Knowledge bits and pieces | Wearable smart devices

Concept

"Wearable smart device" is a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. Generalized wearable smart devices include full functions, large size, and complete or partial functions that can be achieved without relying on smartphones. For example, smart watches or smart glasses, etc., as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function, need to be used in conjunction with other devices (such as smartphones), such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for sign monitoring. With the advancement of technology and the change of user needs, the form and application hotspots of wearable smart devices are also constantly changing.

Smart wearable technology has always attracted much attention in the international computer academia and industry, but due to the high cost and complex technology, many related devices are only in the concept stage. With the popularization of the mobile Internet, technological progress and the launch of high-performance and low-power processing chips, some wearable devices have moved from the concept stage to the commercial stage, and new wearable devices have been continuously launched.

History

Wearable smart devices have many years of development history, ideas and prototypes have appeared in the 60s of the 20th century, and devices with the form of wearable smart devices have appeared in the 70~80s. Steve Mann's prototype wearable computer based on the Apple-II 6502 computer is one example. With the rapid development of computer standardized software and hardware and Internet technology, the forms of wearable smart devices have begun to diversify, and they have gradually shown important research value and application potential in many fields such as industry, medical care, military, education, and entertainment.

At the level of academic research, research institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, the School of Engineering of the University of Tokyo in Japan, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology all have special laboratories or research groups focusing on the research of wearable smart devices, and have a number of innovative patents and technologies. Mainland scholars also carried out research on wearable smart devices in the late 90s of the 20th century. In the field of institutions and related activities, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has established the Wearable IT Technical Committee and has established a special column on wearable computing in several academic journals. IEEE ISWC, an international conference on wearable smart devices, has been held for 18 sessions since it was first held in 1997. With the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, three national academic conferences on wearable computing were held by the China Computer Federation, the Chinese Society of Automation, and the Chinese Society of Artificial Intelligence. The National Natural Science Foundation of China and China's National 863 Program have also supported a number of research and development projects related to wearable smart devices.

Features:

Most of the wearable smart devices on the market are sports monitoring instruments of sports and health brands. Wearable devices should have two most important characteristics: one is that they can be worn for a long time, and the other is intelligent. Wearable devices must be continuously worn on the human body and be able to bring about an effect that enhances the user experience. Such devices require advanced circuitry, wireless networking, and at least a low level of independent processing power, such as transmitting signals via Bluetooth on mobile phones.

Fields of application

The advent of the era of wearable smart devices means that people can better perceive external and self-information, process information more efficiently with the assistance of computers, networks, and even others, and achieve more seamless communication. The application fields can be divided into two main categories, namely self-quantification and in vitro evolution.

In the field of self-quantification, the most common are two major application segments, one is the sports and fitness outdoor field, and the other is the healthcare field. In the former, the main participating manufacturers are professional sports and outdoor manufacturers and some technology companies, which use lightweight watches, bracelets, and accessories as the main form to realize the monitoring, analysis and service of sports or outdoor data such as heart rate, cadence, air pressure, diving depth, altitude and other indicators. In the latter, the main participating manufacturers are medical portable equipment manufacturers, which provide the detection and treatment of medical signs such as blood pressure and heart rate with professional solutions, in a variety of forms, including medical vests, belts, implantable chips, etc.

In the field of in vitro evolution, this kind of wearable smart devices can help users improve their information perception and processing capabilities, and their application fields are extremely broad, from leisure and entertainment, information exchange to industry applications, users can enhance or innovate their skills through wearable devices with diversified sensing, processing, connection and display functions. The main players are innovators among high-tech manufacturers and academic institutions, and the product form is mainly in the form of full-featured smart watches, glasses, etc., which can interact with users without relying on smartphones or other external devices.

Development prospects

A watch or glasses will become a part of the human body, just like the skin, the arm. In the future, mobile phones may only need to implant chips into the human body, which can directly help you make phone calls, help you book restaurants, know all your privacy, and even be closer to you than your family.

The original intention of wearable smart devices is to explore a new way of interaction between people and technology, and to provide exclusive and personalized services for everyone, and the computing method of the device is undoubtedly based on localized computing. Only in this way can we accurately locate and perceive the personalized and unstructured data of each user, form a unique and exclusive data calculation result on each person's portable mobile device, and find out the real meaningful needs of the user's heart, and finally carry out various specific targeted services through the touch rules of the central calculation. Wearable smart devices have gone from fantasy to reality, and their emergence will change the way modern people live.

It may take a long time to realize all this, but wearable smart devices that are more intimate with people may be an inevitable way for technological development. For centuries, humans have sought artificial ways to enhance the body's functions, such as contact lenses that allow people to see more clearly. There is an argument that just as smartphones destroyed non-smartphones and tablets destroyed PCs, the rise of wearable smart devices will destroy smartphones and computers. Wearable technology will lead to the next computing revolution that will allow people to look at technology in a different way, and people are moving towards a new world where technology interacts with people. People don't just stare at the screen, it makes suggestions, for example, it's time for you to go out for a walk or go shopping. This is something that is difficult for both computers and smartphones to do.

However, wearable smart devices have also raised various concerns. For example, it can make people overly dependent on technology, just like smartphones, wearable smart devices will have a significant impact on people's communication, navigation and efficiency, and will also make people more obsessed with technology and more likely to ignore the existence around them. When the threshold for people to interact with the digital world is lowered, people will definitely spend more time on it. As another example, wearable smart devices may involve some privacy and personal security issues. It's dangerous to talk on the phone while driving, but it's even more dangerous if you play with your smartwatch a few times or glance at your smart glasses while driving. Foreign countries have proposed relevant laws, such as "the use of a wearable computer with a head-mounted display while driving a motor vehicle is an offence". As with any major technological change, there are certainly pros and cons to the advent of wearable smart devices, but whether people are ready or not, the era of wearables has arrived.