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13.4: Wearable

  • Page ID
    33726
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    Wearable

    The average smartphone user looks at his or her smartphone 150 times a day for functions such as messaging (23 times), phone calls (22), listening to music (13), and social media (9).[9] Many of these functions would be much better served if the technology was worn on, or even physically integrated into, our bodies. This technology is known as a “wearable.”

    Google Glass. Click to enlarge. (CC-BY: Flickr, user Tedeytan)

    Wearables have been around for a long time, with technologies such as hearing aids and, later, bluetooth earpieces. But now, we are seeing an explosion of new wearable technologies. Perhaps the best known of these is Google Glass, an augmented reality device that you wear over your eyes like a pair of eyeglasses. Visible only to you, Google Glass will project images into your field of vision based on your context and voice commands. You can find out much more about Google Glass at http://www.google.com/glass/start/.

    Another class of wearables are those related to health care. The UP by Jawbone consists of a wristband and an app that tracks how you sleep, move, and eat, then helps you use that information to feel your best. [10] It can be used to track your sleep patterns, moods, eating patterns, and other aspects of daily life, and then report back to you via an app on your smartphone or tablet. As our population ages and technology continues to evolve, there will be a large increase in wearables like this.


    This page titled 13.4: Wearable is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David T. Bourgeois (Saylor Foundation) .

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