A recent Harris Poll indicates that only 3% of the US internet population owns a wearable but you wouldn’t know it from the amount of press wearable tech got in 2013.

From Google Glass to Sony’s Smart Wig, this has been quite the year for wearables. And the best news is that this nascent space is just getting started. 2014 has already being dubbed the Year of Wearable Tech.

In true end of year form, I thought I would take some time to look back on the biggest wearable tech stories of the year. Here are the ten most memorable, in chronological order.

Pebble Kickstarts the Wearable Space: 01/23/13

Back in 2012, Pebble raised a whopping $10M+ in funds on Kickstarter to get their smartwatch off the ground. After some major delays, Pebble finally started to ship their smartwatch out to their 77,000 backers in late January of this year.

Although many wearables had existed before it (such as the original Sony Smartwatch) Pebble arguably “kickstarted” the wearable tech wave by confirming that the market was ready for smartwatches and other devices through their overwhelming crowdfunding success.

Source: Mashable

The Rise of the Glasshole: 04/15/13

The term Glasshole first appeared in TechCrunch in January of this year but it wasn’t really until April when when Business Insider officiated the term that it started to really get some legs. This was in around the time when the first Glass devices were starting to get into the hands of the Explorer community.

The term Glasshole has a myriad of meanings. Generally it refers to the exclusivity of Google Glass since Glass is currently invite only. In paticular it refers to the supposed self-importance early adopters express when wearing these exclusive beta devices in public

But beyond its actual definition, the popular use of Glasshole represents Glass’ success in breaking out of the labs and into the mainstream. It also symbolizes our fascination and fear of this cyborg-like device.

Source: Business Insider

Meta Promises To Deliver “Minority Report”: 05/17/13

When two augmented reality and wearable computing pioneers get behind a company that promises to give us powers we have only seen in the movies, you pay attention. This of course is Meta — the Silicon Valley startup that boasts support from Dr. Steve Mann and Professor Steven Feiner.

In May of this year, CNET covered Meta just as they kicked off their crowdfunding project to raise $100,000 for the most advanced pair of augmented reality glasses.

Meta went on to successfully raise nearly double their Kickstarter goal in June of this year before opening up pre-orders on their site for the Meta 0.1 alpha version and later the MetaPro which is their consumer product.

Source: CNET

Intel Bets on Wearables: 09/12/13

Intel invested big time in wearable tech this year.

Intel’s New Device division made recent hires from Nike Fuelband, Apple, and Oakley Airwave. According to Splashdot, “This team is shaping up to be a high-powered mix of engineers and designers that are set in an ideal position to develop a new generation of wearable devices”.

In September, Intel revealed the Quark Chip which is one fifth the size of the Intel Atom chip. One type of Quark Chip has been suggested by Intel as being ready for smartwatches and bracelets, while another has been designed specifically for ingestable devices.

Around this same time, Intel Capital formed the New Devices and Wearables Sector and made a $4M investment in sports smart googles company Recon Instruments. This wasn’t the first wearable investment for Intel. Back in June, Intel invested in Thalmic Labs — the makers of the gesture-control armband MYO.

Source: Slashgear

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Gets Slammed: 10/02/13

In September, Samsung unveiled their first wearable, the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which would be made available in October but only for Note 3 owners (at start).

David Pogue from the New York Times went hands-on with the device and summed up most of the media’s sentiment in his piece “A Watch That Sinks Under Its Features”. He boldly stated:

Nobody will buy this watch, and nobody should. But there’s something here under all the rubble.

Pogue’s review wasn’t the only one out there for the Galaxy Gear, but his influence on the consumer market is greater than most. So, his opinion could make or break a product.

In all fairness, the Gear got a bit better with more device support and updated firmware over the year, but Samsung has not been able to shake off the Gear’s negative first impression.

Source: The New York Times

Fitbit Marks the Death of the Activity Tracker: 10/02/13

At the beginning of this year, Fitbit launched their Nike Fuelband competitor the Fitbit Flex. Like other activity trackers in the market at this time (Nike, Misfit and Jawbone to name a few) the Flex was a wristband that paired with your smarpthone to track your physical activity.

Only months after the launch of the Flex, the Verge broke a story about Fitbit’s newest wearable, Force. The Force blurs the lines between activity tracker and smartwatch as Fitbit added to their popular wristband an OLED display which shows the time as well as giving you access to activity data without having to open up the app. Fitbit also has plans for Force to display call notifications and other smartwatch-type alerts.

Fitbit’s half-step into the smartwatch space was echoed in the Nike Fuelband SE announcement which happened later this month. Both suggest that these companies see the writing is on the wall for single-purpose activity trackers which are now competing with smartwatches that track fitness and so much more.

Source: The Verge

Sony’s Smart Wig Highlights the Ridiculous Side of Wearable Tech: 11/21/13

In November of this year, a Sony patent surfaced of a smart wig which could talk to a second computing device like smart glasses or your smartphone. The wig is just a patent but that didn’t stop it from making waves in both tech and consumer circles.

The Sony smart wig story encapsulates where we are at right now with wearable tech — its infancy. And in this stage, we need to be creative, play and fail which means we are sure to see a lot of wearable devices that will make us scratch our head (arguably we already have).

Sure a wig is pretty ridiculous but with no killer wearable yet on the market we are all not quite sure exactly what we need from this new form of computing. Until then, bring on the wigs, the fingernails and smart eyelashes.

Source: Engadget

Apple iWatch Never Comes But Continues to Make Headlines: 11/22/13

Like the fabled Apple TV, the iWatch has gained a lot of press for a device that doesn’t yet exist nor has been confirmed by the company.

In a time when many companies are stumbling to get wearable tech right, Apple is being looked at as one company that can help the industry hit its stride. And it makes sense. The company does have a proven track record in establishing whole new product categories for consumers (e.g. the iPod, iPhone and iPad).

But the final Apple announcement this year came and went in November with no wearable in sight.

This hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning. Apple continues to make headlines for the iWatch which is now expected to be announced in the Spring of 2014.

Source: ReadWrite

Google Glass Gets Banned: 11/26/13

Back in March a Seattle dive bar banned the device. Around this time, a London-based group formed “Stop the Cyborgs” who decided to make a public case against Google Glass and other similar devices.

For the most part these stories were chocked up to a bunch of people trying to grab a piece of the PR frenzy surrounding Glass as both broke before the first batch of devices had shipped to the Explorers.

Fast-forward to November when Forbes broke a story about Lost Lake Cafe — a new diner in Seattle with the same owner as the Seattle dive bar — who kicked a Glass Explorer out of this establishment for refusing to take the device off.

The Lost Lake Cafe incident brought to a head the anthropological (societal/cultural/legal) concerns of Glass especially when it comes to privacy and security. It may also serve as a pre-cursor to many more stories of its type as we head into Google’s commercial release of Glass in 2014.

Source: Forbes