Wearables today face a number of challenges on their way to ubiquity. Not only do most vie for limited space on our wrists and heads but they are only effective while we wear them. Take one off and the benefits they provide are all or nearly all immediately lost. Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman knows that all too well and his company has been looking at ways to make it easier address this. Speaking at the Code Mobile conference in Half Moon Bay, California, he suggested that the answer may be sensors that we would either swallow or implant in our bodies. In other words, wearables could in the future become ingestables and implantables.
“If you can keep [a wearable] on all the time, the amount of information you get about the user … is staggering,” Rahman explained. “We can decide if you’re hot because you’re sick or you went for a run … The potential’s staggering.”
For example, a sensor embedded directly in your bloodstream to monitor your circulation will certainly be far more accurate than one that tries to accomplish the same from the skin’s surface. It could also measure your blood alcohol level and prevent your car from starting if it exceeds the legal threshold.
Rahman acknowledges that wearables are still far from this future. They still have to convince a wide majority to simply wear them, let alone swallow one or let someone embed one in their body. But he expects that wearables will reach that point and will become the hub of the Internet of Things.
In fact, people have already implanted RFID chips in their bodies while Google has played with contact lenses that can measure glucose levels or even carry integrated cameras that could help the visually-impaired.
Are you looking forward to the day when you can swallow or implant your wearables rather than having to carry them on your person? Let us know below.
Image credit: CNET
Source : CNET