Tracing the History of Wearable Technology
Samantha Rena
When we think about wearable technology, the first thing that comes to mind is some sort of magical device of the future. We often think about wireless gadgets with a bunch of complicated tech stuff that we can wear to be useful to our everyday lives. Which is exactly what it is, it’s like an accessory that’s designed to assist you in any means, etc. In Fact there are many different ways in which we interpret wearable devices into our everyday lives. Whether that may be to track your overall health and wellness, get directions to point a to point b, stream and listen to music anywhere, etc. The very essence of wearable tech is exciting to us nonetheless.
While wearable technology are becoming more and more common in recent times over the past couple years with gadgets such as Apple’s smart watches, fitbits, air pods and other wireless headphone devices, virtual reality headsets, Improved healthcare wearable devices, etc. Wearable technology has actually been around for a very long time. The very first account of wearable devices can be traced back to the 13th century with the first pair of eyeglasses invented by an Italian named Salvino D’Armati. While the device itself didn’t have any cool fancy wireless tech within it, because it didn’t exist at the time, this wearable device helped people with poor eyesight see better. Which paved a way for many inventors to create new and improved wearable tech in the centuries to come.
Fast forward to a couple centuries later, another incredible breakthrough with wearable technology was founded in the 16th century with the first portable watch. Invented by a German named Peter Henlein, with these portable watches, people were able to tell the time on the go. Most often worn around their necks, the portable clocks later turned into pocket watches. Thus which then later developed into the first creations of wrist watches. It Became more frequently worn by European women in the early 20th century until WW1 soldiers picked up on the wearable tech device to use during battle.
.Moving Forward into the 1960s , 1961 to be exact , mathematicians Edward Thorp and Claude Shannon came up with the idea to invent the first ever wearable computer in an effort to help increase their chances of winning a game of roulette. The device would time and predict where the ball would land. Thanks to this device , it paved a way for its descendant devices like the Apple watch and the fitbit to be invented later down the line.
Shifting into the 1980s-1990s eras , two revolutionary wearable devices were made , the first one , invented by Sony Inc. came out with the The Walkman. The walkman was a portable cassette player where the user would plug headphones into it and listen to music on the go. It was one of the main pioneers for the later creations of Ipods, mp3 players, etc. Making its debut in 1979, the walkman sold over 200 millions walkmans all across the United States and became very popular throughout the 1980s era. The second biggest revolutionary wearable tech device that was invented in the 1980s-1990s era was the digital hearing aids for the healthcare field. This device helped the medical field a lot by helping deaf people hear better.
Today, we have the Apple watch. Which was first introduced to the public in April 2015. The First initial use of the apple watch back in 2015 was to primarily assist with fitness and health, along with answering calls and text on your wrist. A year later in 2016 , the Apple Watch Series 2 made its debut. Bringing in room for improvements from the first series , the 2nd series included GPS along with the new tech improvements. Later down the road the 3rd series came out in 2017 with more health improvement gadgets. Along with the 4th series in 2018 with the emergency SOS and fall detection ( for when you fall down ). The 5th series in 2019 with its famous international emergency calling feature. and the final 6th series in 2020. The 6th series apple watch is the most up to date watch with the incredible type of technology to monitor your personal health such as your heart rate, monitor your blood oxygen level thanks to the four photodiodes and four LED clusters, etc.
The creation of wearable technology has affected our lives in a positive way and has helped shaped our future for the better. Wearable technology is so frequently used amongst our society that “ 1 in 5 Americans have some sort of wearable tech device. “ according to eLearners. I wonder whats next for these wearable tech devices ?
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