'Wearables' likely to be on high-tech gift list

With Thanksgiving tomorrow and Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas less than a month away, 'tis the season for food, family and friends.

And, lest we forget, it is also the season for giving gifts. While shopping for the little ones may be relatively easy, it can be more challenging to pick the perfect present for that special someone or the person who has just about everything.

Those of us in technology-related jobs often get asked this time of year for our opinions on the best computer to buy a soon-to-be high school graduate, or the latest gadget for a technology lover in the family. If you're considering the gift of technology this year, "wearables" are likely to be on your list.

Wearable technology is simply defined — it refers to electronic or computer-powered devices that are designed to be worn by a user.

The goal of wearable technology is to create a seamlessly integrated experience between the device and the user, where the person wearing the device does not have to do anything special — or at all — to engage the technology in the device.

This contrasts to a "regular," non-wearable computer, where one must specifically interact with the device in order for it to do something.

While wearable technology has a distinctly futuristic and "Star Trek"-like sound to it, in actuality, wearables have been around for quite some time.

These devices first became popular and mainstream in the health and wellness category, starting with single-purpose devices like pedometers and heart-rate monitors. Today, there is a plethora of relatively low-cost wearable devices that support health and fitness, including multi-function activity trackers that monitor calories, steps, sleep and more from companies like Fitbit, iFit, Nike and Garmin, to name a few.

Moving beyond wellness-related devices, interest and adoption of wearable technology watches — or "smart" watches — has risen dramatically over the last year or so, as has the number of smart watches now or soon to be available to consumers.

These devices range in terms of capabilities — from offering the ability to see and respond to text messages, to recording video, to answering phone calls, accessing apps, and more —as well as in corresponding costs (costs range from $100-400, typically).

Some devices combine the capabilities of a "traditional" smart watch along with those of an activity monitor, offering an even more robust feature set.

Smart watches often require a connection with a smartphone to be fully functional. Some, like the Pebble watch, can connect to a variety of devices, while others, such as Samsung's Galaxy Gear, can connect only to the same brand of phone.

If considering a smart watch as a gift, it will be important to know what type of smartphone your recipient has, as well as which features and functionality are most important to them.

There are a number of smart-watch manufacturers already and more entering the marketplace every day. Apple, for example, announced it will be releasing its iWatch in early 2015.

Google is also investing heavily in wearable technology with its Android Wear line of smart watches, but the tech giant is perhaps better known for its more futuristic wearables —Google Glass.

At $1,500 a pair, Glass isn't cheap, but it truly represents the next generation of mobile computing. Glass can provide location-specific navigation, a listing of nearby restaurants or services, currency conversion, reminders, the ability to take a photo or video and more — all in the wearer's line of sight, based on embedded GPS and voice commands.

We can expect to see more wearable technology entering the market soon, at all price points.

At the annual Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year, manufacturers introduced wearables that included smart jewelry with embedded emergency notification capabilities, pet activity trackers, sports gloves and virtual-reality accessories.

Raechelle Clemmons is vice president and chief information officer at St. Norbert College. She can be reached at raechelle.clemmons@snc.edu. You can also follow her on twitter @rclemmons.