Credits: Social Media
Smart earrings could replace smartwatches, and already ‘outperform’ in one key area
Smart earrings are now here and are already outperforming other popular devices, but could they really replace smartwatches?
It seems like every accessory is smart these days: smartwatches, smart rings, smart sunglasses all of which provide users with a constant supply of pings and notifications during their day-to-day lives. Yet new technology is attempting to find its own niche in the market, smart earrings, which are said to be outperforming your traditional smart watch in one key area.
Smart earrings outperform smartwatches in one key area
Researchers from the University of Washington have recently unveiled the Thermal Earring, a smart device that anyone can wear from their earlobe that tracks body temperature.
After an initial round of testing, the Thermal Earring outperformed a smartwatch at sensing skin temperature during periods of rest, as well as showing promise for monitoring signs of stress, eating, exercise and ovulation.
It turns out that monitoring your body temperature is far more accurate on the earlobe than on the hand or wrist, with the dangling of earrings also meaning that you can better separate room temperature from skin temperature.
I wear a smartwatch to track my personal health, but Ive found that a lot of people think smartwatches are unfashionable or bulky and uncomfortable, explained lead author Qiuyue Shirley Xue.
The smart earrings also had a 28-day battery life, much more than the typical 2-3 days of charge that you get with most modern smartwatches and can be customized with unique designs such as in the shape of a flower or with a gemstone.
The hope is that smart earrings could be used for things like continuous fever monitoring or even ovulation:
Current wearables like Apple Watch and Fitbit have temperature sensors, but they provide only an average temperature for the day, and their temperature readings from wrists and hands are too noisy to track ovulation.
So we wanted to explore unique applications for the earring, especially applications that might be attractive to women and anyone who cares about fashion, said Xue.
Could smart earrings replace smartwatches altogether?
There is a possibility that smart earrings could replace smart watches altogether, but the devices need to have a lot more functionality than simply reading body temperature before catching on with consumers.
Smart watches are used for a variety of purposes, such as text and calls, as well as third-party notifications like emails and social media updates all functions that smart earrings currently fail to incorporate.
However, since a large number of consumers still primarily use smart devices to monitor their health, there is a gap in the market that these earrings could be pierced into.
In fact, lead author Xue wants to develop a whole range of smart jewelry options next:
Eventually, I want to develop a jewelry set for health monitoring. The earrings would sense activity and health metrics such as temperature and heart rate, while a necklace might serve as an electrocardiogram monitor for more effective heart health data.
So, whilst smart earrings might be a long way off from replacing your conventional smartwatch, this new innovative technology will undoubtedly lead to new and improved personal health monitoring systems down the road.
