Will wearable tech change your life for the better or transform you into a Cyborg?

Unless you live under a rock, everyone knows about the introduction of wearable tech such as smartwatches, Google glasses, activity trackers and other gadgets. Ever since these types of devices were put on the market, they’ve blown the world away with their ability to act like a smartphone yet appear like a standard fashion accessory.

Some might remember that it wasn’t too long ago that people were obsessing over the smartphone revolution and anticipating the launch date of the newest iPhone or Android.

Today, as wearable tech becomes more desired and mainstream, it seems like a shift is taking place where technology disguised as everyday items is favored above other technology appliances.

People are monitoring their blood pressure from their fitness wristbands, skimming news headlines from their smartwatch, tracking how many steps they take in a given day or browsing the internet from their Google glasses.

However, not everyone wants to jump on the wearable tech bandwagon with Big Brother and start plastering electronic devices to their body.

While some people seem to be enamored with the groundbreaking invention of technology you can wear, others haven’t completely welcomed it with open arms. Whether or not you think wearable tech is the best thing since the iPhone 5 or the evolution of humans into robots, it’s continuously expanding and working its way into our lives.

Benefits of Wearable Tech: Reasons Why It’s Appealing

1. Fast Factor: Wearable Tech Gives Immediate Results and Easy Access to Information

When you use any kind of wearable tech, the deliverance of information is fast and efficient. Let’s say you’re chatting with a friend at lunch and both of you are debating about the distance to the closest coffee shop.

Your smartwatch will be able to tell you how to get there, how long it will take and if traffic will be an issue. Instead of taking the extra time to pull out your cell phone and look up the information, all you have to do is look down at your wrist.

Just like checking the weather, following step-by-step directions or reading news alerts, sending and receiving text messages and e-mails is super easy due to hands-free communication and voice activated features.

2. Data Regulation: Wearable Tech Puts You in Control

When we use our cell phones or laptops to look up information, interact with our friends or check the latest updates in the world, sometimes it can seem like we’re distracted or being anti-social.

For instance, checking your phone at the family dinner table or browsing through your phone while your friend babbles on and on is considered poor etiquette. With wearable tech and nifty gadgets like smartwatches or Google glasses, you don’t have to worry about disappointing your friends or appearing uninterested in their lives.

Without lifting a finger, you automatically appear alert and engaged by using wearable tech. Another perk of using wearable tech is that you have the pleasure of being the chief controller of data. Basically, you’re the one that gets to filter through information, decide what data is important or irrelevant and monitor your interaction with the internet.

3. Healthy Techie: Wearable Tech Brings Health Benefits

Believe it or not, it’s been documented that 71 percent of the American population claim that wearable tech (a.k.a. fitness bands, activity trackers, smartwatches, etc.) has improved their health. Wearable tech devices like Fitbit Flex, Jawbone, Samsung Gear Fit and others allow users to record their steps throughout the day, examine their sleep cycle, monitor their heart rate and even track calorie intake.

There’s something about the proximity of wearable tech and how it encourages users to act on impulse. Some of the wearable tech bands actually vibrate if they detect that you’ve been stagnant for too long, stimulating you to get up and move around.

Since pretty much all of the wearable tech geared towards improving health and fitness have so many awesome features, it’s no surprise that 61 percent of wearable tech devices in today’s market are actually fitness wristbands and activity trackers.

Disadvantages of Wearable Tech: Why you’re Slowly but Surely Turning into a Robot

1. Privacy Concern and Intrusiveness: Wearable Tech Can Come Off As Creepy and Cyborg-ish

When it comes to using wearable tech, how intimate is too intimate? Sure, it’s pretty convenient to wear watches that act like smartphones and glasses that function like computers, but do we really want them glued to our skin?

Is it really necessary, or even normal, for wearable tech to be readily available in seconds and constantly on our bodies at all times? Think about the time when Bluetooth devices became popular and you couldn’t tell if the man walking past you was crazy or actually conversing with someone.

Well, some will argue that it’s just as bizarre and obnoxious today as it was in the past. Now imagine walking into a bar with almost all the occupants wearing Google glasses, or another form of wearable tech, awkwardly staring at you because you’re the odd man out not wearing any.

Millions of different thoughts are running through your mind, you’re paranoid of the possibility that you’re being filmed and you feel like John Connor in Terminator 2.

2. Exorbitant Costs and Unrealistic Sales: Morphing into a Machine is Expensive

With individual Google glasses costing $1,500 and other wearable tech devices featured at steep prices, it’s difficult and impractical for wearable tech to appeal to every type of consumer.

More and more smartwatches, wristbands and computer-based glasses are hitting the shelves with a naïve goal that everyone will be able to afford them. In order for these products to make an influential impact in the world and drive sales, they need to offer affordable prices.

3. Unattractive, Bulky Designs: Most Wearable Tech is just Plain Ugly

While some wearable tech devices are slim and discreet, others are like having a miniature iPad wrapped around your wrist. Let’s just make this clear… if your smartwatch is going to be the same size as your cell phone (or bigger), you might as well just make friends with your mobile device again.

There’s just no point in wasting tons of money on wearable tech that operates just like the cell phone you already have, especially when it’s gigantic. Even though wearable tech just recently made a breakthrough in the world, it definitely has a lot of work to do regarding size and design.

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