Wearable Technology

By Jake Anderson

History Abacus Ring – Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Operated with hairpins Wristwatch – World War I

“silly-ass fad” “only practical way” for soldiers

“Cheating Shoe” - 1961 Concealed timing device to cheat at roulette

History (cont.) Steve Mann's EyeTap – 1980's DARPA speculation – 2005

Gloves that read RFID tags Body mounted cameras Term “wearables” is coined

Contemporary items GoPro, FitBit, smartwatches, Google Glass

Society Concerns Two main concerns

Safety Privacy

Concerns: Safety Distracted driving/walking Is it safe to drive wearing Glass? How much attention do wearable devices take?

Solutions: Safety Are all devices equal?

Smartwatches work like phones Hands-free devices safer?

Limit distraction of notifications Aside from driving?

Distracted pedestrians responsible for damage?

Future: Safety At some point, laws will likely be made

As with phones, etc. Distraction-safe modes of transport

Self-driving cars Public transportation

Wearables get smaller, less obtrusive

Concerns: Privacy General issue of constant surveillance

Anyone could be recording you Existing laws about image use

Pushback from corporations? McDonald's in Paris versus Steve Mann Employees upset about being recorded What about police? Banks? Government?

Solutions: Privacy Personal black box Face recognition, auto-blur on recordings Protective laws

For wearers? Or others?

Future: Privacy Jammer devices for secure locations

Potentially abused? “Sousveillance” Necessarily a bad thing?

Crime deterrence with enough users Catch business corruption, rude employees?

Sources Friedman, Uri. “A Brief History of the Wristwatch.” The Atlantic. 27 May 2015.

<http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/history-wristwatch-apple-watch/391424/>.

Kelly, Heather. “Ticket for driving in Google Glass dismissed.” CNN. 17 January 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/tech/innovation/google-glass-ticket-dismissed/>.

Stenovec, Timothy. “Steve Mann, Inventor, Allegedly Attacked At Paris McDonald's For Wearing Digital Eyeglass.” Huffington Post. 17 July 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/steve-mann-attacked-paris-mcdonalds-digital-eye-glass-photos_n_1680263.html>.

Winchester, Henry. “A brief history of wearable tech.” Wareable. 6 May 2015. <http://www.wareable.com/wearable-tech/a-brief-history-of-wearables>.

Zolfagharifard, Ellie. “Is this the first wearable computer?” Daily Mail. 19 March 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2584437/Is-wearable-computer-300-year-old-Chinese-abacus-ring-used-Qing-Dynasty-help-traders.html>.