IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i5p466-d69799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Wearables: Wearable Technology for Enhancing the Quality of Human Life

Author

Listed:
  • Jaewoon Lee

    (Department of Digital Media, Graduate School, Soongsil University, 369 Sangdo-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06978, Korea)

  • Dongho Kim

    (Department of Digital Media, Graduate School, Soongsil University, 369 Sangdo-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06978, Korea)

  • Han-Young Ryoo

    (Division of Digital Media, Graduate School, Ewha Woman’s University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760, Korea)

  • Byeong-Seok Shin

    (Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Korea)

Abstract

This paper aims to elicit insights about sustainable wearables by investigating recent advancements in wearable technology and their applications. Wearable technology has advanced considerably from a technical perspective, but it has stagnated due to barriers without penetrating wider society despite early positive expectations. This situation is the motivation behind the focus on studies by many research groups in recent years into wearable applications that can provide the best value from a human-oriented perspective. The expectation is that a new means to resolve the issue can be found from a viewpoint of sustainability; this is the main point of this paper. This paper first focuses on the trend of wearable technology like bodily status monitoring, multi-wearable device control, and smart networking between wearable sensors. Second, the development intention of such technology is investigated. Finally, this paper discusses about the applications of current wearable technology from the sustainable perspective, rather than detailed description of the component technologies employed in wearables. In this paper, the definition of sustainable wearables is discussed in the context of improving the quality of individual life, social impact, and social public interest; those wearable applications include the areas of wellness, healthcare, assistance for the visually impaired, disaster relief, and public safety. In the future, wearables will not be simple data trackers or fun accessories but will gain extended objectives and meanings that play a valuable role for individuals and societies. Successful and sustainable wearables will lead to positive changes for both individuals and societies overall.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaewoon Lee & Dongho Kim & Han-Young Ryoo & Byeong-Seok Shin, 2016. "Sustainable Wearables: Wearable Technology for Enhancing the Quality of Human Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:5:p:466-:d:69799
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/466/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/466/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gjulio Ashta & Serena Finco & Daria Battini & Alessandro Persona, 2023. "Passive Exoskeletons to Enhance Workforce Sustainability: Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-26, April.
    2. Xin Liao & Dongming Wu & Qianqian Zhang & Ge Han, 2021. "How to Improve Users’ Loyalty to Smart Health Devices? The Perspective of Compatibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Calautit, Katrina & Nasir, Diana S.N.M. & Hughes, Ben Richard, 2021. "Low power energy harvesting systems: State of the art and future challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Lusha Huang & Newman Lau, 2020. "Enhancing the Smart Tourism Experience for People with Visual Impairments by Gamified Application Approach through Needs Analysis in Hong Kong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, August.
    5. Inje Cho & Kyriaki Kaplanidou & Shintaro Sato, 2021. "Gamified Wearable Fitness Tracker for Physical Activity: A Comprehensive Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Farnad Nasirzadeh & Mostafa Mir & Sadiq Hussain & Mohammad Tayarani Darbandy & Abbas Khosravi & Saeid Nahavandi & Brad Aisbett, 2020. "Physical Fatigue Detection Using Entropy Analysis of Heart Rate Signals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Olga Gurova & Timothy Robert Merritt & Eleftherios Papachristos & Jenna Vaajakari, 2020. "Sustainable Solutions for Wearable Technologies: Mapping the Product Development Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Papa, Armando & Mital, Monika & Pisano, Paola & Del Giudice, Manlio, 2020. "E-health and wellbeing monitoring using smart healthcare devices: An empirical investigation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Ilaria Pigliautile & Guido Marseglia & Anna Laura Pisello, 2020. "Investigation of CO 2 Variation and Mapping Through Wearable Sensing Techniques for Measuring Pedestrians’ Exposure in Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Rainer Alt, 2020. "Electronic Markets on sustainability," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 30(4), pages 667-674, December.
    11. Song, Chie Hoon & Elvers, David & Leker, Jens, 2017. "Anticipation of converging technology areas — A refined approach for the identification of attractive fields of innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 98-115.
    12. Chenming Peng & Hong Zhao & Sha Zhang, 2021. "Determinants and Cross-National Moderators of Wearable Health Tracker Adoption: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Jong Hyuk Park & Han-Chieh Chao, 2017. "Advanced IT-Based Future Sustainable Computing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-4, May.
    14. Kim, Ki-Hun & Kim, Kwang-Jae & Lee, Dae-Ho & Kim, Min-Geun, 2019. "Identification of critical quality dimensions for continuance intention in mHealth services: Case study of onecare service," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 187-197.
    15. Man Lai Cheung & Ka Yin Chau & Michael Huen Sum Lam & Gary Tse & Ka Yan Ho & Stuart W. Flint & David R Broom & Ejoe Kar Ho Tso & Ka Yiu Lee, 2019. "Examining Consumers’ Adoption of Wearable Healthcare Technology: The Role of Health Attributes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, June.
    16. Surapree Maolikul & Thira Chavarnakul & Somchai Kiatgamolchai, 2019. "Market Opportunity Analysis in Thailand: Case of Individual Power Sources by Thermoelectric-Generator Technology for Portable Electronics," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(03), pages 1-24, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:5:p:466-:d:69799. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.