Review of the development history of wearable technology

Wearable technology may be the most prolific trend in today's technology industry. From the movement tracking exercise wrist belt, to the Google glasses, and then to Oculus Rift, many industry-renowned manufacturers have joined this once very small area. How has wearable technology developed so far? Science and Technology website Mashable has reviewed the history of this field recently:

You may not know that the technology behind wearable computing devices can be said to have been born to cheat in casinos. In the 60-70 years of the last century, some inventors made some of the earliest wearable devices to increase the odds at the table.

Since then, the development of wearable technology has remained on a smaller scale. In addition to the popularity of the calculator watch in the 80 's, there has been little change in the field. Wearable technology may be admirable, but it is not practical for consumers, and is definitely a lot of friendly. After the new millennium, the appearance of wearable devices has finally begun to close to our favorite sci-fi movies, and the technology has really begun to develop.

1961: Wearable computer?

The Massachusetts Institute of Mathematics professor Edward Thorp, in his second edition of the Gambling Guide, Beat the Dealer, wrote that he had successfully used his own wearable computer to cheat the roulette wheel. Thorp and joint developer Claude Shannon found that their devices can bring the wearer a 44% advantage in the game.

1972: George

In order to gain advantage in 21 points. Keith Taft invented a wearable computer that operated with his toes. With the help of the device, the inventor lost 4000 of dollars a week later and George was relegated to the doghouse.

1975: Calculator Wrist Watch

The world's first wrist calculator, Pulsar, was released at the end of 1975 and was immediately popular. The media are thrilled that President Ford is rumoured to have been interested in a limited edition of $3950 worth of pulsar. But Ford said it was just a family joke.

1981: Computer backpack?

Steve Mann, a senior high school student, connected a 6502 computer to a steel rack backpack to control photographic equipment. The display of this device is a camera viewfinder connected to the helmet. Mann has also made many achievements in the field of wearable computing and computer photography in the future.

1984: Terminator prophecy?

The Terminator is on. In this film, the robot sees the real world image has been added to a layer of computer interface, which seems to be similar to the concept of Google glasses today.

1987: Digital Hearing aid

The first digital hearing aid came out this year. But this type of equipment has not been successful because of its large size and poor endurance.

1994: Wearable Wireless Camera

13 years after the invention of wearable computer backpacks, Steve Mann produced a wearable wireless camera and began uploading images to the web until 1996. Many people think of Mann as the first "Lifeblogger" (people who use pictures to record their lives and upload them to the Internet).

2000: Bluetooth Headset

The first Bluetooth headset came out this year.

2002: Poma PC

Xybernaut Poma can wear a PC and sell for 1500 dollars. The device is like tying a tape recorder to its head, weighing about 300 grams.

2003: C-series

Vitatron C-series is the world's first fully digitized pacemaker. With this device, doctors can download good patient information in 18 seconds.

2006: Nike+ipod

Nike and Apple have jointly launched the Nike+ipod, a sports kit that allows users to sync their movements to the iPod. Nike then unveiled several outfits with a dedicated ipod pocket.

2007: Fitbit

Fitbit was founded by James Park and Eric Frienman. According to park, production difficulties have been nearly worn down by several times. It was not until 2009 that Fitbit launched his first product.

2009: W200

The W200 wearable computer, released by Glacier Consolidator, was designed primarily to allow users to get a lot of information in an emergency, while at the same time being able to empty their hands. This equipment has waterproof capacity, weighing about 280 grams.

2012: Pebble

Pebble Smart watch this year in Kickstarter raised 10 million U.S. dollars, and the project's fund-raising target originally only 100,000 U.S. dollars.

2013: Google Glasses

Google Glasses was released to developers in 2013 and began to receive a lot of media attention. At the same time, the device has also sparked public debate about privacy. Google glasses can be controlled by voice recognition and side touch panels.