Big on fitness: Wearable technology you need to buy now

While athleisure as a trend has easily bridged the gap between utility and elegance, wearable tech has taken it a step further. With a fitness-oriented approach, these smart electronic devices, which can be incorporated into clothing or worn on the body, work towards providing the wearer with a healthier lifestyle. Here’s a quick list of products that are doing their job well.

Apple Watch Series 4

The greatest Apple product comeback story of the past few years has, without a doubt, been the Apple Watch. Its fourth installation, the Apple watch S4, is a true blend of watchmaking and modern-day digital flair. Packing an updated S4 processor and W3 chip, it also features a gyroscope and accelerometer, opening doors to tons of fitness and activity-tracking capabilities. Apple’s also tied haptics to the digital crown, so when you spin it, you feel little ticks that precisely correlate to what’s happening on the screen. It’s completely unnecessary but pretty neat.

Google Glasses

If comfort is what you seek, Google Glasses will bring that to you, along with elevating the way you live. Using a subtle laser projection on the top right of your frame, data and updates are projected on a tiny mirror that beams against the display. This of course is carefully and precisely adjusted according to one’s pupils. Put them on, and you’re good to Google with just a voice command, use social media, travel using maps, and connect with people via calls and messages. Plus, it helps that the white glasses are pretty trendy.

Oakley Radar Pace

Oakley most definitely founded the wearable technology genre back in 2004, designing a pair of activity goggles with a built-in MP3 player. Fourteen years later, you can still jog to a few beats, but also do much more. The Oakley Radar Pace was built for adrenaline junkies and fitness enthusiasts, and you wouldn’t need a gym or fitness mentor when you own a pair. It records, analyses, advises and overall motivates you to workout harder. It’s everything you need in just 50 gms. Using a Radar Pace app available on multiple mobile platforms, you can even set fitness goals for your workouts.

Motiv Ring

Motiv compacts a smartwatch’s capabilities down into a ring. With smartphone support using an app, the Motiv ring records and analyses data just like a smartwatch or a pair of smartglasses. The premise of this ring isn’t as fitness-oriented as others on this list – it’s more of a day and night activity tracker, which includes workouts but more importantly, wellness and sleep. What else you ask? Real-time notifications and alarms. How much more can we expect from a ring?

Project Jacquard

Project Jacquard is one of the more idiosyncratic collaborations we’ve seen in a while – Google and Levi’s joined forces to create apparel that’s fused with cutting-edge technology. A jacket is meticulously stitched using microfibers that pose as a medium to connect to your smartphone. Making calls, listening to music as well as sending text messages, are all possible with gestures. The jacket comprises retro reflective stretch fabrics that fits like a glove. Plus, its shoulder panelling, easy back ventilation and dropped hem all make sure the style is on point.

All images: Courtesy brands