The wearable tech sector has expanded from early pocket watches and pedometers to more recent innovations such as smartwatches, Google Glass, Samsung Gear, Fitbit, Jawbone Up, Apple Watch, and even virtual assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Microsoft’s Siri and Google Home. These devices often pair with a smartphone or computer to facilitate interpretation of data and to act on user commands.
Health and fitness wearables are particularly popular among consumers, with many of them promoting wellness through motivational challenges such as daily step tracking or goal setting. They can also help users manage their calorie intake and monitor sleep quality, and were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic by encouraging people to exercise and take other precautions to protect their health.
More recently, wearables have become increasingly sophisticated with capabilities such as biometric monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and activity level, and telehealth services that can connect the user to an emergency medical service via videoconferencing. The ability of a device to measure and transmit data remotely can offer a privacy-enhancing alternative to more invasive procedures such as taking an electrocardiogram (ECG) or wearing a heart monitor belt.
As more consumer-directed wearables are expected to be integrated into the healthcare system, health care providers should encourage their patients to use them rather than viewing them with skepticism. This is especially important given the potential for these devices to be useful in motivating individuals to be more physically active, and to flag early warning signs of potentially serious conditions that could be overlooked by traditional methods. To maximize their power to empower, wearables should be designed with feedback that adapts to the momentary state of the user, positively reinforcing successes and supporting them through any difficulties in meeting their targets.