The growing role of Internet of Things in healthcare wearables

The Internet has grown, which let human being to access and utilize the services on a universal scale using traditional hosts, mobile devices such as smart phones across the globe. By linking the objects and devices, the Internet of Things (IoT) will fully utilize the network potential and facilitate the application of innovative services to a large set of scenarios, such as home and building automation, smart cities, and healthcare. This will integrate new paradigms of human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interaction. Nowadays, wearable devices are considered as the hallmark of IoT, which can be worn on the human body. The history of wearable device is as old as when artist Leonardo da Vinci depicted the first pedometer, published in 1942. Based on this concept, Thomas Jefferson invented the first pedometer to the US market in 1788 based on watch. Interactive Data Corporation predicts that wearables will play a vital role in the progression of augmented reality technology and estimates that about 411 million wearables will be sold in 2020 alone. Wearable technology encapsulates plenty of devices worn directly on or loosely attached to a person. Wearable devices can be classified into two categories, namely, passive and active wearable devices. Passive wearable devices do not require any direct human interaction and are therefore more tightly coupled with mobile devices hosting a custom app to control them. Active wearable devices provide information to users, which can be used as sources of input to control themselves and the mobile devices they're connected to. As a consequence, they can extend their reach to other devices that can be located in their proximity or remotely. Wearable devices can continuously captures several times a second for days, weeks, or months, which negatively impacts the storage volume and battery capabilities, thus making the wearable devices too bulky that is impractical to wear. It is predicted that the data generated per second for every human being will approximate amount to 1.7 MB, and the volume of data would double every 2 years, thus reach the 40 ZB point by 2020. To overcome the data handling and storage issues, big data provides solution by offering seasonal trends and useful patterns, while the cloud computing technology provides the facility to access the device anywhere through any device. Wearable technology prevents an unknown from gaining access the devices without authentication as it uses short and long-range communication which is vulnerable to cyberattack. To avoid this, the wearable technology built a solution that can sense the wearer of the wearable device with the help of bioelectrical impedance signal. With the ability to gather and store data as well as perform complex permutations in any real-world environment, it has not taken wearable devices long to enter the fields of education, medical care, aging, fitness, disabilities, transportation, finance, enterprise, music, and gaming with an objective to incorporate functional, handy electronic devices into human lives. Analysts and developers predict that wearable technology will impact the cultural and technological landscapes soon, and it may change the nature of hand-held devices, mobile phones entirely. Some of the wearable devices include glasses, watches, e-textiles and smart fabrics, contact lenses, caps and beanies, and jewelries such as bracelets and rings. This chapter begins with the introduction of wearable IoT, its attributes, and footprint of wearable technology in Pharmaceuticals by considering the ethical issues and safety measures.