55 responses to “Week 9 – Wearable Technology”

  1. cindy keung

    Response to prompt #1. I think in the future, a wearable device would be the entire outfit worn for that particular sport e.g. swim suit, basketball jersey, running shoes, etc..
    Prompt #2: People are using wearable technology to enhance health now! I used to own and wear a heart rate monitor- the type that you strap onto your torso that links up to the watch. To me, it was expensive. Once the Fitbit came out, I started to use it instead. It was more affordable than the iWatch. I think, for sure, it can enhance lifestyle when people decide to use it to holistically educate themselves about fitness and health.
    In regard to prompt #4, I would love to see schools budget wearables for students in physical education class – to allow all students to experience tracking their physical and nutritional health over at least one semester. It will provide empirical and quantitative data of how their body is performing and what it is capable of doing. It would be a wonderful device to implement and I think it can increase students’ interest in cardiovascular health and in grade 10, when they are required to learn about FITT and SAID principles in PE and Health.


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    1. hasssae1

      Hi Cindy, Thank you for reviewing our OER and for taking the time to complete the engagement pieces. As we were completing our OER, we came across multiple research articles that had similar feedback to yours. The researchers collectively argued that schools should budget wearables for students in physical education to enable physical/health tracking. Having said this, one secondary common theme in the aforesaid research articles was also noticed, and that was around “some teachers not believing in using wearable technology”. Basically, the literature was suggesting that if teachers don’t believe in using wearable technologies, they will fail to transform classes, align with learning goals and integrate wearable technology into curricular content. Beside the budget hurdle that you correctly identified, do you think that the second observation is also relevant/valid when it comes to wearable technology?


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      1. cindy keung

        Hi again!

        I don’t think that there is an automatic equation that results in total failure to transform classes because wearable technologies are not implemented into the curriculum. That cannot be true because education has been transformed without them so far; both on the micro and macro-scale. And even when/if wearable technologies are used, there is no guarantee that every student or even majority of students will learn something life-long. I think wearable technology is meant to enhance existing pedagogy, not replace it or transform it on a whole. I just think that having it available to all students at the school level gives those who normally would not be able to afford it and use it, a chance to experience it. More importantly, the important factor that wearable technology offers is quantitative data that shows what the body is actually doing and I think this is a valuable experience for students.


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      2. cindy keung

        One last note – I was part of a team who wrote an online course of PE and Health (grade 10). One lesson covers wearable technologies to monitor caloric intake and heart rates. It was equally important to include content that teaches learners how to manually and physically count one’s heart rate. This is especially important in the health component when it comes to dealing with emergency situations where First Aid comes in and a digital device cannot be used to help save someone’s life. In this regard, we cannot completely rely on digital devices quite yet.


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        1. hasssae1

          Thank you Cindy. I 100% concur. Even though teachers’ attitude towards change, particularly technology-drive change is imperative, there are certainly other factors that play a part in transformation of education on micro/macro levels. I’m interested to learn a bit more about your experience regarding writing an online PE & Health course, and the emergency application/situation that you described. As an educator/consumer, do you ever see an opportunity for wearable technology to be able to save someone’s life (e.g. similar to AED, albeit its not digital), or would emergency situations always need to be handled more on the manual side?


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          1. cindy keung

            Hello! In the situation where an individual has a particular illness that may require life-saving techniques – a wearable technology that could service this would be ideal (in fact, my next project speaks to this very issue!). And the wearable technology I envision is one that can act as a First Responder and be immediately helpful. While technology is great, for now, it cannot perform manual emergency techniques. I don’t think we are “there yet” in regard to technologies that can enhance and/or “fix” our ailments. I think about Star Trek and all the medical procedures observed in that show e.g. healing nasty scars within seconds with what looks like a laser beam. Perhaps one day we will get there but it will most likely not be in our lifetime.


