Wearable computers popular in 3 years | Computerworld Hong Kong

Imagine wearing shoes that reveal your precise weight distribution when standing, walking, or running (Moticon); a tattoo that vibrates when you have incoming calls and messages (Nokia); or an armband that tracks how many calories you've burned in a day (Nike+ FuelBand).

Or, imagine wearing a stylish ring that converts to a Bluetooth earphone (O.R.B. 'Orbital Ring Bluetooth'); a silver lapis lazuli Bluetooth necklace (Novero); or a pair of video eyewear goggles that includes a handheld media player so you can watch movies up close.

Welcome to the world of wearable computers, a budding technology that's rising quickly above the horizon and "should be a priority for product strategists in the industries with the most potential for disruption and innovation," says consumer product strategist Sarah Rotman Epps, a senior analyst at Forrester Research.

According to Epps, in three years, wearables will be everywhere. "Wearables are proving their utility in numerous industries," says Epps. "In the past year, consumer wearables such as the BodyMedia Armband and Nike+ FuelBand have proliferated in the health and fitness industries.

This year, we'll see wearables begin to break out of communication, health, and fitness to other verticals such as navigation, social networking, gaming, and commerce."

The sentient world
Altimeter Group's analysts are calling this phenomenon the 'sentient world,' "because we believe it has something to do with machines thinking and communicating with us vs. just taking our instructions," says analyst Chris Silva. "Our research around this sentient world has more to do with the fact that machines and environments will begin to learn over time instead of simply anticipating our commands or making our commands easier to input."

"We believe that during the next 18 months, we'll see more and more mass-market applications for multiple sensors on and around us that will take advantage of our omnipresent connected computers (mobile) to gather and communicate data and, in later phases, begin to proactively serve us," notes Silva.

"Wearable computers are certainly getting more hype," says Gartner analyst AdibGhubril, "But the stumbling block is form, fit, function, AND fashion. Wearable computers are as much about what they can do, as they are about self-expression, so they must not be obstructive, they must feel natural (that is, fit lightly and comfortably), and they must be stylish. In other words, I expect most of the effort to go into miniaturizing existing hardware circuitry like the built-in headset and cameras; simultaneous displays on both eyes that still allow visible light to come through and, finally, network connectivity."

So what's hot and what?s not
"By far, the hottest new wearable computer is Google's project Glass," says Ghubril. "Imagine that you're window shopping in the afternoon and, suddenly, the address of the nearest Starbucks appears on your glasses' mounted display because, based on your purchasing trends ? using your smartphone as a credit card, your smartphone knows that around this time of day, you like to have an espresso. So, it transmits the contact info of the nearest store," says Ghubril.

Furthermore, according to Ghubril, augmented-reality, as opposed to virtual reality, is very much on the front burner. Imagine sightseeing around the city of Kiev just hours before the team you support is due to compete at the Olympic stadium for a place in the semi-finals. You come across a historical building and, suddenly, the information about that building appears on your glasses in encyclopedic detail. "That's because the on-board cameras linked a photo of that building to a repository of information (available on-line through the web) and then displayed that information, in anticipation, based on the calculated context," adds Ghubril.

Source: http://cw.com.hk/feature/wearable-computers-popular-3-years

jason campbell doobie brothers jennie garth peter facinelli marques colston golden state warriors free agents nfl 2012 milwaukee bucks