Wearable technology, fashionable technology, wearable devices, tech togs, or fashion electronics
are clothing and accessories incorporating computer and advanced electronic technologies.
The designs often incorporate practical functions and features, but may also have a purely critical
or aesthetic agenda.
History Wearable technology is related to both the
field of ubiquitous computing and the history and development of wearable computers.
With ubiquitous computing, wearable technology share the vision of interweaving technology
into the everyday life, of making technology pervasive and interaction friction less.
Through the history and development of wearable computing, this vision has been both contrasted
and affirmed.
Affirmed through the multiple projects directed at either enhancing or extending functionality
of clothing, and as contrast, most notably through Steve Mann's concept of surveillance.
The history of wearable technology is influenced by both of these responses to the vision of
ubiquitous computing.
The calculator watch, introduced in the 1980s, was one original piece of widespread worn
electronics.
Ilya Fridman designed a Bluetooth headset into a pair of earrings with a hidden microphone.
The Spy TIE includes a color video camera and USB Heating Gloves keep hands warm when
plugged in.
Twitter users can wear a "Pocket Tweet" using a Java application and cutting out and applying
a Twitter text bubble to a person's shirt, one example of Do-it-yourself wearable tech
that was part of an art exhibit for the Wearable Technology AIR project in spring 2009.
ZED-phones stitch headphones into beanies and headbands allowing riders, snowboarders,
Drivers and Runners to stay connected, hands-free, always.
Wearable technology has applications in monitoring and realtime feedback for athletes as well.
The decreasing cost of processing power and other components is encouraging widespread
adoption and availability.
Transitioning to night life and entertainment industries electroluminescent shirts have
appeared in concerts such as Electric Daisy Carnival and Lollapalooza.
Michael Graziano Clothing has worked with such artists as Deadmau5, Coldplay and Andy
Moor they are appearing in the tourism industry.
According to ABI Research due to the relative ease of compatibility with smartphones and
other electronic devices, the wearable technologies market will spike to 485 million annual device
shipments by 2018.
Prototypes Sony Ericsson teamed up with the London College
of Fashion for a contest to design digital clothing, and the winner was a cocktail dress
with Bluetooth technology making it light up when a call is received.
Zach "Hoeken Smith" of MakerBot fame made keyboard pants during a "Fashion Hacking"
workshop at a New York City creative collective.
Graduate students from the Tisch School of Arts in New York designed a hoodie that sends
pre-programmed text messages triggered by gesture movements.
Prototypes for digital eyewear with heads up display are being developed.
The US military employs headgear with displays for soldiers using a technology called holographic
optics.
Festivals and shows Amsterdam's 5 Days Off festival included a
free show called "Wearable Technology: Powered Art and Fashion."
In 2014, the Fashion Law Institute held a panel discussion, which focused on patents,
about wearable technology.
FashioNXT 2014 Oct 8-11 in Portland Oregon will hold a Wearable Technology Fashion Competition.
http:www.fashionxt.net Modern Technologies
On April 16, 2013, Mountain View corporation Google allowed for those that pre-ordered
its wearable glasses at the 2012 Google I/O conference to pick up the device.
This day marked the official launch of Google Glass, a device that brings rich text and
notifications as well as other information straight to your eyes.
The device also has a 5 MP camera and records 720p.
Its various functions are activated via voice command.
The company also launched the Google Glass companion app, MyGlass, the day before the
official launch on April 15.
The New York Times's Google Glass App is the first third-party Glass App and it reads articles
and news's summaries.It is also the first media app for Google Glass.
The next wave of wearable devices expected to hit the market will be smartwatches.
ABI Research forecasts 1.2 million smart watches will be shipped in 2013 due to high penetration
of smartphones in many world markets, the wide availability and low cost of MEMS sensors,
energy efficient connectivity technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0, and a flourishing app
ecosystem.
On March 19, 2014, Motorola unveiled Moto 360 smart watch powered by Android Wear, a
modified version of Android designed specifically for smart watches and other wearables.
In 2014, Cuff unveiled a collection of safety-focused, fashion-forward, wearable technology.
The CuffLinc products contain a tiny wireless device, which allows users to send a signal
to their contacts by hitting a button, hidden within the accessory.
The device syncs to the user's smartphone.
At CES 2014, wearable technology was a popular topic, and the event was coined the "The Wearables,
Appliances, Cars, and Bendable TVs Show” by many industry influencers.
Several wearable products that were showcased include Smart watches, SmartBands, Smart Jewelry,
glasses, and earbuds.
Valencell PerformTek technology powered many of the new products unveiled at the show,
including the iriverON earbuds, which provide users with the most accurate and comprehensive
health and fitness metrics through the ear.
The iriverON requires no bracelet to wear or dongle to clip on; users just monitor their
heart rate, distance, cadence, speed, and calories burned while listening to music.
See also E-textiles
Wearable computer Activity tracker
Smartwatch Smartglasses
GPS watch Mixed reality
Computer-mediated reality Clothing technology
Smart Shirt References
External links Online Magazine - Latest News In Wearable
Technology Wearable Devices Site
Do It Yourself Wearable Technology Wear your heart on your sleeve article from
physics.org The Future of Wearable Technology Video produced
by Off Book