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        2. Kyle

          You have highlighted my thinking on wearables in the classroom quite well. While in HPE it may have some added benefits, and might serve to encourage a few students to participate more or become more cognizant of their activity choices they (wearables) are unlikely to serve most/all or even a lot of students in such a way that would warrant the added spending. I would even take it a bit further and suggest that even if the devices were donated, there isn’t a great deal to garner from them; unless there was opportunity to code them or to be apart of the build. How do wearables help students access the curriculum better, or provide an enhanced opportunity to make use of the curriculum? Public institutions are slow on the uptake of technology, in a time that there are lot’s of new great ideas, concepts and devices that are being marketed towards these institutions. What boards then must do, is to think critically about what they “have to have”, “would be good to have” and what are “nice to have” in terms of effective pedagogy and epistemological outcomes. When boards are making their decision about what to approve/purchase they have to consider the products/services ability to return favourable educational outcomes, among other things. Perhaps the US high school system may benefit from this technology as they have the funding and are quite influential as they are the gateway to the collegiate level sports programs that lead to professional sports, but with that system rather lacking in many parts of the world I see the upward trend of these devices resting in personal and professional use, and not as much in the classroom.
          s/n – I really liked how the wearables team broke down the website into various areas of sport you might find the devices and made connections to the education field. Creative!


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  2. JacksonLiang

    In response to prompt 3, one function that would convince me to invest in wearable technology is the possibility of immediate feedback on poor procedures. Similar to how feedback works in classical conditioning, immediate feedback is important for learning quickly. In addition, my gross motor and fine motor functions are not in sync at all. I tend to make mistakes with my stance and posture whenever I do new exercises, sometimes leading to strains or sprains shortly afterwards. I’ve read from your OER that haptic feedback suits can provide analysis after an exercise, but wonder if there could ever be chances to get immediate feedback? Like an LED light to show when a posture is not right? Also, this deviates a bit from the discussion question, but would your group happen to know what are most wearable company policies on data collection? I am aware much of the data is invaluable for checking performance. In an educational context, I wonder if data collected is ever used for advertisement or third-party corporations? Thanks for the great OER 🙂


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      Thanks, Jackson! In regards to your first point on wishing to get immediate feedback, the technology is starting to exist. A few people I know have started to use this sensor for skiing: https://getcarv.com/, which provides immediate feedback, check it out. I personally would find it distracting but that’s more so for a skiing environment… I would probably find it helpful in a training and conditioning scenario. As for data collected – that’s a very important point. We noted it as an issue with an open-ended question in our ‘limiting factors’ section. It would be important to review a company’s privacy statement before purchasing, like any other technology. Another piece of knowledge needed for educators in this ever-evolving tech space… how do you get the knowledge as an educator to critically look at a company’s privacy statement? I learned about this in the data analytics course, but that is not widespread knowledge.


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      1. Hayley Mooney

        Hi Jackson, this is also what I was thinking as far as desirable functions in a wearable technology. I could see immediate feedback being useful both for exercise (telling you you’re doing a yoga position incorrectly- I suspect that most people who watch yoga on YouTube are not doing the poses right!) and for recovery exercises from physio (it would be much more motivating doing boring physio exercises if you could actually see that you were doing them correctly and how they were helping you!). I think in these cases immediate feedback would be helpful, rather than distracting (I do agree with you Marie-Eve that it could be highly distracting in some sports where you have a lot to concentrate on already, but other sports, such as running, it would probably be good to focus a runner’s mind on their technique!)


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        1. Kyle

          I use my watch A LOT for this actually; it tells me if I’m bounding too high while running, if my heart rate is too high or if I’m off my intended pace for a workout. IT helps a great deal, and keeps me focused when I can very easily get distracted. I just posted about the education industry not finding room for these devices, but this actually makes me think if there is a device that could send haptic responses to students when they are off-task or not focused, or for other specialized needs they could in fact be pretty useful! There is the obvious downside of student privacy issues that would have to be worked out, but in terms of the technology this could be quite useful.


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  3. brendan stanford

    Hey Team wearable! Thanks for an interesting exploration of the fitness and finance of wearables! Responding to prompt 4, I think the quote that stood out most to me from your OER concerned limitations:

    azonov & Daoud (2021) describe how the “challenge lies in the interpretation of such data streams and connection with health outcomes, using sensor data to guide behavioral interventions and health education” (p.2).

