Are We the Frontier for Wearable Technolgy?

The Apple Watch: no matter who you are, where you live, and whether you are in a position to be able to afford one is beyond the point, you've doubtlessly heard about it by now. This is almost undoubtedly the first application that the average American has leap to mind when they hear the phrase “wearable technologies”. If you’re like most people in Kansas, you see it as something that needs to be on sale a few years before you consider buying one, to “let them work the bugs out” first. This is traditionally the way of things, that the coastal regions of North America experiment with new technologies and products and then those concepts migrate into the heartland in time. But for once, Rebecca Bradley of Forbes says, we might be on the cutting edge of a new technology, even before the pop culture-savvy Californians and New Yorkers. (You can find the original article on Forbes' website here: Forbes)

This comes as many Universitites and private companies, particularly in the state of Ohio due to the nature of the public universities there, are looking for the opportunities in the wearable technology fields. This is creating some interesting biases towards Midwestern lifestyles in the development of these products. For example, while persons rarely suffer heart attacks and strokes without someone noticing on the job in an urban environment, the likelihood for someone to die and not be found for hours increases greatly when one takes a job as a ranch hand on a secluded western Nebraska ranch that stretches for miles. Hence, the advances in wearable technology now allow that ranch hand to wear clothing that monitors his or her vital functions, so that the employer can contact emergency services immediately, potentially saving that employee’s life. 

                                                         (Photo by Moyan Brenn)

               Another pioneering achievement in wearable technology being developed at a firm called Sportsgaurd Laboratories in Kent, Ohio, is also deeply rooted in Midwestern culture. The company has created a football mouthpiece that monitors important statistics on football players, mainly the impact levels that their brain has sustained. This helps prevent injuries and also helps players understand where they are in regards to their health during practice or a game. It also is beneficial to the paramedics who work in football-related environments, as there would be no guessing with this system as to the level of concussion a player may have suffered.

                                                           (Photo by Cbl62)

If you were the owner of a company here in the Midwest that posed a serious health hazard to its employees, would you spend part of the budget on wearable technologies?