SMART GLASSES Designers and engineers are working on smart glasses that feel like regular glasses Previous types of smart glasses have been too heavy They have been hard to use The technology company Intel has developed a new type of smart glasses called Vaunt These glasses look like regular glasses But they project a display onto the wearer’s eyes This display can show text messages map directions and incoming phone calls The battery life is expected to be 18 hours for the smart elements But the glasses will still help correct vision even when the battery runs out smart watch beeps A text message appears Mirah’s friend Kayla wants to join her on her walk Mirah smiles and sends a reply Mirah’s smart watch is a piece of wearable technology These devices are also known as wearables Wearables are computers worn on the body They are different from other electronics people could wear in the past such as pagers or CD players Each wearable has sensors that collect data about the person wearing it This helps people reach their goals for exercise diets and other activities
Olympic gold medalist tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands wore Google Glass wearables to a party in 2013 Google Glass was discontinued for consumers in 2015 GROWING RANGE OF PRODUCTS In the 1960s computers were very large They took up entire rooms In the 1980s desktop computers became
EXTREME VIDEO CAMERAS GoPro is a company that makes video cameras These cameras are often used by people who do extreme sports The cameras can be mounted on helmets Many people use GoPro cameras to record activities such as sky diving and mountain biking But GoPros have only been around since 2002 Before GoPros people made custom wearables out of other technology In the 1980s a mountain biker named Mark Schulz attached a video camera to his biking helmet It recorded what he saw The video he created is called The Great Mountain Biking Video The footage captures the intensity of the high-adrenaline sport popular For the first time people owned personal computers Laptop computers were invented in the 1980s They became popular in the 1990s Smartphones and tablets became popular in the 2010s Today computers can fit inside wearable devices The tiny computers collect and share data Each type of device does a specific job Tasks range from counting steps to checking blood pressure
WEARABLES ON THE BODY As of 2018 there is a wearable for almost every part of the body Look at the examples below Why might these wearables work better on different parts of the body How might people interact with their wearables Head smart helmets and hats Eyes smart glasses and contact lenses Ear smart hearing aids Body smart patches chips and insulin pumps Wrist smart watches and fitness trackers Legs and Feet smart clothing and shoes