    I have only taught PE one year and spent the rest of my time as a middle school teacher in core subject classes while also dabbling in technology education, and I think that like any technology, an educator must first consider what academic outcome they seek and then consider whether a given technology supports that outcome. For example, I taught a class on VR and fitness where students measured their resting and active heart rates to determine whether the game Beat Saber would qualify as exercise, and I could see how using Apple’s watch rings to monitor student fitness at home could be useful in a week where they try VR out at home. However, considering the extra costs associated with the latter option rather than students simply counting heartbeats themselves in class, I don’t think a wearable actually does much to enhance the activity in that instance.

    Personally, I see the potential of wearables more in terms of how they help students manage their learning. Having an assistant like Siri there at all times who can serve as a quick tutor, calculator or reminder of tasks upcoming would be very beneficial for helping students to increasingly regulate their own learning rather than relying on consistent adult intervention. Furthermore, I think many of the toxic impacts of social media are less of a concern for wearable tech at the moment, and I think wearables are a great way to train students in the responsible use of tech. Those are the applications I could see having the greatest impact in my classroom!


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    1. Wynn Zhang

      Hi Brendan, thanks for your thoughts on wearable technology. We are glad that you found it interesting! As for your concerns, I definitely agree that wearable technology is something that’s difficult to use in a normal classroom setting. As with any technology, it’s only as good as the usage that it has. Speaking to your experience with BeatSaber, I had similar results when I tried it in the classroom, however, I attributed it to the fact that it was mostly for rhythm and timing instead of physical activity. Of course, at the higher level, I’m doing songs with 1500~ notes which is a lot more than the 70 note songs that they typically do as a beginner. However, it’s definitely more of a convenience factor to have a SmartWatch calculate your heart rate for you. As for the social media factors, I do agree that some wearables are continuations of your mobile device, but what do you feel is the potential of the SAFTE model that aims to calculate fatigue for healthy living habits for HACE/wellness units?


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      1. brendan stanford

        Hi Wynn,

        Thanks for the reply! I could definitely see the potential utility of the SAFTE model in a multi-day study context where students monitor their sleep and potentially reflect on how social media might be influencing their long-term sleeping habits. It could certainly reveal some profound insights that may stay with students longer than the typical “social media can be toxic” lesson; showing is always better than telling after all!


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  4. Hayley Mooney

    In response to prompt 1) In your opinion, what is the potential future use of wearable devices, particularly when it comes to sports education? In the near future, it seems like these technologies are fairly limited to elite athletes. I don’t see the technologies that are and will be affordable in education having that much of an impact on sports education. To me things like fitbits are just another distraction to kids which keeps them from doing what they do best, which is running around just for the joy of it. I think we already take up too much of kids time with technology or formal activities which don’t actually have that much active time (commuting to a soccer match where they only play for 15 mins of the game). When it comes to getting kids more active, I think we need less technology than more (take for example, all the kids in my children’s classes who spend the day sitting at their desk shaking their wrists so they can cheat their way to 10000 steps). Keep the tech for the sedentary adults and the elite athletes for now!


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    1. Wynn Zhang

      Hi Hayley, thank you for your thoughts concerning wearable technology. I do agree that wearables are a type of technology that is being advanced in both sophistication in terms of function as well as accessibility for everyone to use. It does seem like there is an antithesis between moving around and technology. Currently, in my class, the majority of students are using wearable technology such as Fitbits and smartwatches as extensions of their mobile devices. However, we were wondering about the safety functions of these devices as they do reduce the amount of injury that appears in all levels of sports. Of course, theory and experiences are very different so I wanted to extend to question to you. Do you have any experiences where an injury, such as a soccer player not sufficiently warming up or someone who is experiencing fatigue pushing themselves and ending up with an injury? What possibilities are there to prevent injuries from using stats provided by wearables?


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      1. Hayley Mooney

        I’m still thinking this is more useful to adults, or elite athletes more than kids, which is what I was considering. I’m thinking the movements of kids in sports are too unpredictable for wearables to help in injury prevention (inevitably, if you make one thing safe, kids will find another way that is unsafe to do it!)


