If you thought the new trend of wearable technologies was all fitness bands and smart watches, think again. Time Warner Cable News technology reporter Adam Balkin filed the following report.
The developers of the Say necklace tout it as a piece of social smart jewelry. Meanwhile, the Oura Ring tracks your movements and habits to help you plan your recovery from the physical and mental rigors of day to day life. The recent CE Week helped prove wearables are much more than just fitness bands or smart watches. Like Tyia, a bracelet that helps notify you when you receive calls or emails but more specifically, can detect key words.
“So you’re in a busy meeting, you don’t want to be bothered, but someone’s got a special keyword that you can give them, like “emergency.” And they text you with that #emergency and you can feel it on here using vibration, you can see it with color,” explains Ben Isaacson of Viawear.
Kiroco jewelry is the key to unlock whatever content you want to attach to it - pictures, messages, passwords. It has an NFC chip inside and the only way to see the info it holds is to tap it to your NFC-enabled smartphone.
“You need to have jewelry and the phone touch for the message to be released so you’d have to actually lose your phone and the jewelry at the same time for anyone to get your passcodes," says Allyson Sackman Nick of Kiroco.
Now Bluetooth headsets are one of the original wearable technologies, so what could possibly be exciting about a new Bluetooth headset? Well, developers of the Clip&Talk insist this one could potentially save your life.
The team behind this one insists sensors inside will take measurements like heart rate, cadence, and blood pressure which it will look at - after a short health questionnaire you answer every morning - to help determine if you should seek medical attention.
“All we do is tell you if you need to go to the doctor. We just tell you if we’ve picked up something that you need to be concerned about. It can be a simple visit for a little flu, it could be something that requires immediate, immediate attention,” says Harry Kalyvas of Clip&Talk.
Creators also insists the low tech clip part of the Clip&Talk also gives this headset an edge over competitors by making it quicker and easier to find and use when you need it.