Wearable technology is exploding at such a pace that it’s almost impossible to keep up with the latest developments. The potential for technology is so vast that it’s almost impossible to truly think about, it blows my mind attempt to consider the possibilities for development and the advancements in technology already underway, but where are we going next?
I have long believed that we are moving towards one device to rule them all (ring technology…?), in that soon the blood glucose monitoring, temperature monitoring, activity tracking, sleep analysing, GPS systems are going to come together into one device giving us feedback on every quantifiable aspect of our physiological health (of which our capabilities are expanding at an almost equally rapid rate). Which is kind of scary in some ways with sceptics providing arguments over who may be able to access the data collected (let’s leave that can of worms closed for now).
Proteus Digital Health may have given us a glimpse into the future by developing technology for an ingestible sensor. The sensor, which is swallowed, provides feedback on a host of parameters all of which are detected by a wearable sensor on your torso, approximately the size of a bandage, which are then fed back to your phone. Parameters recorded include medication, weight, blood pressure and heart rate.
Such a technology really excites me but I question demand for such an abstract idea. How willing would you be to utilise ingestible technology? Let’s be honest though, most of us have eaten worse things…
Jack Barton (Researcher, Rescon Ltd)
Links
http://mashable.com/2014/05/01/ingestible-tech/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link
http://www.proteus.com/todays-products/introducing-helius/