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  5. Nathan Bishop

    2) How could you use wearable technology to enhance healthy lifestyles and/or avoid injury?
    I really like the idea of the Teslasuit or any wearable (or set of wearables) that can track the body’s movements and give tips for adjustment in real time. Just from simple things like reminding people to improve their poster when walking or sitting at their desk to helping people train for high-level sports, the opportunities to help people stay healthy and avoid injury seem endless. In terms of a healthy lifestyle, I think we can all agree that most people lead a lifestyle that is too sedentary. The Fitbit watch has a function that reminds you to get up and be active at certain intervals and also tracks your steps compared to a goal to put things in perspective for you. This is helpful, but it is also easy to just ignore it. I think more integrated wearables, like the Teslasuit, could function to motivate you further simply by providing more details. This is made up, but imagine the suit or some Fitbit Pants told you that you had lost 3% of your leg muscle mass or some amount of bone density by not getting up for a few hours? Would that motivate you more? It would certainly motivate me. I think the current wearables give us a pretty good picture of how much we really need to do for our bodies, but they more advanced they get, the more they can do this. I believe this threshold is different for all people, but once you meet a person’s threshold for showing them the true impact of their lifestyle (good or bad) with the relevant data, you can hit that point of motivation and get them moving. Overall, I really see huge opportunities in terms of training, The boxing exercise that was given just seems amazing to me. You could have a world-class boxer that trained alone in their basement thanks to the tech; that is crazy!


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      Thanks for your reflection, Nathan! I can agree that many of us are too sedentary. I transitioned a couple of years ago from an active job to a (mostly) desk job, and have been really feeling it in my body. I actually didn’t realize how bad it was until I bought a FitBit in November. You are right, though, it is easy to ignore the reminder to move every hour! Overall, I do feel that the data is a good motivator to move and sleep more, especially the weekly summary. Regarding your ‘made up’ piece, I’d love to know my muscular mass easily, especially any asymmetries! I had ACL surgery and although I passed my return to sport test, I still know that one of my legs is weaker. Having ‘FitBit pants’ or a suit would be super helpful 🙂 I’d invest in that.


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      1. mstr

        Hi Nathan and Mev, I had to laugh at “fit pants.” I’m sure people would buy fit suits and fit clothing. My biggest concern should be cost, but I’m actually stuck on how hot they might be! I once tried those compression pants trainers wear underneath shorts and I had to change them, they were just too hot. Maybe the haptic suits will have sort of cooling technology built-in!?


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        1. Marie-Eve Masse

          Your point on how wearable technology clothing could be too hot is a good one, Meagan! I was part of a study for a ‘low-tech’ set of leggings and got a pair for free. They are legging knee braces, which are so much more comfortable than a clunky knee brace (in theory)! However, I do not like the texture of the fabric or the fact that they are ankle-length leggings. My ski boots are a tight fit for performance and I really like to only have my sock there and wear 3/4 length leggings. I am so happy that I didn’t pay the retail price of $500 for them (which can be applied to benefits though). All to say, it seems like texture and breathability also need to be considered in wearable tech. I know that a Vancouver physio/chiro clinic now lends out these pairs of leggings to allow people to give them a try, which is great for an individual who wants to try before they buy. Also – I mentioned these leggings can be paid by a benefits plan – is this the way to go to reduce costs for individuals? If a wearable device promotes health and/or decreases injury potential then why not? Thanks!


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          1. mstr

            Oh cool, how does one become part of these studies? That’s wonderful that some plans are incorporating this into their benefits packages. I’ll have to check mine out!


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            1. Marie-Eve Masse

              It was a right place, right time kind of scenario! My friend coincidentally injured his knee skiing on the same day as me, so we were recovery buddies. He is an Olympian and got invited into the study through his physio. He looked at the criteria and saw that I would qualify (read: athletic enough – lol) and asked them if I could join. You had to be 3-12 months post-ACL surgery along with a few other elements.


