Best Wearable Tech And Fitness Gadgets 2017
As technology becomes smaller, smarter and integrated into everything, wearing it has become a social standard. Whether it's smartwatches, fitness trackers or even apparel, the tech you can wear to keep tabs on your fitness levels is more popular than ever. But with so many fitness gadgets on the market, it’s hard to separate the good from the not-so-good. With that, I’ve picked out the best health and fitness gadgets you should consider adorning yourself with to help you stay fit, healthy and as techy as possible.
Prototypes
Back in 2009, 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,[12] and Zach "Hoeken Smith" of MakerBot fame made keyboard pants during a "Fashion Hacking" workshop at a New York City creative collective. The Tyndall National Institute[13] in Ireland, developed a "Remote non-intrusive patient monitoring" platform which was used to evaluate the quality of the data generated by the patient sensors and how the end users may adopt to the technology.[14]
More recently, fashion company CuteCircuit created costumes for singer Katy Perry featuring LED lighting so that the outfits would change color both during stage shows and appearances on the red carpet. In 2012, London-based CuteCircuit created the world's first dress to feature Tweets, as worn by singer Nicole Scherzinger.[15] In 2014, graduate students from the Tisch School of Arts in New York designed a hoodie that sent pre-programmed text messages triggered by gesture movements.[16] Around the same time, prototypes for digital eyewear with heads up display (HUD) began to appear.[17] The US military employs headgear with displays for soldiers using a technology called holographic optics.[17]
In 2010, Google started developing prototypes[18] of its optical head-mounted display Google Glass, which went into customer beta in March 2013.
American company Adafruit Industries manufactures its own wearable electronics development platform, FLORA.[19] They produce a weekly web show dedicated to DIY wearable electronics, hosted by Becky Stern.[20]
Wearable events
Amsterdam's 5 Days Off festival included a free show called "Wearable Technology: Powered Art and Fashion."[21] In 2014, the Fashion Law Institute held a panel discussion, which focused on patents, about wearable technology.[22]
In 2015, a number of other events related to wearable technology are also planned, such as the Enterprise Wearable Technology Showin Houston, the The Wearable Technology Show in London and the Wearable Tech Conference and Exhibition in Moscow. In the UK, Carl Thomas runs a thriving Wearables London networking group which meets monthly.