Wearable Tech (2014.013)

The 'tens' will be - allegedly - the decade of wearable tech. It's an interesting quandary: we want smaller devices, but the smaller the device, the more difficult it is to use. So-called "wearables" are the grand vision for sorting this. Not necessarily a Gibsonesque vision of augmentation, but certainly small things that do specific jobs, largely by reporting back to a larger more useful device such as a smartphone.

There has already been some traction in this area, with the phenomenally successful (and Kickstarter-funded) Pebble smartwatch, and the Nike Fuel Band.

This is mine. It's a FitBit One. A belt-clip-mounted pedometer about the size of my thumb. It measures my activity and syncs with online services that I use to track my food intake and exercise. Neat, effective, discrete and decent value for money. It's a wearable that you can wear without feeling like a massive buffoon. (Yes Google Glass, I'm looking at you).