Wearable tech is becoming more and more popular; all you have to do is look around your office and see how many people are wearing a fitness tracker. There are various new products that help athletes and fitness enthusiasts track their vitals and steps, but wearables are not only for sports. Though there are many incredible wearables on the market that focus on fitness, there are also wearables that work to simply make your life easier. This year, we’ve seen a lot of great wearable tech that’s come out, so check out some of the top contenders!
The Fitbit Alta was one of the most popular styles the company sold, but many people complained about it’s lack of a heart rate tracker. Other styles had heart rate trackers, but were significantly bulkier; not at all similar to the sleek shape of the Fitbit Alta. But, as a good company should, Fitbit listened to consumers feedback and upgraded their Alta, which is now available as Fitbit Alta HR; you can finally track your heart rate with the Fitbit Alta.
One of the issues many people have with fitness trackers (and a reason some may choose not to purchase a fitness tracker) is the sporty design. Most fitness trackers are a solid color and made of plastic or plasticlike material. Some trackers are clunky and it’s obvious they’re being used to count the wearer’s steps. However, Garmin recently released the Vivomove, which is a fitness tracker that looks like a stylish watch.
Blocks is a smartwatch that allows you to customize what features it has available to you. The technology comes from Intel’s Make It Wearable competition and takes personalization of smartwatches to a new level. Blocks uses small add-on units that can be attached to the tech and add specific features, such as GPS tracking, a heart rate tracker, a radio, and many more features.
Project Aura is basically the newest version of Google Glass, but geared toward the business industry. The new glasses are going to be durable and easily compacted, so they can be used at most workplaces. The glasses have streaming capabilities and could be incredibly useful in the workplace.
A new virtual reality headset hitting the market, the Windows 10 VR Headset will likely be more affordable than the others we’ve seen so far that take extensive maintenance to connect to computers. Companies like Dell, Asus, Acer, and others are all set to sell this headset, which is promising for consumers.
A really cool collaboration between Intel and Oakley, the Radar Pace glasses have earbuds connected to them that stream coaching advice and motivation to the athlete during their workout.
OMbra
OMbra is a sports bra from OMSignal that has some of the same capabilities of fitness trackers. The sports bra will measure the rhythm of your breathing, as well as your anaerobic threshold, all through sensors that are woven into the fabric of the sports bra and an accelerometer attached to the side.