With the launch of AOL’s latest online show “Hardwired” it is evident that “wearable technology” is the tech world’s latest muse. As expected, the first episode covers fitness tech: the Jawbone Up and the Adidas heart rate monitoring sports bra.
The show’s host, Justine Ezarik, takes her fitness data to experts and asks the quintessential question: What does mean? And the basic answer is “You’re healthy and normal.” And there lies the problem with all these tracking devices. They don’t really offer most of us much in terms of actionable feedback beyond pretty bar graphs. They don’t educate us on how to interpret this data over time. And the motivation mechanics are weak at best. In short, the industry has focused keenly on getting the algorithms right to interpret a step from a bump in the road while driving and very little on the user experience.
I imagine that in this next year, the Fuelband, Fitbit, and Jawbone will begin to distinguish themselves not by their sensors and improvements in algorithms, but by how to make this personal data meaningful and actionable.
As for Hardwired, I’m looking forward to future episodes. I hope the show deep dives into the potentials of wearable tech beyond fitness and Glass and doesn’t solely rely on the charm of its lovely host iJustine.
What do you guys think of the first episode? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
