Recent updates within the wearables sector are bringing futuristic visions to life. From AR smart glasses with real-time narration to smart gumshields that measure impact, the wearables sector is expanding to cover a multitude of markets. IDTechEx's portfolio of Wearable Technology Research Reports and Subscriptions is home to the latest research.
Smart glasses for real-time accessibility features
For people who may be hard of hearing, accessibility features of smart glasses such as real-time narration could assist with understanding conversations and contextualising surroundings. In busy cities, the need to look down at a phone screen for navigation could be a thing of the past, as a map feature could appear in the lens of the glasses with a simple connection to a smartphone. Augmented reality (AR) refers to an experience whereby digital content is overlayed onto the real world, meaning directions, messages, or other information can be supplementary to a person's everyday environment, and new accessible possibilities can be created that enhance regular experiences. Other uses for AR glasses could include capturing live photos and videos without the press of a button, accessing music libraries, experiencing virtual gaming such as superimposed archery, and seeing visual enhancements such as speed and distance tracking for sports.
IDTechEx's report, "Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2026-2036: Technologies, Forecasts, Markets", explores a wider range of optical technologies serving mixed reality (XR) devices, encompassing AR and VR, which range from low immersion to complete immersion. While virtual reality is widely used for entertainment purposes, such as gaming headsets, many XR devices could offer a variety of benefits. After coming down from the great hype surrounding these products when they first emerged, many devices could not only increase accessibility, but also productivity, and bring about educational opportunities too, such as for medical training purposes.
Smart gumshields and sleep tracking
Wearable sensors come in all shapes and sizes and refer to sensors integrated within devices that can be worn close to the body to achieve accurate, real-time results. Alongside wearable sensors for medical purposes like continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) patches, explored in IDTechEx's report, "Diabetes Management Technologies 2027-2037: Markets, Players, and Forecasts", these applications have their place within sports fields, nighttime routines, and everyday errands.
Smart gumshields worn by sports professionals can record the significance of an impact to the head and provide data that could determine whether a player should sit out or continue playing. This kind of wearable device could be pivotal in increasing safety during rough contact sports such as rugby and allow players to have a better understanding of their wellbeing following a game. For more passive applications, smartwatches and smart rings can track quality of sleep, steps, and heart rate, with smart rings also able to track fertility. These devices worn around the clock by more and more people are creating a wider picture of long-term personal health data.
Clothes that track health data could also become popular in the future, so forgetting to put on a smart watch won't mean forgoing biometric tracking. IDTechEx's report, "Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts", explores the possibility of sensors being integrated into clothing for an even more discreet and streamlined use of wearable technologies that could track metrics such as heart rate and temperature.
For more information on the wearables market as a whole, visit IDTechEx's portfolio of Wearable Technology Research Reports and Subscriptions for the latest devices, developments and forecasts.
