In the 1930s, Dick Tracy, the comic book hero, illustrated communication via a two-way radio worn on his wrist.
In the 1960s, the iconic animated show The Jetsons featured other futuristic forms of wearable technologies.
Today, modern electronics can be worn on the body, either as an accessory or as part of the materials used in clothing.
The defining feature of modern wearable technology is its ability to connect to the internet, which enables the exchange of various forms of data between the network and the device.
Applications for wearable technologies stretch far and wide, but the most popular ones remain step counters and smartwatches.
However, the following emerging companies are introducing new and revolutionary ideas to the wearable sector.
Monitoring Stress Levels
There’s a general move toward people becoming more interested in their own well-being than ever before.
More people feel empowered to take the steps needed to change their lifestyles and make self-improvements — whether through joining a gym or trying mindful meditation with the help of an app.
Stress tracking could very well be the future of not just personal well-being but also of wearable technology.
Currently, this popular form of smart technology is well on its way to being able to collect more sophisticated varieties of data, as opposed to the typical step counters. This collectible data includes reading glucose levels without breaking the skin, monitoring the surrounding air pollution, and measuring body composition, just to name a few.
One trend that has recently gained traction in the wearable tech market is the idea of monitoring mental well-being, whether that be levels of focus, levels of stress, or even current moods.
Medical professionals have long emphasized the long-term effects that stress and anxiety have on our physical health.
It’s no surprise that tech companies that are painting the overall picture of our health have started to use biometric feedback to improve our emotional well-beings just as much as our physical fitness.
But as one of the first devices in the well-being tech sphere, Spire is currently the world’s only breath and activity tracker that’s proven to decrease stress.
TechRadar spoke with Neema Moraveji, director of Stanford University’s Calming Technology Lab and the cofounder of Spire, to have him answer some questions concerning this trend in wearable technology:
Spire comes out of research we conducted specifically on using respiratory monitoring paired with digital devices to understand and manage stress. It leverages decades of research from labs around the world on understanding what respiratory patterns reveal about cognitive/emotional state (for example: respiration patterns can differentiate stress from focus) and how to use respiration for self-regulation.
Essentially, Spire uses a number of sensors and algorithms to identify and quantify how you’re breathing.
From there, it determines whether your breathing is parasympathetic (calm) or sympathetic (stressed).
But not all stress is created equal.
Currently, Spire is used to collect data on how the breathing of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients changes during treatment. Nonprofit organizations use it to reduce the stress levels of high school students who are preparing for college entrance examinations and applications. And health practitioners use it to reduce the emotional impact divorce has on children.
As science grows more sophisticated and technologies become more intimate with our thoughts and bodies, a clear trend emerges.
Wearable technologies, like Spire, offer proven data-driven advice on how to reduce stress in many different areas of life.
A Tablet Worn on Your Head?
After a decade and tens of millions of dollars in development, there is now a voice-controlled Android tablet that’s been designed to be worn as headgear on an industrial helmet.
It will be released to the general public this August.
The price will be based on the number of units sold to each company, with bulk orders dropping by $500 to approximately $1,000 per individual unit.
While it may sound like the ultimate advancement in geeky headwear, it most certainly is not.
The HMT-1 is a small discreet screen worn on the helmets of workers in the field, factory, or warehouse without obstructing the users’ vision.
Silicon Valley-based RealWear released the HMT-1 in March of this year to a limited audience of 65 companies.
Some of those include:
- ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)
- HP (NYSE: HPQ)
- General Electric (NYSE: GE)
- Nokia (NYSE: NOK)
- Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DVMT)
- Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT)
A lot has gone into the research and development of the HMT-1, and it seems like all of that hard work has paid off.
Andy Lowery, CEO of RealWear, describes the voice recognition system as the HMT-1’s “special sauce,” because it incorporates two different algorithms and two different microphones in order to optimize the device’s performance.
Mirroring its technological innovations, the consumer base for the HMT-1 is just as impressively vast.
Wal-Mart is using the device for in-store inspections and construction, Dell is using them for its remote data centers, and UPS (NYSE: UPS) is using it for automotive inspections and for aiding workers in truck repairs, according to Lowery.
In addition to that, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), working with Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and The Electronic Power Research Institute (EPRI), recently released a pilot with a new application that the companies built to take photos of power poles.
Lowery also states that the application uses augmented reality (AR) to provide an overlay of the scene for side-by-side comparisons for surveyors to use for repairs after an earthquake or tornado.
Lowery says that the plan is to roll this specific application using the HMT-1 technology out to an additional 12 utility companies:
That’s something I really think is missing in the space. There aren’t a lot of companies with the maturity of product background, unless you look at Google or Apple or Samsung. We kind of have that sweet blend between experience and knowing what a good, mature commercial product looks like.
The problem with introducing a new product to the market is that is can sometimes take five, maybe six, years on average before it’s accepted within the sphere.
Lowery said his company’s product is simply an Android tablet that is voice-driven, rather than the typical handheld form. Hopefully, this will secure a smoother adaptation of the product into the market.
Lowery goes on to say that his company’s product looks somewhat like a Little Caesar’s crown as the system runs around the head like a horseshoe.
It can either be supported by a bunch of comfortable straps, or it can clip onto a hard hat.
The uses seem just as vast and as endless as its consumer base.
It will be interesting to see all of the different uses and applications that companies and individual consumers will use the HMT-1 for once it becomes available to the public in a little over a month.
The Bottom Line
It would seem that current wearables have surpassed the typical smartwatch and step counter devices.
From pocket-sized therapeutic stress relievers to Little Caesar’s crowns with the “secret sauce,” advancements in wearable technologies have come quite a long way.
Tech giants like Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit may have to step aside and pass their crowns to these startup companies who are truly revolutionizing the impact wearable technologies have on our everyday lives.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
John Peterson
Pro Trader Today