The path to wearables has been a tortured one, with failures keeping up with promises. You would assume if we could reduce the size of a pacemaker from a car to an implantable, tiny tech items embedded into clothes and accoutrements would be a snap–but that hasn’t been the case. Perhaps things will change. From “The Future of Wearables,” by Shara Tibken at CNet:

“Look for completely different products to emerge. Health care is an area that could see a surge in wearables. We’ll also see more wearables for pets, such as new activity and biometrics trackers, as well as toys.

There will also be other types of devices that extend the capabilities of the smartphone or allow for social interaction, like a ring that lights up when a loved one taps the other half of the matching pair.

Another big area is clothing. For instance, manufacturers are working on smart buttons that could change the color of a fabric when pushed or buttons and fabric that could measure UV exposure in sports equipment.

‘This year we’re hoping to see the beginning of the wearables market showing its diversity,’ said Robert Thompson, business development leader for Freescale’s i.MX application processor line.”