Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Wearables Head to Tail

Have you sent Santa your list of all the wearables you'll want under the tree this year? Maybe you've asked for a fitness tracker, a health monitor or that fancy new smart watch. But don't stop there!

As we continue to integrate technology with our desire for self-improvement and lifestyle control, a slew of wearables - from arm bands to socks to bras to a dog tail-wagging monitor - will be clipped, adhered, buttoned, inserted, ingested or worn to gather our vitals, movement and lives as we toast 2015 goodbye.

wearing techNaughty or nice, if you're still unsure which wearables you want watching you, Fjord (part of Accenture Interactive) has a nifty infographic showing the multitude of gadgets for various body parts. From the head to upper body to wrists to feet to anywhere, our body has become both the controller and interface according to Fjord. Their research indicates that about 70% of wearables are intended to monitor our body in some way, with the remaining 23 percent designed for communication. 59% of these health-oriented devices monitor your health and 48 percent track fitness. Around 7% can help a person sleep better. Fjord predicts that wearable technology will become a growing trend for health care providers and digital applications for health care organizations have become a growing area of focus for Fjord.

On your head you can wear a smart cycling helmet which takes your pulse and reports it to a smartphone app or a brain activity measurement tool to help understand and improve focus.

On your upper body you can have a sensor and app tell you when you are slumping to improve posture or a t-shirt designed to capture biometrics or even the Microsoft Smart Bra designed to measure perspiration and heart rate in order to detect emotional triggers.

Of course for the wrist we got the smart watches and fitness trackers but there is also devices that can tell you about sun exposure, how much food you've eaten and calories burned during the feeding frenzy.

For your feet and pretty much anywhere on or in your body, there are smart socks that track your running technique with sensors around the ankle, sensors in the sole of shoes to measure motion parameters, gadget sensors that fit in your pocket for movement measurements and even second skin type materials that stick anywhere on the body and provides personalized health data on a variety of measurements. And if that's not enough, there are ingestible sensors that can monitor how much medicine is absorbed by the body and the PillCam that gives you a colonoscopy by having a light and two color video cameras within the pill.

Not to be left out, your pet is also pawing up their list and DogStar Life is working on building TailTalk, a tail-mounted sensor intended to track your dog's emotions based on tail movements. Built into this tail clip-on is an accelerometer and gyroscope so it knows the difference between happy tail-wagging when you walk in the door verses when the tail is tucked or standing at attention. The sensor then sends the information to an app that translates the movement data into emotions, telling you if your dog is stressed, happy or crazy thrilled.

And soon, I'm sure, there will be one that measures your significant other's reaction to the lame gift you got them. Like the evil eye death stare data isn't enough.

ps

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The Wave of Change at Tech Events

ninja bowlI attend a lot of technology trade shows throughout the year and still remember going to my first technology event for F5 back in 2004. Small, almost high school science fair type booths handing out glossy flyers of the latest product along with our famous squeeze balls.

And for the years that followed, the events, booths,sessions and presentations got bigger and better...but the expo vendors were still almost exclusive to technology providers. The attendees came from different industries and walks of life but they were there to learn about the latest tech solutions offered by these semi-tented companies.

Until now.

Recently, at events like MWC, RSA, VMworld and AWS re:Invent, I've started noticing a number of traditionally non-technology specific vendors exhibiting and positioning within technology events. Granted, over the years there have been a smattering of one-offs at events and of course there is CES but these days, there seems to be more historically non-tech companies appearing and exhibiting at tech events.

But it makes total sense.

I really took notice during Mobile World Congress earlier this year where a number of auto manufactures had huge displays showing their software-driven connected cars and how mobile technologies are enabling these internet connected devices. Most auto manufacturers are already partnering with multiple service providers and technology companies to bring mobility, connectivity and interaction to the car.

And then just recently at AWS re:Invent, amongst all the technology companies, there was an apparel, shoe and fitness manufacturer highlighting the technology within their wearables. Along with clothing, these companies are becoming software and data warehouses connecting them directly to the consumer. It is not just about the cool laces anymore, it's about measuring the impact of your foot to the ground and automatically adjusting the cushion. It's about getting instant feedback about your golf swing from the shirt you are wearing. It's about measuring your vitals to ensure your activity is healthy and productive.

And that is all about the embedded technology.

As more home appliances, wearables, automobiles, cameras, fitness trackers, and any other of these sensors and actuators powering the Internet of Things gets connected and generates data, I suspect we'll be seeing more ovens, autos, shoes and other stuff appearing at these industry events.

I think it's an interesting trend to observe.

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Thursday, October 8, 2015

That’s a Wrap from AWS re:Invent 2015

I wrap it up from AWS re:Invent 2015 from the Venetian Sands. Thanks to you for watching this week and special thanks to our guests, Damir Vrankic, Thomas Stanley, Robert Haynes, Alex Applebaum and Brian Pickering along with Jeanette Geary for helping with production. Reporting from Las Vegas, That’s a Wrap!

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AWS re:Invent 2015 – The F5 Ready Program (feat Pickering)

Brian Pickering, Regional VP - Cloud Partners, talks about F5 Ready, a program that makes sure that F5 BIG-IP virtual editions are compatible with a growing list of cloud providers via an F5-driven verification process and flexible licensing and usage models. Gain cloud confidence by extending proven F5 solutions to a broad set of F5 Ready cloud environments with a hybrid delivery model and consistent policies. Take your BIG-IP VE license and run it in the cloud!

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AWS re:Invent 2015 – Programmability in the Cloud (feat Applebaum)

Programmability and orchestration are critically important with cloud deployments and Alex Applebaum, Sr. Product Management Engineer, explains why and talks about ways organizations can use BIG-IP programmability in the cloud. Yet another critical F5 service, always available on the BIG-IP platform, now enabled for the cloud.

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