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          2. Nathan Bishop

            I really like this idea regarding wearable devices promoting health or decreasing injury and therefore being part of a benefits package. I don’t have numbers on hand, but I would imagine there is a ton of money being spent on preventable injuries and health issue. Even if the tech is expensive, it may actually be cheaper for our country to invest in this for the population than to deal with many of the treatment and recovery costs. I wondered if there were any studies out there about this, and I found this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/05/02/wearable-health-technologies-and-their-impact-on-the-health-industry/?sh=b1794833af5c
            Apparently, the next 25 years could see wearables prosper a global cost savings of $200 billion in the health care sector. Apparently, this is mostly related to predictable things such as heart issues. Pretty interesting!


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            1. Marie-Eve Masse

              Good find, Nathan! Thanks for sharing that article, it is an interesting economic perspective that makes a lot of sense.


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  6. Ally Darling-Beaudoin

    Hello team wearables! Thanks for all of the enlightening info on what does exist out there for wearable tech, it has been eye-opening. I’ve decided to respond to prompt 3) As a consumer, what wearable technology functions could convince you to invest in the product?——–Honestly, I’ve struggled with this question, since I can’t really see a scenario where I would buy wearable tech – anything I need, my smartphone already does, and I’d rather not have two tech products. Perhaps I would be enticed if the data could be easily shared or uploaded to healthcare providers? It would be interesting if, instead of having to go in for a check-up after a surgery or other health matter, you could ‘upload’ your wearable data to your healthcare practitioner, and they could confirm if things looked good. I imagine we are pretty far from that level of reliability, but this could be a real opportunity especially for healthcare services in remote areas!


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    1. hasssae1

      Hi Ally, thank you for reviewing our OER. Glad that you enjoyed our work. Wow, what a cool and relevant idea. In fact, as part of our research we came across Continua Design Guidelines (CDG) that is researching ways to automatically send data from sensors and wearable data to physicians and health providers. In fact, they surveyed a large number of physicians, and 70% of the doctors favored finding a way to automatically send them the data from such devices. Here is the link if you would like to read a bit more on this topic: https://www.pchalliance.org/about-continua


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      1. Ally Darling-Beaudoin

        Saeid, thanks for the link – very interesting! I could see maybe smaller private healthcare practices taking up this torch before larger, public healthcare entities – as always, the problem of data security looms! – but looks like this is further along than I thought! It is interesting to see, once again, how Continua (& many of your other examples) focus on prevention or management BEFORE an injury, rather than treatment afterwards. I suspect we’ll begin to see more of healthcare service mentality shifting in this direction, as well, as we understand more about how to be healthy.


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        1. hasssae1

          Hi Ally, 100% concur, the smaller healthcare practices will probably pick this up first, which is in fact not a bad strategy. It allows the larger (and usually heavier/slower) healthcare practices to monitor the performance and the implementation, and adjust accordingly. Definitely, data security and privacy concerns were a common theme/pattern in all the literature reviews that we conducted. As Mev mentioned in one of her earlier responses here, it would be important to review a company’s privacy statement before purchasing, like any other technology.


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  7. Marie Finch

    Prompt #1. I think the bonus of wearable technology is when it comes to form for skill development as well as injury prevention. The haptic suit doesn’t seem doable for most educational settings due to the cost, but I am sure it would be a great asset for professional teams with deeper pockets. Wearable technology would be great for educators setting goals and challenges for their students to accomplish, but I think there is a caution to be noted when it comes to teachers ( and possibly others) using the information. What is the educator’s role in the student’s lives? Are we talking about K-12 educators using the information? Maybe its not necessary to get that much data to analyze. I think these devices are better suited to doctors, trainers, physiotherapists and other people in the health and wellness fields that would benefit from the information gathered.


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      Hi Marie, Thanks for your thoughts. What do you think about a tool like the Moki device? https://moki.health/ It’s affordable and made for the K-12 environment. Do you think this type of technology is best to street clear from as educators?


