The Connected Age and Wearable Technology

Abstract

The Connected Age is all about being connected to resources, peo- ple, devices, and even to oneself. Being connected to oneself is part of the quantifiable self movement described in the Horizon Report 2014: Higher Education Division (Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2014), which gives this emerging technology a time-to-adop- tion timeframe of four to five years.The quantifiable self makes use of mobile apps, technol- ogies, and cloud computing. The technology landscape inter- sects the Connected Age, with connections to resources, people, and ideas (Skiba, 2014), and the Internet of Things (IOT), with its connections to physical objects (Skiba, 2013). Several sources project 2014 as the Year of Wearable Technologies (Lindsay, 2014; Savov, 2014; Spence, 2013). So, let's look at this phenomenon within a higher education landscape.WhAT ARE WEARAbLE TEChNOLOGIES?Physical activity monitors are the most common technolo- gies (e.g., FitBit, Jawbone, smart watches, and smart running shoes). can be networked or might store data that can be trans- ferred later to other devices. In many cases, the technology need not be activated; it simply functions as part of the item. Wearables can gather data - from the body of the wearer or from the environment - or provide information, or both (Educause, 2013).Wearable technologies have been around for many years, but they have been expensive and cumbersome, used mostly for research and development projects. I remember a 2009 TED video given by Pattie Maes, which showcased a tool called the Sixth Sense (www.ted. com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense), a technol- ogy that allows one to interface with digital information through hand gestures (www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/). MIT's Media Lab Fluid Interface Group (http://fluid.media.mit.edu/) also exam- ines wearable, gesture-driven, and smart new interfaces. Many of these inventions are now becoming products for the masses.Wearable technologies are considered the next step in the evo- lution of ubiquitous computing, a term coined by Weiser (1993) to describe how technology retreats into the background and becomes a part of the fabric of our lives. If you use a Fitbit or other device, you understand how this happens.Some wearables, such as FitBit and NuMetre heart monitor clothing (www.numetrex.com/), focus on specific functions. Others are multifunctional, such as Google Glass, eyewear that allows the user to interact with the Internet through voice commands. Google Glass contains a heads-up display for viewing information, taking pic- tures, recording videos, interacting with many Google products (e.g., Gmail, Google plus, Google hangouts), and interfacing with tools such as Facebook and Twitter. (It is important to note that issues of privacy, security, confidentiality, and informed consent are underlying limita- tions of this and other technologies.)USES IN hIGhER EDUCATIONAs many have noted, the Google Glass we have now is version 1.0. The power of this technology will be manifest in future versions that con- nect with more cloud applications and augmented reality.Google Glass has made its way into health care and higher edu- cation through Google's Explorer Program, which allows individuals or organizations to experiment with the product and provide valuable feedback. Let's look at some examples in higher education.Digital StorytellingEducause (2013) notes that wearable cameras . . . allow a learner to engage simultaneously as observer, reporter, and participant, enabling more detailed life-blogging and providing a subjective point of view for digital storytelling. Imagine sending your community health stu- dents off to do a community assessment with Google Glass. These stu- dents will be able to record data while also displaying data from the Internet, such as crime statistics and median income. …