Wearable technology: passing fad or revolution?
What is ‘wearable technology’ and does anyone actually wear it?
‘Wearable tech’ is computer and electronic technologies that have been customised to use with clothing and other personal accessories. The success of the Casio calculator watch in the 1980s is perhaps the first instance of wearable tech going mainstream. But will the new generation of wearable technologies catch on?
Google Glass
Google Glass is the most famous piece of wearable tech on the market at the moment. Google Glass wearers can use the internet using voice commands. It’s like having a smartphone screen a couple of inches from your eyes – you’ll never have to hunch over an iPhone or Blackberry ever again.
Google Glass officially went on sale in the UK in June this year. Google has so far refused to release sales figures for Google Glass, but most estimates put the number in the hundreds of thousands. This relatively low figure could have something to do with the cost of a Google Glass headset (approximately £1,000) or have they just not struck a chord with a tech-weary public?
Glassholes
There’s been a backlash against the early adopters of Google Glass with some even labelling its users as ‘glassholes’. But if Google Glass has not really taken off yet, why such negative reactions already?
There are genuine privacy concerns about Google Glass due to the fact that wearers can potentially take videos in public without others knowing. Secondly, they don’t look very stylish. A Google Glass set is about as discreet as the earliest mobile phones from the 1980s.
Here to stay?
The amount of money and new marketing that giant corporations like Google, Apple and Nike continue to invest in wearable tech suggests we’re only at the start of the revolution. The more people use Google Glass, the more likely non-wearers will get used to them and not feel so threatened.
No doubt Google Glass wearers will begin to formulate an informal etiquette on what is, and isn’t, acceptable behaviour. Coupled with some aesthetic changes to the Google Glass design, there is the potential for wearable tech to go mainstream – just as it did for the Casio calculator watch back in the 1980s.
Quite simply, wearable tech isn’t going away. It’s here to stay.