It’s official: 2014 was the year of the wearable

2014 is likely to be remembered as the year that wearables went from gadgets for geeks to the kind of thing everyone has.

And they’re going to get even more covetable next year. The catalyst for huge growth is likely to be when the Apple Watch goes
head to head with the Samsung Gear S for the space at the end of your arm. At the same time, countless fitness gadgets will be competing to tell you how far you’ve run and what that little jog has done for your blood pressure.

This year saw all kinds of cool stuff beyond the realms of smartwatches and fitness gadgets. Smart jewellery became a thing with the likes of the NFC Ring and the Cuff, while London’s Shoreditch was packed with savvy companies all working out how to integrate gadgets into jackets, shirts and even shoes.

And the best bit is that, if Wearables to Watch category in the ShinyShiny Awards 2014 is anything to go by, the new wearables perform very useful functions too. Sure, most are a bit raw and gadgety, but their aims of improving the way you live your life by telling you more about  yourself or making things like shopping and interacting with phones easier are highly laudable.

We’ve called this award ‘Wearables to Watch’ for good reason too (and it’s not just the pun) – we think all the companies listed are capable of developing their core ideas into something incredibly cool and highly useful. It’s going to be fascinating watching them progress.

Take a look at the nominees for the Wearable to Watch 2014 in the ShinyShiny Awards.

Image by Lubomir Panak on Flickr