Currently, there are a number of applications for wearable technologies in professional training environments. Professional sports teams, the medical profession and the policing community are all using wearable technologies in their training programs. These three fields of study are explored below.
Professional Sports
Wearable technology used by professional soccer players
(Catapult Sports, 2014). |
As mentioned in the overview, the most common wearable technologies are used in fitness and health. It may not be surprising that professional athletes are using these technologies to gain a competitive edge. A recent article from BBC News (Smith, 2016) reports that many professional sports teams are using wearable devices during physical training to keep their players at their peak physical fitness.
For example, the reigning champions in the English Premier Soccer league, Leicester City, have their players wear mobile sensor devices while training that collect player data on acceleration, direction, position, and impact of collisions (Smith, 2016). This data is used to make educated decisions on when to rotate and rest players during game situations. Another example is from the National Football League, where the Cincinnati Bengal players use monitoring devices while they train that record their heart rate (Smith, 2016). This information is analyzed to determine how each player’s body responds to the training load. |
Medical Education
Wearable technologies have infiltrated the medical profession for many years. One example is cochlear implants. These small unobtrusive devices are inserted into the patient's ear to provide hearing to those who cannot hear. Another example is the e-Health system at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where they are experimenting with Google Glass for health monitoring, and accessing health data using electronic wristband devices (Sultan, 2015).
With all this technology in the medical field, it is only natural that wearables would find an application in medical education. A group called Virtual Medics out of the United Kingdom, was formed by a group of surgeons and students that encourage and support wearable technologies within medical education. One example of what they do, is use Google Glass to record point of view video and then combine them with interactive questions to develop clinical cases for undergraduate medical students (Virtual Medics, 2016a). |
Wearable technologies used in medical training (Virtual Medics, 2016b).
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Police Training
Immersive virtual reality for police and military training
(Must See Video, 2013). |
Werable technologies have been used in police and miltary for many yeayrs. Toronto Police Services recently completed a pilot program wheer about about 100 police officers wore body cameras (Ireland, 2016). These are used in policing in many areas of the United States but is relatively new to Canadian policing. The cameras record video and audio of the police officers interactions with the public. It’s intended to protect both the citizen and the police officer.
As far as using wearable technologies in police training, there are some applications we can look at. The RCMP out of Regina has been experimenting with simulated fire in their pistol shooting (Kratzig et al., 2011). Officers wear these replicate technology laden pistols on their belts and when instructed, shoot simulated fire in training scenarios. Through these experiments, it's been proven that the simulated environment provides similar learning outcomes to live fire (Kratzig et al., 2011). Also, wearable virtual reality is a growing trend in police and military training. Using this wearable technology, police officers can run through use of force scenarios as a large group and make tactical decisions in a simulated environment just as they would in real life (Virtual Training Technologies International Inc., 2013). |