The latest news in wearable tech is that everyone is talking about wearable tech.
At the beginning of the year this trend looked strong, but it's completely outstripped expectations, pushed (link is external) by the Smart Watch Bubble (link is external) and (link is external) Glass-mania (link is external). (Click here (link is external) if you want to see Robert Scoble (link is external) wearing Glass in the shower. A tad NSFW.)
Just announced, and disturbing: the Jawbone UP is being opened to developers as a platform (link is external).
The device will soon be able to monitor everything about you, and then how long before insurance companies or employers are requiring that people wear them and penalizing them for health behavior violations?
Also, researchers at Purdue (link is external) have now developed LED glasses that let you read while running, syncing up moving text with your moving head. And there are HUD ski goggles (the Smith I/O Recon (link is external) and the Oakley AirWave (link is external)), because it's all about the sensors (link is external) right now. We are getting quantified (link is external).
People are doing crazyVR stuff (link is external) with the Oculus Rift (link is external). Since we're still perfectly happy with the level of immersion provided by text and there's plenty of Wincest on Ao3 (link is external) we haven't read yet, we'll be late-adopting on the VR tip.
New RFID research means flexible, ultra-thin tags (link is external) could soon be showing up in all kinds of fabrics. Internet of things, meet closet; you're going to be great friends.
Also just announced, the world's first 3D-printed wood (link is external) necklaces, from Hot Pop (link is external).
In news about tech that enables better wearing, the Kickstarter for Wool&Prince's wash-only-once-per-100-wears (link is external) shirt is at $253, 583.00 of its $30,00.00 goal. We say "ew".
Virtual (link is external) fitting (link is external) rooms are proliferating; Fits.me (link is external) recently closed a bunch of Series A dollahs (actually, pounds, since they're based in London) and is looking to push into the US market. And finally, if your favorite etailer doesn't have a virtual fitting room solution yet, we love custom-fit clothes from Constrvct (link is external) in the new "Glitchaus (link is external)" designs.
