Monday, August 25, 2014

THE FUTURE IS NOW, WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY(c) By Polly Guerin

Amazing developments in wearable technology are edging their way into our clothing and out lifestyles. The question I ask is how much do we want to be plugged into the future? Alas, some major brands are producing wearable technology that's good-looking and comfortable, too. Here's the scoop!!!
   The nylon T-shirt by Ralph Lauren includes technology that can monitor the wearer's heart and stress levels.What spectators will see this week at the Unite States Open is a slick, form-fitting black athletic shirt, the Ralph Lauren polo pony emblazoned on the front.  However, what you won't see is the conductive silver-coated thread that is woven discreetly into the fiber. No it will not answer your smartphone but what it will do is monitor your heart rate, breathing and stress levels with racy good looks. How about the Navigate jacket? It taps out directions on the wearer's back 
   Kovert's modular jewelry features technology encapsulated in precious or semi-precious stones that clip into rings, bracelets and necklaces.  The jewelry vibrates when a important message is received. Now that's living in the moment but do we really wanted to be connected every single moment of the day or night? Doesn't anyone want some peaceful quality time to meditate or even write poetry.
   According to scientists there will be 50 billion, intelligent things in the world by 2020.  In addition to what you wear all things in your home or office could be turned into intelligent products that talk to you.Yet, do we really want technology to become our mentor? Will these high tech developments make humanity less human?
   Net-a-sporter, the new sport-oriented sister of Net-a-porter, will launch Jawbone's new Up 24 wireless smart band which helps users understand how they move, eat and sleeps so that they can make better choices. During Jimmy Choo's fall collection in February in Milan, Jawbone delivered smart bands to the stage crew and created a leader board to see who was getting the most sleep.
   David Rose, MIT Media lab scientist is all for making the computer personal. Now this is something I could use---the umbrella that forecasts the weather at a cost of $125. Armed with your zip code, a wireless receiver in the handle connects to AccuWeather and then glows and pulsates a gentle blue light if the weather outside is frightful.
   Why bother to make grocery lists when all you will need to do is to have an Amazon trash can that has a tiny camera and bar code scanner that records everything you throw away and sends the information to Amazon.com where it is immediately reordered and shipped to you.
   Too tired to pedal your bike. The Copenhagan Wheel, contains a motor that transforms a normal bike into a hybrid electric vehicle. As you bike, the wheel captures excess energy when going downhill or braking to help propel you up steeper includes or harder terrains.
   This coffee table eavesdrops on your conversations. Billed as an "instant photo album," the Facebook Coffee Table uses real time speech analysis to pick up keywords from your conversation to pull up relevant Facebook feed photos. Hotels will soon be using the coffee table to feature nearby events, restaurant suggestions and displays about weather and traffic .
  Whew!!! The future is now, my friends..  Emails welcome at pollytalknyc@gmail.com.  Visit Polly's Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the link to Blogs about women, men, treasures or poetry.
   

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