My feed on Twitter Inc (NASDAQ:TWTR) has been busy with posts about wearables and wearable tech. It’s one of my areas of focus, along with other emerging areas such as machine vision and autonomous transportation.
Some wearables have been duds: The super-hyped Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Watch appear to be falling flat, as was feared, especially the outrageously priced yet underwhelming Edition version. The most accurate Apple analyst is cutting sales estimates for the wearable, citing weak demand. KGI Securities now predicts Apple will ship 15 million watches this year, about half the original forecast.
But it’s bionics — the marrying of man and machine — that’s really catching my fancy when it comes to wearables. From Elysium to Edge of Tomorrow and video games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Deus Ex, we’ve seen creative minds wonder about what the future would look like when people use the power of technology to augment themselves.
We’re not talking text alerts on your wrist; but the power to run faster, jump higher and lift more, not to mention remember more, process information more quickly and see better.
Already, we’re seeing the technology mature in the area of repair and rehabilitation. Dr. Hugh Herr of MIT recently strode across a stage at the South by Southwest convention on two bionic legs attached below the knee.
Unlike regular prosthetics, his new legs use processing power to observe and provide a natural gait. It’s a cool trick. And a very impressive response to Herr’s double amputation in 1982 after suffering severe frostbite injuries during a mountain climbing expedition. Herr got attention for developing a limb for a 2013 Boston marathon bombing victim who was able to dance again.
Israeli biotech company ReWalk Robotics Ltd (NASDAQ:RWLK) is another player in the field, developer of the first and only exoskeleton cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to help those with spinal cord injuries stand upright and walk. This is a very specialized market, but fascinating.
But according to Herr, augmentation of otherwise healthy bodies is where things get really fun. He notes that bionic legs are lighter than flesh and blood, making pull-ups easier. His team showed a set of leg enhancement braces that, after 20 minutes of use, make your natural legs feel “slow and stupid.” He rock climbs with a set of 5-foot leg extensions.
Click to Enlarge South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co (OTC:SSNLF) is getting in the game according to a recent patent filing for a wearable power suit — indicating the mainstream companies are now getting involved in the field.
It’s not clear Samsung will take the patent to prototype, let alone production, but it speaks volumes about fast the present is moving towards the future for wearables.
Japanese firm Cyberdyne Inc — with a name straight out of the Terminator movies — is even further along in the development of a full-body power suit.
As you can see, pioneers are moving well beyond the concept of “wearable” to just “able,” as specialized chips and software will combine to improve the species — and not just know when we’ve got a new reply on Twitter.
Research: Anthony Mirhaydari
Jon Markman writes a daily trading newsletter, Trader’s Advantage, and CounterPoint Options, a service geared towards helping individual traders make steady, consistent profits with the VIX. Check out his Top Stock for 2015 here.
