Fitness trackers, as they are now, are quite amazing when you think about it. Just 10 years ago, today’s average Fitbit would be seen as a feat of modern technology – because it is. Still, as much as we may love our smart watches and bands, there’s still a lot to be improved upon. And, looking out into the future of fitness trackers, there’s quite a bit to be excited about.
Smaller, Stylish, and Incognito
While it’s not uncommon to see friends, family, and coworkers sporting fitness trackers on their wrists, it’s a bit of a stretch to call them a very credible fashion statement. As it stands, most fitness trackers and smartwatches are big and bulky, which doesn’t really make for good fashion.
This isn’t a secret to the wearable technology manufacturers, it’s just that the technology isn’t quite there yet. We’ll soon be seeing fitness bands get slimmer and sleeker as microchips get denser and displays become higher in resolution. The real goal here is to eventually make the trackers be indistinguishable from regular watches or bracelets. While the technological abilities of fitness trackers are arguably their most important feature, it wouldn’t hurt for them to look more fashionable, would it?
Data That’s More Accurate and More In-Depth
After some time, you can become accustomed to the fact that a thing on your wrist can keep count of how many steps you take, where you walk and run, and how many calories you burn. It’s amazing stuff, really. But, unfortunately, this data tends to be a little unreliable, sometimes over- or undershooting your activities and giving you a fitness report you should take with a grain of salt.
With the hardware inside fitness trackers becoming smaller and more complex, you can also expect it to be more accurate — and even provide you with new types of data. One feature that’s becoming more popular on fitness trackers is a sensor that reads your heart rate, providing a more accurate estimate of how many calories you’ve burnt. What else is in the future? There’s talk of new sensors that can read your sweat to give insight into things like your sugar levels and hydration.
A Better Picture of Your Health
Right now, your fitness data is between you, the people you choose to share it with, and the services who store your data. And while that data — how much you weigh and what you ate and did each day — isn’t super complex, as fitness tracking data becomes more detailed, it will begin to take on more and more importance in guiding your health. Who better to share that data with than your doctor, who will be able to give you more accurate advice based on a larger data set?
Better yet, why not let the computers decide for you? We already use software tied to our fitness trackers to help us come up with fitness plans, but as we begin to track new data points like fat levels and hydration, services will give us better advice that’s better tailored to our lives. Although it’s tough to imagine that computers will completely replace doctors someday, it’s not a stretch to say that fitness tech will prevent us from having to go to the doctor’s as frequently. In fact, if you use a fitness tracker to keep your health in line, that future has already begun.
[Image via Getty]
