This week, Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch have dominated headlines. That got me thinking: What wearable technology has made history? I’m putting this in chorological order.
10. Abacus jewelry: In the 17th century Far East, this jewelry was all the rage. You could add and subtract on it, a revolutionary concept for that century.
9. The first wristwatch: It was designed by Breguet Queens of Naples in the?1810s. It was the first to tell time on your wrist. It took decades for this to catch on. In fact, the first men’s wristwatch wasn’t developed until 1904.
8. 3D Glasses: During the 1950s, these disposable tools brought cheesy action and?horror movies closer to the viewer. In 1952, Bwana Devil was the first to test this fad.
7. First Digital Wristwatch: In the early 1970s, Pulsar LED were the first wristwatches to tell you the time computerized, not manually. Pulsar LED made a huge pop culture impact in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.
6. Heart Rate Monitor: Wear this around your wrist and/or your chest, and you can measure your heart rate during and after exercise. Invented in the late 1970s and tested by a Finnish ski team,?they ?began to fly off shelves by the mid 80s, and haven’t stopped flying.
5. Virtual Reality: In the late 20th century, a headpiece taking you into another world became a part of American psyche. By the ’90s, it was a part of TV and film culture, there was even talk of applying it to video games. The military uses virtual reality to train soldiers to this day.
4. First Bluetooth Headset: In the early 2000s, these headsets started to bridge the gap between fixed and mobile devices. They made you look really important too.
3. RFID Technology: Since the mid-2000s,?it’s been used in passports to track the passport holder.?RFID?chips no bigger than a grain of rice have?been put in animals in case they get lost. There’s talk of (and some have done this) of putting them in human beings for various reasons. It’s controversial technology; many argue RFID violates privacy rights.
2. Smartwatch: It’s been anticipated for years, but by October 2013,? you can take pictures, hold smartphone apps, and even talk on your watch!
1. Google Glass: Still not amazed? Starting in 2014, you can take pictures with the wink of an eye. In fact, all the things you can do with a phone you can do with a set of?glasses. If this and smartwatches are successful, by the 2020s,?we may not even need smartphones anymore.
That’s my list. What did I miss?