Are Smartwatches here to stay?

We look at state of wearables, two years on from the Moto 360’s debut.

- Arjun Krishna Lal

Ah, yes, about those wearables... If you were to step aside for a moment and look at contemporary consumer tech, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were halfway to Minority Report. (Or, considering that “social credit” people rating system the Chinese are keen to implement, halfway to Black Mirror.) In any case, there’s been an absolute consumer tech explosion since Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world 10 years ago; the ways in which we interact with tech, and more importantly, how often, have changed fundamentally.

IoT in an interconnected world

The rise of the Internet of Things, in particular, has shaped our changing interactions with tech. IoT is a concept that takes into consideration every single connected device in the world— smart appliances, mobile devices, embedded sensors, and security systems. In an IoT environment, your interface with the machine isn’t bound to your personal terminal, whether that’s a smartphone or wearable. Your device becomes a hub for inputs and outputs from every device connected to that environment. Imagine that kind of power: See and hear anything, at any time. Grant and restrict access to both real and virtual systems. Physically change your surroundings and the experiences of the people around you. All this, right at your fingertips.

Are wearables here to stay?