based on their current progress.

The current form of wearable technology for fitness and health is only a jumping off point for what is coming.

According to the University of Phoenix executive dean at the college of information systems and technology, Dennis Bonilla, who was also once the vice president at Oracle, a smartwatch and fitness band may seem to be impressive with its helpful features, at the moment, but they are nothing compared to the tech that is on its way to the wearables industry.

Bonilla explained that “The wearable technologies we’re seeing on the market now are early, clunky versions of what’s coming soon.” He also added that “In the future, your smartwatch will instantly access your medical records, diet and training logs, then sync them with sensors in the supermarket and mll to provide real-time shopping and health advice.”

He discussed what we could expect from wearables such as smart shoes and smart clothing that could tell us how to walk and run with correct form to keep backs and knees from injury, when to hydrate, and will remind us to straighten up our posture. Smart bandages will even be able to warn diabetics about low blood sugar.

The wearable technology future is speeding toward the industry at an exceptionally rapid rate with an increasing number of the next gen of gadgets already starting to be unveiled and even become available for purchase.

The tech also has capabilities for supporting limbs and easing other types of medical struggle.

A new form of clinical wearable technology in the form of a garment called PlaySkin Lift brings together Spanx technology and a trunk brace in order to provide children with physical disabilities with a comfortable, lightweight garment that will assist them in areas where they struggle.

This smart clothing was designed by researchers from the University of Delaware and is making a difference.

That said, PlaySkin Lift is only one of a growing movement in medical wearable technology. This category is seeing many new entrants that have prototypes and products that are starting to have a positive impact on several different types of condition. For example, within the same building as the mobility lab at the University of Delaware’s STAR campus, there is another group of researchers that are currently placing the polishing touches on a type of vibrating shoe. These wearables are meant to assist people with Parkinson’s disease in being able to walk faster while being better capable of keeping their balance.

At the moment, the largest category of medical wearable technology is in fitness trackers, but that is changing.

Although consumer focused devices are meant to track steps, resting heart rates, sleep, calorie burning, and other common fitness related metrics, experts are now saying that there will one day be wearables that will be able to measure every component of a person’s physiology, which could be very helpful in improving health over the long term.

At the moment, there are already devices that are in the research and development phase that are meant to assist everyone from Alzheimer’s disease sufferers to individuals who are suffering from chronic pain. In the former category, there is a gadget in the works that is meant to stimulate individuals with that form of dementia. In the later, there is a leg belt that delivers an electrical current that is meant to relieve painful discomfort. There is even a personal light tracker that is being created to assist individuals with severe depression. There have already been many reports of contact lenses for individuals with diabetes, so that they can continually track and record their blood glucose levels.

These examples, alone, represent only a tiny fraction of what is currently in the works in clinical wearable technology, but they show that this is a significant category in which device are going to continue to be released over the long term.