There is little debate that wearable computing will become a much more prominent feature of our daily lives. In McKinsey Global Institute’s May 2013 report on disruptive technologies,127 six of the twelve identified technologies are already clearly part of the wearable computing landscape: inexpensive mobile computing, intelligent software systems, low-cost sensors, cloud technology, advanced energy storage and advance materials.
Wearable computing is a significant development in its own right; however, it would be a mistake to study it in isolation. Its true significance for the privacy landscape will be revealed when its capabilities are combined with other innovations shaping our world today that also track our activities, movements, behaviours and preferences. This trend may well affect our private lives, but our workplaces as well. For example, Hitachi’s Business Microscope128 identity badge, which contains embedded infrared sensors, an accelerometer and a microphone sensor, purports to capture the interaction patterns in the workplace but also the quality of employee collaboration. Monitoring of our emotions, health status and the quality of our human interactions strikes at the very core of our most intimate selves.
Once the stuff of science fiction, integration of cameras and sensors within the body also seems likely, particularly where there is a need to supplement or augment human functions. For example, researchers at Princeton University have used 3-D printing tools to merge electronics with tissue to create a functional ear that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.129 In the field of epidermal electronics,130 health-monitoring devices mounted onto human skin, like temporary tattoos, are being developed to diagnose and monitor conditions like heart arrhythmia or sleep disorders noninvasively. The US Navy is looking at next-generation bio-monitors, in the form of temporary tattoos, to track soldiers’ stress indicators such as heart-rate, temperature or bio-electric response during various training situations.131
Examples like these demonstrate just how deeply integrated wearable technologies can become with our bodies and minds. They pose profound changes for the ways we can be tracked and evaluated by others. While wearable computing technologies have the potential to improve the lives of many people, the potential for social upheaval and surveillance remains profound.
There is little debate that wearable computing will become a much more prominent feature of our daily lives. In McKinsey Global Institute’s May 2013 report on disruptive technologies,127 six of the twelve identified technologies are already clearly part of the wearable computing landscape: inexpensive mobile computing, intelligent software systems, low-cost sensors, cloud technology, advanced energy storage and advance materials.Wearable computing is a significant development in its own right; however, it would be a mistake to study it in isolation. Its true significance for the privacy landscape will be revealed when its capabilities are combined with other innovations shaping our world today that also track our activities, movements, behaviours and preferences. This trend may well affect our private lives, but our workplaces as well. For example, Hitachi’s Business Microscope128 identity badge, which contains embedded infrared sensors, an accelerometer and a microphone sensor, purports to capture the interaction patterns in the workplace but also the quality of employee collaboration. Monitoring of our emotions, health status and the quality of our human interactions strikes at the very core of our most intimate selves.Once the stuff of science fiction, integration of cameras and sensors within the body also seems likely, particularly where there is a need to supplement or augment human functions. For example, researchers at Princeton University have used 3-D printing tools to merge electronics with tissue to create a functional ear that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capability.129 In the field of epidermal electronics,130 health-monitoring devices mounted onto human skin, like temporary tattoos, are being developed to diagnose and monitor conditions like heart arrhythmia or sleep disorders noninvasively. The US Navy is looking at next-generation bio-monitors, in the form of temporary tattoos, to track soldiers’ stress indicators such as heart-rate, temperature or bio-electric response during various training situations.131Examples like these demonstrate just how deeply integrated wearable technologies can become with our bodies and minds. They pose profound changes for the ways we can be tracked and evaluated by others. While wearable computing technologies have the potential to improve the lives of many people, the potential for social upheaval and surveillance remains profound.
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