Wearable Technologies are a pretty exciting sector, that I believe, however, is still a couple of years away from becoming a trend. Still, I think they will eventually manage to penetrate into our lives and become the next 'gadget'. There is plenty to see in conferences worldwide, and obviously on the web. But I was particularly intrigued wjen I read this news announcement about the Bluetooth SIG running an 'Innovation World Cup' in the ispo '09 sporting goods trade show, where the Bluetooth SIG will participate in the Wearables section. (regarding innovation: Frankly, if you ask me, the term 'innovation' is becoming rather worn out, and so much so that it is starting to defy its own definition, because everything new today is being called innovative..) Anyway:

Bluetooth SIG teams up with the leading sporting goods trade show, ispo, and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) to establish a competition to foster the development of Bluetooth low energy technology in new sport, fitness, and healthcare products.

ispo and the WFSGI believe their industry offers enormous potential for the use of Bluetooth low energy technology, a new Bluetooth standard. This technology and its extremely low energy consumption make a wide array of innovative applications possible. Today, a sports industry without electronic components is virtually inconceivable – particularly with regard to the integration of different devices and how they provide data and performance profiles. “Things like wireless pulse oximeters, glucose meters, and a range of sensors and monitors are already an exciting reality. Bluetooth low energy technology will set the stage for a healthy and fit future,” says Mike Foley, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG.

This competition will call upon innovators, athletes, and other technology fans worldwide to submit their new ideas for using Bluetooth low energy technology in the world of sport, fitness, and healthcare. “The first Bluetooth Innovation World Cup offers a tremendous chance for its participants to enter the global sporting goods market,” predicts Robbert de Kock, Secretary General of WFSGI.

It got me thinking about how the face of sports would change with all this new flow of technology coming in. I think we're looking at a dramatic change that I doubt we can avoid, and has both positive and negative aspects. On the positive side:

• there's all sorts of sensors and monitors already to measure an athlete's health. This is a tremendous improvement after a raising number of professional athletes' deaths due to medical reasons, (I can only hope these come in asap!)
  
• errors in technique (mainly) for individual sports such as track sports, tennis, etc,
• wireless technologies (such as bluetooth) will enable the data from all these sensors to be transmitted real time into analysis systems,
• statistics about performance for team sports, such as distance covered, etc. ; these can obviously be used during live televised matches,
• sensors can also help in anti-doping checks.
  

However, on the downside:

• all this new in-flow of data is bound (if not certain) to bring more pressure on athletes, as if they didn't have enough already, driving competition into even higher levels, and leading athletes into using more illegal substances in order to boost their performance,
• sports will lose even more of their 'human nature', sort of like what is going on with formula 1 -- I still enjoy it either way, but is it, or not, a sport? I'm afraid we will start concentrating more on the technological aids, and less on the athletes themselves.
  
• in part, nowadays, but more so in the future, winners will not be only decided by their athletic skills, but also by budget, because whoever has the biggest budget will gets the better equipment.

I am certainly interested to see how all this will turn out, though probably not too eager just yet. If anyone has some thoughts to add, please be sure to comment.