Consider a scenario in which you get up in the morning, check your smartwatch, and get a thorough analysis of your vitals, heart rate, stress level, and sleep quality before you take a sip of your caffeine.
Throughout the day, your wearable technology tells you to move, tracks your daily workout, gives you a stand-up reminder, and even reminds you to stay hydrated. Above all, these devices monitor your data in real time.
These wearable technologies are no longer just to track your calorie count or your steps. They are changing the way we look at and cope with our health. Moreover, it gives us personalized insights so that we can train cooler and sleep better.
Whether you are an athlete who just wants to track performance or someone who wants to monitor overall health, these wearable gadgets are a game changer for you.
In this guide, we will talk about wearable technology and how it is helping people achieve their health and fitness goals.
What Is Wearable Technology?
Wearable technology includes the smart devices that you wear to track multiple activities through sensors. Some good examples are fitness trackers, smart glasses, smartwatches, and virtual reality headsets. These gadgets help you monitor your health, improve workout performance, and stay connected with other people.
These devices are in high demand because they are making lives easier than ever. For instance, fitness trackers count your steps, monitor your heart rate, give stand-up alerts, and also remind you to stay active throughout the day.
And for that, it is important to have a dependable internet connection to stay connected with your wearable device and get real-time health data. Therefore, it is advisable to search the best internet near you so your wearable devices can operate best.
Additionally, smartwatches let people receive messages, make calls, and use apps without using their phones.
Common Types of Wearable Health and Fitness Devices
-
Smart Glasses
Smart glasses are wearable devices that look exactly like regular glasses but are packed with sensors to track health and fitness. They are great for people who do not like wearing watches or jewelry. Let’s give you an example of Google Glass.
Google Glass has multiple health functions and works as a fitness tracker. This wearable can also do other multiple things like taking pictures, helping with navigation, video calling, and much more.
-
Smart Clothing
Well, smart clothing wearable devices or you can say smart fabrics have sensors to gather your health and fitness-related data. Mentioned in article by Techtarget, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has used socks and shoes embedded with sensors to detect the pressure when you are walking.
-
Smartwatches
Smartwatches are the most popular wearable devices in this technological-driven world. They track fitness, monitor your health, send notifications, and you can even make a call.
Other than that, some smartwatches can check your oxygen levels, menstrual cycle, sleep patterns, and ECG.
Apple Watch can monitor heart rate and heart rhythm. Fitbit is also a popular fitness-tracker smartwatch that tracks your steps, physical activities, and health statistics.
-
Clip-On Devices
Clip-on devices are small gadgets that you can attach to your clothes or even with other devices. These types of devices are appropriate for people who don’t like to wear watches or attach devices to their bodies but still want to track their fitness.
For example, KardiaMobile is basically an ECG that you can attach to the back side of your mobile phone to track your heart activity through finger and chest sensors.
-
Smart Jewelry
These types of wearables include bracelets, smart rings, and necklaces that monitor sleep patterns, fitness routines, and stress levels. And the best part is that they look like regular jewelry but have sensors inside.
For example, Motiv smart ring is made for the user’s fingers to track their physical activities. It tracks stress levels, sleep patterns, and heart rate. Furthermore, you can save your data on Apple Health or Google Fit.
How Wearable Devices Improve Your Health and Fitness
In an article by UCLA, it is mentioned that wearable devices make your health better in many ways including:
-
Tracking Heart Health
Smartwatches and fitness trackers monitor heart rate, detect irregular rhythms, and even warn you regarding heart issues. This is useful for people with heart conditions or those who just want to monitor their heart health.
For example, Apple Watch has a feature where you can track heart rate and rhythms and get alerts if something seems irregular.
-
Getting You Going
Wearable devices support people in staying active by tracking steps, workouts, and movement. They remind them when someone has been sitting for too long by giving them a stand-up reminder and pushing them to reach their daily goals.
This is one of the features that can be utilized in the Apple Watch.
-
Detecting Falls
Many wearable devices have accelerometers and gyroscopes that detect unusual movements, such as falls. Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch Active2 have fall-detection features.
