Wearable tech is creating a lot of buzz, with more people wearing smart watches, eyepiece-related camera, activity trackers and fitness bands as part of their ensemble — and companies readying gear for those uses. Innovation is a major factor driving the advance of wearables, and an impressive new device in the works over at Valencell demonstrates that.
The North Carolina-based company has developed a new tech device that will allow for the tracking of vital signs through earbuds, which will also double as a listening tool for music and other audio. With it, travelers can track everything from heart rate to temperature to respiration, all without needing to hook up wires to their wrist or chest.
The tech works through shining a light onto the wearer’s skin and judging the reflection based upon how it appears with blood vessels near the surface. That takes away any requirement for additional wiring, while making the device the savviest piece of wearable tech to date.
In addition, the earbuds also include an accelerometer, which allows users to track their walking or traveling distance in general, along with their pace of exercise and overall speed. Through this, they can deduce smaller statistics, like how many calories they’re able to turn, which can then be tracked through a mobile device via Bluetooth.
This device will help push wearable tech even more forward than ever before, as it’s more practical – and not nearly as distracting – as the easily-noticeable Google Glass. Analysts believe the wearables market is just at the beginning, as future devices will utilize biometric-reading capabilities in a number of ways. This includes practical uses like Internet radio and games, as well as deeper purposes like measuring certain experiences and how they affect us psychologically.
And to think – most people just buy earbuds because they look cool. This could easily change the game and provide multiple purposes for the devices, adding a little more “bang to their buck,” so to speak.
No word yet on when the earbuds will release, but more details about them can be found at the official Valencell page.
Source: PSFK
