Despite the fact that experts predicted wearable tech would have experienced much greater growth by now, adoption is still occurring at a steady rate. Certain products, like fitness trackers and smart watches, have gained more traction with consumers than others. Regardless, all trends indicate that wearables are here to stay. What will we see from this arena in the not-so-distant future? Let’s take a look.
Greater Accuracy
We live in a highly numbers-based society. We use numbers to measure the progress of our children’s education as well as how physically fit we are. As such, the guesswork and approximations many wearable gadgets of today offer will no longer be acceptable tomorrow. Consumers in the future will demand more accurate data from their wearable devices, and technologists, programmers and developers are already working hard to meet those demands.
More Personalization
What we wear on our bodies is a very personal thing, and that includes the devices we choose to use. Many forward-thinking tech companies are beginning to take this into account when designing and developing wearables, with the goal of making future devices so much a part of our lives and who we are personally that we want to wear them all the time. As such, tomorrow’s devices will be just as much a fashion statement as they are technical gadgets.
Intuitive
Machine learning technology involves software that has the ability to learn and evolve based on external circumstances. In other words, it’s technology that’s intuitive and intelligent enough to grow through experience. We’re already seeing this in things like activity trackers that can learn additional skills and activities based on the wearer’s actions. Wearables of the future will be even more sophisticated and sentient.
Permission Based
Many marketers view wearable devices as the perfect vehicle to push advertisements to consumers, but savvy users will expect privacy and control over what content they want to see, as well as when and how that content is delivered. To accommodate this, developers will build enhanced, customizable permission and privacy settings into wearables.
Connected
These days, smart technology is all around us, from our appliances to our vehicles and everything in between. It’s a natural progression for wearable tech to integrate with these connected devices, creating a seamless living environment. Imagine your wearable device sensing your body temperature and automatically adjusting your home thermostat to turn up the heat or turn down the A/C. This scenario isn’t far-fetched. In fact, it’s much closer to becoming a reality than you may think.
Energy Efficient
Society as a whole is working diligently to reduce the amount of energy consumption we are responsible for, and smart developers are doing their part as well, producing wearable devices that can be powered by alternative forms of energy. Some ideas include solar cells and even body heat. There is still quite a ways to go on this front, but progress is being made as you read these words.
While there’s no way to predict with complete accuracy what the future holds for wearable tech, it is logical to assume, based on recent trends and the rapid advancements of technology, that the devices we wear tomorrow have the potential to truly change our lives.