A wearable is an electronic device worn on the body, usually on the wrist, finger, ear or clothing. Examples include smartwatches, fitness bands, smart rings, hearing devices and smart glasses. They contain sensors, a small processor, a battery and a wireless link to a phone or the internet.
Why it matters
Wearables collect continuous data such as steps, heart rate and sleep, and deliver notifications and payments at a glance. The data can be personal, so it matters who can see it and how it is stored; see the maker's privacy policy. Design is dominated by battery life and size, so the device usually offloads heavy work to a phone through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Sensor readings are estimates, not clinical measurements, unless the device is certified as a medical product.
Example
A fitness band's data path:
- Sensors sample motion and heart rate several times per second.
- The band stores a summary and syncs it to the phone app over Bluetooth.
- The app uploads it to the vendor's cloud for history and charts.
Syncing can pause when Bluetooth is off or the app has lost its background permission.
Common mistakes
- Treating consumer sensor readings as medical diagnosis.
- Granting every app permission without need.
- Ignoring firmware updates.
Related
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