Wearable tech extends back to early 20th century

April 25, 2015

With the arrival of everything from mobile biomarker monitors to smart watches, we are well into the era of technological haute couture—or not. “Whether or not these devices are actually fashionable remains up for debate—but if history is any indication, we can expect to keep seeing wearables integrated into the style of the day,” writes Erica Schwiegershausen in New York Magazine.

She adds this observation: “With all of the recent fashion-industry hoopla around the Apple Watch, Google Glass, and other dubiously cool smartbracelets and fitness trackers, it can be easy to overlook the fact that the concept of wearable technology isn’t actually all that new.”

As evidence, she presents a slideshow of wearable tech extending back to an early 20th century acoustic headset, a 1934 “portable” stereo, and the 1977 calculator watch. You can view the slideshow here.

About the Author

Rick Nelson | Contributing Editor

Rick is currently Contributing Technical Editor. He was Executive Editor for EE in 2011-2018. Previously he served on several publications, including EDN and Vision Systems Design, and has received awards for signed editorials from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He began as a design engineer at General Electric and Litton Industries and earned a BSEE degree from Penn State.

Sponsored Recommendations

Comments

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!