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  8. alexis reeves

    Interesting OER! I enjoyed learning about the different types of wearables on the market and what they offer. In response to prompt 1, in your opinion, what is the potential future use of wearable devices, particularly when it comes to sports education? I think the potential is not particularly huge in my opinion but, it may become bigger as the price continues to drop in terms of purchasing these wearable items in bulk for schools for example. I don’t see them as being vital to sports education but, I can see how for students with perhaps existing health conditions such as heart arrhythmias or asthma or for perhaps athletic teams for example in schools they may be helpful by providing data that can ensure health and safety protocols as well as using them to lead to better performance for athletes. I could also see some potential for using them in other areas of education such as science classes to study biology concepts for example in high schools such as physiology.


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    1. mstr

      Hi Alexis, great point – the technology could be provide a measure of safety for students with health conditions!


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    2. Wynn Zhang

      Hi Alexis! Glad to see that you found the OER interesting. I definitely agree that the technology is still developing to create more opportunities for everyone, and not just athletes. The price range is unfeasible for many institutions, but we see it as the potential is there once the suits become more sophisticated in terms of pricing and functionality. In the far future, I’m hopeful that a vision of people using complex wearable technologies as commonly as they would an Apple watch be a reality. Your ideas are very creative as we did not think about how wearables can affect other subjects. Thinking about it more broadly, you can potentially even use it in 3d animation, health, and so many more courses. However, one limitation is whether if public interest would reach the level where people want this kind of technology to exist. Do you think haptic wearable technology gain enough popularity to be developed for the general public?


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      1. alexis reeves

        Hi Wynn, that’s a great point about using the suit for 3-D animation and perhaps even for game making and design as this begins to become a new media literacy in schools over the next few years! I think if the haptic wearable technology becomes perhaps more “wearable” in terms of less bulky and more ‘t-shirt’ like, and with a lower price point, and obvious benefits highlighted through marketing and brand exposure, then it could gain enough popularity to be purchased and embraced by the general public.


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        1. Wynn Zhang

          Hi Alexis, it’s very cool that you mentioned less bulky + more tee like wearable technology. Currently, there exists a type of wearables called Smart Fashion. For instance, there are socks that are basically the same as regular socks, but with the added function of measuring the pressure allocation of their foot to improve running techniques and reducing the risk of injury for around 70 USD. We did not include this in our OER as the technology exists already and we find that the natural next step is to have the smart fashion “talk” back. Do you think there’s a need to have smart fashion that listens to your body to evolve into one that can also talk back? Here’s the link in case you want to check out some of their products by the way. https://store.sensoriafitness.com/


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  9. mstr

    Hello team wearables, great OER! I learned a lot and didn’t realize the technology has become so advanced. In response to prompt 3) As a consumer, what wearable technology functions could convince you to invest in the product? I concur with what many have said already, that once the price tag comes down and this type of technology becomes more affordable I would invest to try it for health and sports reasons. I’m specifically thinking of a haptic sleeve that I can wear on my serving arm for tennis. It would be great if the wearable could tell me my serve speed, and provide data on the amount of pronation, acceleration, etc. I do however have some concerns; I worry about the suits being overly hot, I also am wondering how tech issues or troubleshooting would be addressed?


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      Hi Meagan, Glad you enjoyed our OER! I answered your questions a bit in the discussion with you and Nathan. I’d just like to add that I love you tennis sleeve idea. If you are concerned about heat, then probably sensors would be more useful than a sleeve. According to this article, it looks like there are already some options: https://www.ubitennis.net/2021/01/tennis-in-the-future-an-overview-of-wearables-and-sensors/. As for the cost, your comment above helped me come to the conclusion that our benefits plans should be covering wearable technologies. I recognize that not everyone has extended benefits. However, this would be a start in making it more accessible financially to some. Thank you 🙂


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      1. mstr

        Thanks. Yes, I suppose sensors would make more sense! Wow, thanks for the article, I had no idea tennis had all that tech! I don’t think my level of play warrants these wearables…yet.


