History of Wearable Technology
The development of wearable computers and the popularity and ubiquity of computing and mobile networking are directly related to and affect wearable technology. Technology that can be worn on the human body for any purpose mostly pervades into the users daily life to enable a much greater level of monitoring regarding health or security. Throughout its history, researchers have tried to extend or enhance the functionality of wearable technology in the form of useful gadgets, technical clothing and other wearables in the form of accessories that offer personal surveillance gadgets that help record, monitor and analyze the activity of a user using portable or wearable personal technologies. The art of quantified self-movement is inclusive of tracking information like steps taken, heart rate and overall movement. One of the earliest examples of wearable technology was seen in the form of the very popular, widely accepted calculator watch that was introduced in the 1980s. Even before that, hearing aids had already come into the picture. In the year 2004 at the Cyber Art Festival in Bilbao, Spain, the fashion design label Cute Circuit revealed a Bluetooth connected electronic called the HugShirt, which managed to win the Grand Prize at the festival. The Hug Shirt was designed to transmit the sensation of touch across distance.