Wearable electronic devices for fitness shipments are forecast to reach 68.1 million units in 2015 according to a recent report from Gartner. 2014 was definitely a big year for wrist-worn fitness wearables, especially smart wristbands from the likes of Fitbit and Jawbone. But according to Gartner, 2015 will start to see the fitness wearable landscape shift away from the wrist and onto our bodies with the emergence of a new fitness wearable category, smart garments.
Wearable tech has definitely had a banner year this year but things in this space are just getting started. 2015 will take this new wave of computing one giant leap forward. With the new year just around the corner, I looked into my connected crystal ball to predict what wearable tech will look like in 2015 in a recent article for BetaKit.
Before we start the new year, I thought I'd take some time to recount my favourite moments of 2014. There really are too many to chose from, but for the sake of keeping this post short, I've created a list of 10 amazing moments we've all shared together this year.
Leading influencer marketing agency, Onalytica, has published its annual report on the wearable tech landscape which includes the top influencers and brands in the wearable space. We Are Wearables is proud to be listed in the top 10 of the 50 most influential wearable tech brands sitting at the #7 spot along with OMSignal, Intel, Information Week and Pebble.
Findings on the connected Canadian were presented by Nielsen at the November We Are Wearables Toronto event held at MaRS on November 25. The data Nielsen presented is part of a larger "Connected Life" study which examines Canadian trends related to Connected Homes, Connected Cars and Wearable Technology. We Are Wearables partnered with Nielsen to gather smartwatch-specific statistics which were also presented at the event.
Over 100 hackers gathered at the historic Maple Leaf Gardens this weekend to hack sports using the latest in wearable tech at Canada’s first wearable tech hackathon for sports, SportsHack Weekend. Created in partnership by We Are Wearables, IBM and Ryerson, the hackathon saw virtual reality, gesture, LED and brain-sensing devices be used to change the game of sports from all angles from bettering the performance of the player to increasing the fan experience.
Wearable technology is changing every facet of our lives including how we make and experience sports and entertainment. Professional athletes are using wearables to better their performance, devices like Google Glass are giving fans a whole new perspective of the game and technology like virtual reality, sensors and haptics are redefining movies and music.
Toronto got a big dose of "firsts" on August 14, 2014 as the first Men's Fashion Week hosts the first wearable technology runway show in the city. Brain-sensing headbands, LED helmets and a tech tie were just a few of the pieces curated for the wearable technology fashion show that took place at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in downtown Toronto.
The Nymi is a wristband that uses your unique cardiac rhythm or your heartbeat as an identifier. Once activated, which is done through a long tap on the Nymi to close the circuit, the device connects to other authorized devices and applications using Bluetooth.