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        1. Marie-Eve Masse

          Emphasis on ‘yet’ 🙂


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  10. John Wu

    In your opinion, what is the potential future use of wearable devices, particularly when it comes to sports education? I think there’s good potential for wearables to expand in terms of monitoring and recording biometrics for various purposes. Currently we have mainstream applications such as Fitbits/iWatchs where our heart rate can be displayed at anytime. Perhaps in the future it could be used in situations where injuries can be quickly detected (something like a wearable x-ray), serve as a warning when a certain body part is under strain, reminding the user that they’re dehydrated or alerting the user that their posture is incorrect. As a personal idea for Basketball, I think it would be great if a company could manufacture a wearable which displays information about my shot angle, trajectory and ways to improve in general. On that note, it’s like in games (eg: golf) where there’s a HUD with various gauges which displays information for the user, it might seem like cheating but I can see it being pretty useful for training purposes. Perhaps wearables could even delve into the realm of other cross discipline practices such as medical, physiotherapy, kinetic research and elderly care where the goal is to prevent, care for and educate on our health.


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      Hi John, Thanks for joining in the discussion. Dehydration tracking currently exists, along with a few of the other wearable technologies you mentioned! The issue at this stage is accessibility to the general population due to cost. Along with that, the technology may have been developed, but is the business viable? A few of the basketball wearable tech in this 2020 seem to not exist anymore: https://www.1010deal.com/4-basketball-wearables-to-help-you-score-more-reach-higher-and-perfect-your-game/. I would be so unhappy if I invested in a wearble tech piece and the company went out of business…


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      1. John Wu

        Wow, I never knew that kind of basketball tech existed! Thanks Mev for the info, it seems like there are alot of prototyping concepts/ideas floating around in this area but truly finding a foothold into the consumer market ala Fitbit/iWatch is quite the challenge for most wearable ventures


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  11. John Wu

    As a consumer, what wearable technology functions could convince you to invest in the product? Realistically speaking I think having constant data which reports my health condition is a strong enough motivator to purchase/invest in one. It would be even better if the wearable could go further in depth and show data on the more “internal” aspects such as artery/vein health, muscle and bone condition and ironically, eye health. Most of our time is spent either staring at a monitor or our smartphones, having a pair of high tech glasses which diagnoses our eye health would be fantastic! It would also be great if the wearable was connected to our family doctor! The next suggestion seems farfetched but hopefully it’ll become reality in the future. I would 100% invest if wearables had the ability to heal us such as applying first aid, treating wounds or used for gradually healing the user through high tech means.


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      I love the creativity John – definitely with the eye health and connecting our health information with our doctor. I would see this model being more focused on preventative versus reactive, which I wish our current medicare system had as a focus.


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      1. John Wu

        Thanks for highlighting preventive as a keyword Mev! I agree, wearable techs should definitely be proactive instead of reactive as a form of preventive mechanic/tech, it could even save lives if designed correctly. I recall seeing an ad for iWatch where a mountain biker was injured/passed out and was unable to call for help, his iWatch somehow detected he was in distress and automatically forwarded his GPS location to emergency services


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  12. Aaron Chan

    In response to #3, I’d like to see some sort of wearable in language translation come to market. I’m imagining it would be very powerful software/AI that can leverage existing earphones and mics to permit seamless oral communication in near real-time (like in the movie “The Wandering Earth”). If successful, I think this could have a significant impact on foreign language education.


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    1. Marie-Eve Masse

      That would be wonderful, Aaron! I’d see that breaking down language barriers. I do wonder how that would impact the user trying to learn the language. Would it help or hinder their learning curve? I feel like both sides could be argued.


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  13. mHHm HmmH

    Kudos to you, Wearable Technology! Really great OER.
    3) As a consumer, what wearable technology functions could convince you to invest in the product? A wearable with a sensor that is gentle and unobtrusive when capturing data for young children. I often wonder the long-term impact on children’s mental and physical health if/when they use the device for a long period of time. Another thing to consider is…how accurate is the device in capturing data? Are there technical reliability issues that I should be aware of? These are factors I would consider before I invest in it. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2624015169?https://www.proquest.com/coronavirus/advanced&pq-origsite=summon. Also, it seems like wearables that are quite developed cost quite a lot (i.e.: Haptic suit), but the data it captures is quite rich. I can see this wearables can be a huge benefit in the healthcare / sports category.


