Fashion the future: is wearable technology coming of age?

Wearables are clothing and accessories incorporating advanced electronic technologies. Wearable technology, wearables, fashionable technology, wearable devices, tech togs, or fashion electronics are clothing and accessories incorporating computer and advanced electronic technologies. The designs often incorporate practical functions and features, but may also have a purely critical or aesthetic agenda. Wearable technology is related to both the field of ubiquitous computing and the history and development of wearable computers. With ubiquitous computing, wearable technology share the vision of interweaving technology into the everyday life, of making technology pervasive and interaction friction less. Through the history and development of wearable computing, this vision has been both contrasted and affirmed. Affirmed through the multiple projects directed at either enhancing or extending functionality of clothing, and as contrast, most notably through Steve Mann’s concept of sousveillance. The history of wearable technology is influenced by both of these responses to the vision of ubiquitous computing. The calculator watch, introduced in the 1980s, was one original piece of widespread worn electronics. Ilya Fridman designed a Bluetooth headset into a pair of earrings with a hidden microphone. The Spy TIE includes a color video camera and USB Heating Gloves keep hands warm when plugged in. Twitter users can wear a “Pocket Tweet” using a Java application and cutting out and applying a Twitter text bubble to a person’s shirt, one example of Do-it-yourself wearable tech that was part of an art exhibit for the Wearable Technology AIR project in spring 2009. ZED-phones stitch headphones into beanies and headbands allowing riders, snowboarders, Drivers and Runners to stay connected, hands-free, always. Wearable technology has applications in monitoring and real time feedback for athletes as well. The decreasing cost of processing power and other components is encouraging widespread adoption and availability. According to Forbes, 71% of 16-to-24 year olds want wearable tech.

Source - 21st Century Fashion