Wearable technology has gradually become the next big thing, with Google Glass and smartwatches leading the way for the rest. Having your life in the palm of your hand isn’t enough anymore; consumers want the information from their smartphone to be attached to their body, making it all the more accessible and leaving your hands free to get on with your day.
We’ve picked the best in wearable tech that is currently in the works or available to buy, all with the aim of making your life easier.
Google Glass
Google’s most anticipated innovation in recent years, Google Glass, is a camera, video recorder, display, touchpad and microphone, built into spectacle frames. The specs can do a whole array of things, from video conferencing with friends to translating other languages. Sounds are produced through bone conduction transfer, which vibrates your skull to transmit sounds to your ears. Google Glass come in five colours, Charcoal, Tangerine, Shale, Cotton and Sky and the developer version is currently retailing at around £985.
Ion Glasses
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Touted at the stylish alternative to Google Glass, they have a more fashionable design with less features. Ion glasses connect with your mobile device and you can use controls on the inside of the frame to use your smartphone or tablet.
Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch
The hotly anticipated Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1, is able to give you notifications from your phone using Bluetooth. You can receive and reply to text messages and take calls using the device.
Lumoback
The Lumoback is a handy piece of wearable technology, that helps to improve your posture, which is especially helpful for those of us who spend most of our days hunched over our desks, staring at computer screens. The device wraps around your waist and vibrates when it senses that you are slouching. It can also count how many steps you take during the day and how far you travelled, which is great for people keeping tabs on their fitness levels. You can track this information using an app, which gives you LUMO, you’re very own avatar which can let you visualise your body posture in real-time.
Weartrons’ Run-N-Read
This device aims to allow you to run whilst running on a treadmill, tracing your head movements then, using Bluetooth, adjusting the text on the screen of your tablet accordingly. It also flips pages on your tablet’s display by simply tapping the Run-n-Read device. The device has 20 hours of active use time and can count the number of steps taken and calories burned, acting as a fitness tracker too.
LinkMe
The LinkMe band is an LED smart bracelet that connects with your smartphone using Bluetooth. It gives you social media updates with text scrolling across the band. The band is ideal for people in bars and clubs who don’t want to take their phone out of their pocket or bag all the time.
Embrace+
The Embrace+ is a wrist band that alerts you to notifications on your smartphone. You can set colours to match specific alerts, such as red for Facebook messages, blue for low battery reminders and green for phonecalls. The app that for Android and iPhone that links to your device can be downloaded for free, and allows you to customise the way information is displayed and alerts are sent according to your own personal preference.
Pebble Smartwatch
The Pebble is Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch competition, with a cheaper price tag of only $150. The Pebble can show texts and important notifications from your phone and can link with a whole range of apps. It features a vibrating alarm, meaning you won’t disturb your partner with your earlier wake up time and it comes with hundreds of customisable faces to give your watch character. With 5-7 days of battery life, a backlight, changeable straps and the fact that it’s waterproof, the Pebble is the whole package.
NuMetrex Smart Fabric
NuMetrex features special sensing fibres within the fabric that can sense your pulse and transmit the data to a compatible device such as an exercise machine. Textile electrodes are knitted into the fabric, however it claims that they can’t be felt and the clothing is comfortable.
Nike FuelBand
The FuelBand is the perfect technical accessory for fitness fanatics. The wrist band can track steps taken and calories burned and you can link it with other Nike+ products.
