…What’s Next for Fitness Trackers? A Look at the Top Trends…
Fitness trackers can change your life. Previously sedentary people have used them to monitor their steps and workouts, to make sure they are getting more exercise into their daily lives. Professional athletes use them to lower the risk of injury and to make sure they are performing at their best on the field or court.
Demand for fitness trackers and wearable devices is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years. In 2014, people bought a total of 90 million devices, and the wearable fitness tracker industry had a market volume of $2 billion. By 2020, people expect that amount to increase to $41 billion.
What’s driving the demand for fitness trackers and what can you expect to see from wearables in the coming months? Take a look at a few of the latest top trends.
More Stylish Options
The old-school fitness trackers weren’t exactly the best-looking things out there. Whether they were chunky smartwatches that screamed “tech nerd” or rubber band pedometers, most of the older models weren’t at the height of fashion.
That’s changing, as more and more designer brands hop on the wearable tech and fitness tracker bandwagon. Several fashion watchmakers have partnered with tech companies to create cheap smartwatches that combine form and function. There are also independent brands producing rings and bracelets that track steps, sleep and heart rate.
More Tracking
How many steps you walk, how much you sleep and what your resting heart rate don’t tell you the entire story when it comes to your health. You can expect wearables that can track more in the next few generations of the devices. Researchers are at work creating devices that monitor glucose levels in patients with diabetes, devices that monitor the air quality to help patients with asthma, and devices that measure the levels of substances, such as lactate, in the body.
Less Visibility
Although some people are looking forward to rocking a designer smartwatch or a trendsetting wearable device, some would prefer if their wearables were out of sight, but not out of mind. You can expect to see wearables whose claim to fame is their invisibility. These devices might be stitched into clothing or part of a person’s shoes. The technology will be integrated into something you’d be wearing anyway, making it less likely that you’d forget to put on your fitness tracker in the morning.
Do you use a fitness tracker? What trend are you most looking forward to seeing?