The hope for mainstream of adoption of wearables in healthcare are a lost cause for some, but continues to be a long-term goal for the likes of Fitbit and others. But a post on Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers’ blog this week pushes for technology companies to address a boring, cumbersome, yet practical reality: the need for better battery life.
“Our wearable devices should last weeks and months, not hours and days. Power consumption of key components like processors, radios, memories, and sensors are the primary culprit,” the report read.
The power consumption issue is something that isn’t limited to activity trackers and smartwatches, but virtual reality headsets as well. Power consumption challenges hampering wearables advancement is a concern that’s shared by Gary Strumolo, the manager for Vehicle Design and Infotronics, Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Co.
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The post called for a redesign of key components that can consume less power. What’s needed is a restructure of the system architecture of wearables as well as the “building-block device structures for displays, processors, memories, sensors, radios and batteries.”
It’s the kind of hardware evolution that enabled the shift from desktop to laptop computers or laptops to tablets and flip phones to smartphones. Someone recently ridiculed my large laptop for being “practically a desktop.” Eventually, the post contends, we will get to the point where data collection is passive and as easy as throwing on a shirt embedded with sensors.
I agree that making wearable devices easier to use and retrieve data from through better power conservation is a crucial challenge that needs to be met. I’d argue that just as pressing for technology companies to adequately address are concerns over data sharing and how users go about opting in or out, and ensuring the security of personal health data. If technology companies were more transparent about these practices, I think that would go some ways to boosting consumer confidence.
Although these issues are raised more and more frequently, it’s important to address them while we’re still in the early innings of wearables development, to borrow the post’s sports analogy.
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Photo: Flickr user Heidi Forbes Öste