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    1. hasssae1

      Thank you for reviewing our work, for sharing the research work, and for the kind words. Looking at the existing literature around the topic of accuracy, I noticed that data accuracy has constantly been ranked as a concern over the last couple decades when it comes to wearable technology. However, companies have had noticeable improvements (thanks to science) in reducing the error rate. For instance, at some point in time, having a median error rate of 6%-7% was fairly acceptable for smart watches, however with the recent advancements, that number is now less than 2%. Also, there appears to be a pattern where accuracy is higher or lower. For instance, when it comes to heart rate, the devices are much more accurate. But, when tracking sleep, there is a huge disagreement out there on how accurate wearable devices are. I have a quick question and I would appreciate your feedback on it. You mentioned that you often wonder about the long-term impact of wearable technology on children’s mental and physical health. Could you please elaborate, particularly from the mental health perspective? I’m interested to learn a bit more. Thank you.


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  14. Anna Ayoung-Stoute

    Congrats, Wearable Technology Team!! Enjoyed reviewing your OER. I will address 4) As an educator, what affordances of wearable technologies could convince you to include such devices as part of your course/curriculum design? Incorporating wearable technology such as GoPros into curriculum design will engage students in learning. They can capture images or videos on a field trip from their perspective and create a story. Therefore, it is a learner-centred opportunity, which many students enjoy being able to have input in their learning process. Another example is smart glasses, whereby students can communicate with their instructors either through voice-command or by sending pictures. This is particularly helpful for STEM learners. Where the student may be in the field or in the midst of a hands-on learning experience. For example, the case study at the University of Missouri: https://showme.missouri.edu/2020/hands-free-technology-exploring-the-possibilities-of-smart-glasses/ As an educator, the GoPro would be particularly valuable as getting the students’ perspective is often challenging in teaching and learning.


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  15. John Wu

    As an educator, what affordances of wearable technologies could convince you to include such devices as part of your course/curriculum design? For (i) smartwatches it’ll probably be used for recording lectures, quizzes/tests, sending notes and voice messages that will be recorded with the help of an app to your smartphone. It could also be used to track a student’s daily classroom activity, the state of their health etc. (ii) Smart glasses: record and save the video and audio of everything that happens in the classroom, take photos and videos (similiar to Google glasses with built in GPS to find the correct classroom etc). (iii) VR devices are also a form of wearable! The Week 5 group covered it in immense detail but some uses for the classroom include increased engagement and interest in the curriculum.


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    1. John Wu

      As a quick follow up question for the team, just wondering what your stance is on Brain sensor devices for education (https://choosemuse.com/) Do you think it’ll be too intrusive in terms of allowing the teacher or professor to see/check a student’s mental activity to determine their understanding of new information/topics?


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      1. Wynn Zhang

        Hi John, thanks for your answers! I think there’s definitely an overlap between VR tech and wearables. We found that they have the potential to complement each other as we move towards a more digital realm of being. I enjoyed reading the Brain Sensor device that you mentioned. I have done some research on brain-computer interfaces and harnessing our brain patterns to directly control devices through wearable technology. While I think it’s an extremely interesting topic, I would caution the use of mental activity as a way for teachers to check on their students. I would personally use it as a way for students to understand more about their own socio-emotional learning and give them tools to really learn about when they perform best so that they can hit those targets. For this particular brand however, I wonder how much of a difference it would be from a device such as a Smart Watch that could also measure heart/stress/sleep waves through statistics associated with brainwaves.


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  16. robyn godard

    Hey – thanks for a great OER this week! I liked how you broke up the engagement pieces.
    I am going to answer # 2: I don’t curently use wearable’s but it is somthing that I have been considering to monitor my health and avoid injuries. A few years ago I trained for a standard triathlon and I think a wearable technology would have been super helpful to understanding how far I trained, my heart rate and even monitering my overall sleep patterns and calories consumed each day. While I tracked some of these things on my phone, the wearable would definitly have provided more accuracy and helped to for me to reflect back on the training that I had done, and see where i could improve and also help to recognize patterns in my activity levels. I think that wearable’s are a great tool for tracking activity and helping to manage training schedules and it is somthing that I am considering purchasing!


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