You don’t have to follow tech trends to have clocked the rise of wearable tech. Whether it’s Apple Watches, Fitbits, Garmins or Jawbones around the wrists of friends, colleagues and fellow commuters, these devices are everywhere. No matter your goal, there’s a snazzy gadget that will help you get there; performance-tracking watches, the more subtly designed “smart rings” and even futuristic “smart glasses”, each offering data points about everything from sleep quality and step count to period prediction and fertility monitoring.
But what’s the catch? On the surface, these devices create a health nirvana in which we can respond to real-time metrics. If a watch is helping us walk more, run faster and sleep better, should we not embrace the world of wearables? But as with every nascent technology and brave new world, there is a darker underbelly to be explored.
The quantified self
In 2022, we are predicted to reach one billion active wearable devices worldwide, and their rise recently released an entire segment focused on wearable tech in healthcare, revealing that wearables now have the capacity to track 7500 “physiological and behavioural” variables, from the likelihood of stroke to diabetes reduction via various lifestyle prompts.
