The Future of Wearable Technology

Where do we go from here? LEAD analyst Kaiwen Liu takes a look at a booming market.

The Future of Wearable Technology

Wearables have augmented and changed the ways people think about movement and recovery in relation to health, and the technology will continue to have a wide range of applications, from performance optimization and injury prevention to biomedical monitoring and preventive care. Personal ownership of smartwatches and wearables has risen over the past years, with about six in 10 consumer households owning a wearable and 87% of wearable owners using it to track heart rate, workout duration, and sleep quality, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte. The market for wearable technology is expected to continue to grow, as 75% of all consumers surveyed by McKinsey expressed an openness to using a wearable at some point in the future. Today, we live in an era where technology can tell us the estimated calories burned, how hard our workout sessions were, and how well we slept. In the future, wearable technology will alert consumers about oncoming illnesses, help manage chronic conditions, and potentially allow doctors to provide more personalized care focused on disease prevention and less on sick care.

Starting from tracking steps and estimated calories burned in the late 2000s, both hardware and software advancements have allowed wearables to track an increasing amount of data with greater accuracy. Whoop, a company that has its origins in professional sports with LeBron James and Michael Phelps as two of its first 100 users, is now shipping to 56 countries and can monitor respiratory rate, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and more. In 2021, Whoop was valued at $3.6B.

Becoming Medical-grade

With advanced algorithms, existing hardware today can already detect early signs of illness before symptoms appear, and as technology advances, medical-grade physiological monitoring will become increasingly available to consumers. The Samsung Galaxy Watches provide an FDA-authorized sleep apnea detection technology and an FDA-cleared Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification feature. Apple, on the other hand, saw its atrial fibrillation (AFiB) tool recently qualified by the FDA for use in clinical trials. OxiWear, a portfolio company of LEAD, provides continuous, real-time blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate measurements for individuals with chronic diseases, and the wearable technology recently received FDA clearance as a medical device for use in both clinical and home settings. As consumer wearables provide more medical-grade capabilities, preventive care and improved chronic disease management will become more accessible.

One of the success stories of wearable technology is continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for people with diabetes. Abbott’s Freestyle Libre and the Dexcom G7 can be worn for 10 to 14 days, testing glucose every few minutes and wirelessly transmitting the data without fingersticks. Expanding the functionalities of CGMs, Levels Health, a startup backed by a16z, shows the metabolic impact of the diet by matching blood sugar data to food logs. Appealing to health-conscious individuals who want to gain a better insight into their health, companies like Samsung, Apple, and Alphabet have all been reported in recent years for their efforts to create a product that’s needle-free and continuous.

Other Forms of Wearables

Moving beyond the wrist, bicep, and fingers, clothing is a useful medium to apply sensors across larger areas of the body. Sensoria Health offers smart socks that track cadence and foot landing techniques as well as shirts that measure heart rate. Leveraging its FDA-cleared technology for personal use, Biotricity offers a chest strap that provides continuous heart monitoring capabilities. As technology continues to advance, sensors will become increasingly integrated into the fabric and capture more biomarkers and biomechanical data.

Perhaps Not a Miracle for Everyone

Advancements in wearable technology will certainly be life-changing for people with serious chronic conditions, as real-time vital monitoring and emergency alerts will reduce healthcare costs and save lives. Additionally, connected technology increases functionality and helps high-performing individuals prepare for competitions and recover post-game at a faster rate. However, the ubiquitousness of man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs) / electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in an ever more intimate setting poses health concerns, from potential increased oxidative stress to a decrease in overall sperm quality. In some unfortunately ironic ways, people with adverse conditions that compromise the body’s defense mechanism are more prone to experience health effects from oxidative stress, but they are also likely to benefit from some form of continuous physiological monitoring.

Advanced wearable technology doesn't have to be wirelessly connected, and material science has proven to enhance cellular functions without the potential downsides of man-made EMFs/EMR. A great example is CELLIANT©, a product of Hologenic. CELLIANT© is a medical device determined by the FDA. By applying a blend of natural, infrared-emitting minerals to the fabric, CELLIANT© transforms bodily heat into full-spectrum infrared energy and has been demonstrated to increase local circulation and improve cellular oxygenation. Today, consumers can readily purchase CELLIANT© technology at Under Armour, DFND, and Kymira.

As both hardware and software continue to improve, medical-grade physiological monitoring will become more accessible and play an increasingly important role in people’s lives. Entrepreneurs creating next-generation connected wearable devices will make purchasing decisions much easier for consumers when they optimize the benefits and limit the potential downsides.