Why wearables should be expanded with environmental monitoring capabilities

There have been innovations in wearable technology since at least the 1960s and 1970s that just haven't reached commercial scale for a variety of reasons. The lack of a well-positioned functionality aspect is a major reason for this. The concept of wearables is currently a hot topic. From the initial "call to action", to Samsung officially launched the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, the dream is becoming a reality. However, there are many different opinions about what functions wearable devices should have and what their appearance should look like. This article intends to talk about the environmental monitoring function of wearable devices. The concept of smart wearables, including smartwatches and smart glasses, is not a recent one, but has been around for decades. There have been innovations in wearable technology since at least the 1960s and 1970s, but they just didn't come to commercial scale for a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons for this is the lack of a good position in terms of functionality. In the functional conception of wearable devices, there has been a prediction of roulette, there has been a massage for the cervical spine, there has been an intervention in brainwave hypnosis. Now there are a large number of functions of the smartphone, such as multimedia technology transplanted to the smartwatch and other attempts, so people can not help but doubt: since the smartphone can already solve a lot of communication and multimedia technology problems, why do we need to get a smartwatch (or other wearable devices)? In fact, developers have long been aware of this problem, try to expand some new functions, such as temperature measurement, blood pressure, etc., so that wearable devices and medical and human science together. Some sports bracelets that have been marketed in China, which can count steps and measure the number of calories consumed during exercise, are attempts in this regard. These innovations combined with sensing technology have opened up a new path for electronic devices. The author believes that it may be worthwhile to do some environmental monitoring in this direction to expand, it will increase the market popularity of wearable devices. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, human needs can be divided into five, like a ladder from low to high, according to the level by level, respectively: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, the need for respect, the need for self-actualization. Physiological needs can generally be satisfied by people nowadays. The next is the need for safety, that is, the need to ensure that physical and mental health are not threatened, which is what people are most concerned about. In fact, quite a few people today still struggle with this level of need. We are often in environments that pose a threat to our health, such as high levels of air pollution, noise pollution, various types of radiation, extreme weather, and so on. What's even worse is that we are often in such environments without even realizing it, such as air pollution, radiation, and so on. This time we need a smart wearable device to give us timely reminders: "your surrounding air PM2.5 exceeds the standard", "your surrounding environment radiation exceeds the standard", "your surrounding environment formaldehyde exceeds the standard ", "You are in excessively cold weather" and so on. When we are alerted, we can immediately feel the imminent threat and take measures to change the environment we are in. Excessively low and high temperatures are different for individuals, who can set a threshold according to their own physical condition. It can be a timely reminder to some "lazy people" that you need to add more clothes, or that you need to cool yourself down from the heat. People's concern for their own safety is an innate instinct. Unfortunately, today's human beings are often exposed to a wide range of environmental threats as a result of their lives and work. If wearable devices could be expanded to include environmental monitoring, people would love them. Of course, technically, these features may require the integration of a variety of different sensors, which is also a new challenge. In the actual product, facing different people, the development of wearable devices with different sensing devices is a better choice. For example, the development of radiation protection equipment for white-collar workers, for miners to develop gas concentration detection equipment. In terms of environmental monitoring, wearable devices also have a unique advantage over smartphones. Cell phones are often placed in bags or pockets, and they are not always in direct contact with the environment. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches, are naturally in the environment where humans live, and the environmental data they collect is the most up-to-date and realistic. This is an advantage that smartphones do not have. This is undoubtedly a major boon for developers and the market.