-
Helping with Weight Management
These wearables help you maintain weight by actively monitoring your activities like steps, workouts, calories burned, and heart rate. Users can log their daily caloric intake into these devices to be aware of what they are eating.
And the best part about these devices is that they give you real-time feedback to keep your motivation up throughout the day.
-
Improve Sleep Habits
Wearable devices and sleep trackers have a sleep-monitoring technology that gives a detailed analysis of your sleep patterns by tracking your heart rate, movement, and breathing.
Some wearables recommend bedtime routines and also wake you up at the best time for a fresh and good start.
-
Monitoring Chronic Conditions
People having conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes can use wearables to monitor their health.
As an example, Dexcom G6 is a blood sugar monitor that is very helpful for diabetic patients. It keeps an eye on sugar levels and sends alerts in case of irregularities.
Benefits of Wearable Technology
-
Interactivity
Wearable devices do not just collect data. They let users interact with them in real time. Smartwatches send messages, fitness bands give reminders, and some even respond to user’s voices. This makes wearables more than just trackers. They help users stay connected and active by acting as a personal health and fitness coach.
-
Durability
These devices are designed to be durable so that they last longer. They don’t break easily and can handle dust and sweat. Apart from that, you can keep on wearing them during showers or swimming as they are water-proof.
Most of them have power-saving features, so you don’t have to worry about them getting charged daily. This makes them more reliable and eco-friendlier.
-
Easy to Use
Most wearable devices are easy to use, even for people who are not very tech-savvy. They have simple buttons, touchscreens, and voice controls, so users don’t need to understand complicated instructions.
Many devices also connect automatically to apps on mobile phones, making it easy to check data without any extra steps.
Challenges of Wearable Technology
-
Privacy Concerns
These wearable gadgets require variety of personal data including health records, sleep patterns, and even location. This data needs to stay confidential to protect users. But it can be stolen by hackers or even shared by companies.
People who use wearable health technology are worried about how their data is used and what future consequences it can hold. For instance, how would these users protect themselves from problems like getting their sensitive health information public?
-
Accuracy of Health Data
Wearable devices help track health, but they are not always 100% accurate. Sometimes, they might show faulty heart rate or sleep tracking. If consumers depend too much on this data, they might get a false alarm or even neglect a real health problem.
-
Dependence on internet
Most wearable devices need the internet to operate properly. They may not update data or send important health alerts in the absence of a good internet connection. This can be difficult in areas with weak signals or when traveling.
-
Management Troubles
The wide adoption of wearable health and fitness devices has made it harder for health professionals to manage patients. The real-time data connected between the patient and professionals means that it needs to be reviewed manually outside of working hours as well.
Things to Keep in Mind
People are increasingly adopting wearable technology as an important part of their health and fitness routines. These gadgets can monitor daily movement, heart rate, and sleep patterns, offering valuable health information to their users. Smart watches, smart jewelry, and clip-on devices are just a few examples of different types of wearables that people can choose from.
It also allows very efficient communication between patients and their doctors. These sensors wearables can capture vital information about a person’s health and transmit it to doctors when required.
While many challenges have been solved by wearables, there still are some issues. Privacy concerns, high prices, and misinformation are some of the problems that require immediate attention.
But as technology progresses, these devices will have far more complex features at lower prices and will take less time to learn how to use them. It is no exaggeration to say that wearables are a revolution in digital health.
References
7 ways wearable technology can help you reach your health goals | UCLA Health
The Impact of Wearable Technologies in Health Research: Scoping Review – PMC
Wearable Health Devices in Health Care: Narrative Systematic Review – PMC
15 Examples of Wearable Technology in Healthcare and Wearable Medical Devices | Built In
Wearable Technology in Healthcare: Advantages and Disadvantages | The Healthcare Guys
The Latest Trends in Wearable Technology for Healthcare | HealthTech Magazine
Popular types of wearable technology in healthcare | TechTarget
Wearable Technology: Definition, How It Works, Applications, And Examples – SuperMoney