The technology industry is a fast paced, ever changing industry. One only needs to look as far as Blackberry—named Fortune Magazine’s “Worlds Fastest Growing Company” in 2009—to see how quickly the titans can fall. Staying on top means being the first to exploit new technology and capitalize on consumer trends. Based on what was showcased at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) quite a few companies have placed their bets on Smartwear.
Smartwear is the name given to a new group of technologies and products which integrate intelligent electronic devices into objects which consumers already carry on them. Currently, most Smartwear comes in the form of watches and wristbands, but Google has taken on a far more daring project with their head-mounted computer Google Glass.
Most Smartwear which is available, or soon to be available, to the public is not very useful itself, but instead acts as a peripheral for a smartphone. This is not an unexpected or disagreeable choice; using your phone as the brain and screen for Smartwear helps keep cost, weight and size down. Considering the ubiquity of smartphones in modern society and their incessantly increasing importance in our lives, this is not a trend which is likely to end.
At last year’s CES, Fitbit—a site dedicated to helping people lead more active lives—displayed the Fitbit Flex, a $100 bracelet which tracked a persons’ workouts, calorie burning and sleep data. This year Sony showed off their Smartband, a bracelet much like the Flex, but boasting the more impressive ability to “Log Your Life.” The Smartband tracks physical activity and sleep patterns just like the Flex but also keeps tabs on how you communicate with others, vibrates when your phone gets a call, and acts as a “Media Control” capable of changing your phone’s volume or which song is playing.
Google Glass goes even further, offering itself not as a sensor for your phone, but as an alternate interface. While your phone is still needed for getting cellular internet and receiving texts or phone calls, Glass’s heads-up-display allows you to tweet, Facebook, check email, take photos and browse the net hands free. But this is probably just a taste of what is to come. As computer electronics continue to get cheaper and Smartwear more mainstream, it is only a matter of time until other articles of clothing and accessories get a “smart” revamp.
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