Estate Living Magazine Connection - Issue 43 July 2019 | Page 58

L I V E
S M A R T
WEARABLES
When you read the word ‘wearables’, it conjures up images of wrists with Apple watches or Fitbits,
especially for those of us who deal with certain health insurance companies. But wearables are much
more than monitoring your heart rate, steps and sleep. The concept is leaping forward, and soon we will
be able to connect to our bodies in the same way as we connect to our homes and cities.
Wearables are used in ways we could barely think of a few years ago,
and they are evolving rapidly to create a deeply connected ecosystem
that will define our lives in the future.
History of wearable technology
Most people place the start of wearable technology at about 1286 with
eyeglasses. It was only in the 16th century that the earliest portable and
wearable clocks, Nuremberg eggs, were invented. They were designed
to be worn around the neck, and became a popular status symbol in
Europe. Another early example of wearable technology came in the
form of an abacus ring, during the 17th century in China. For those of
us combating the hot summer months, we can take inspiration from the
Victorians who created an air-conditioned top hat.
Different types of wearables
Wearables can be defined by the intention of the action. Outside of the
watches we know, unpacked below are current uses of wearables.
INRANGE (inrangegolf.com) is a tracking tool for improving your golf
game, technologically upping the golf driving ranges so that golfers
can track their shots and improve their on-course play. Inrange is
exciting because it democratises the tech that the leading golfers use.
At the moment it is only at two ranges, but it is expanding.
The first wearable computer was created by mathematics professor
Edward Thorp in the 1960s. In his book Beat the Dealer, Thorp revealed
that he built a computer small enough to fit into a shoe in order to cheat
at roulette. A timing device helped predict where the ball would land on
a roulette table, giving the user a 44% edge in the game.
The first calculator wristwatch was released to the public in 1975, and
the Sony Walkman arrived four years later. And now we have solar-
powered jackets, and cyborg artists who dance to the beat of a sensor
that emits a low frequency buzz whenever an earthquake occurs, and
can see colours through audible vibrations (cyborgarts.com)
FASHIONTECH is leading the way with the future of wearables.
Adding sensors to fabrics like Smart Fabric Inks (fabinks.com) and
e-textiles Network (e-textiles-network.com) is linking to the monitoring
of the body in a more integrated way than watches could.