Most of us associate technology with indoor spaces where we use technology to make our lives more efficient, comfortable and productive in offices, homes and factories.
Technology is often blamed for making children and adults more sedentary and spending more time indoors. Research has shown that 90% of adults spend most of their day indoors, with a typical office worker spending as little as 15 minutes outdoors during the day.
However, technology can also be a tool for getting both children and adults outdoors and appreciating nature. In the last five years technology has made its way outside in a big way. Personal tech is now needed for a variety of reasons and activities:
Fitness
The use of technology to monitor and record our fitness efforts and exercise regimes is not new, but the manner in which it is now integrated into the Fitbit, or the smart watch and other mobile devices, using Apps and body monitoring software is new and advanced. People who are using wearables during their fitness routines want to harness the power of that technology to not only understand simple data but to aggregate that data to provide a bigger picture of their health and wellness. And this is big business. The global industry in smart wearable devices will grow to more than $27 billion by 2022.
Entertainment
As noted in a recent article on how to maximize your music festival experience, even though you’re likely to be outside for such festivals, there is still some tech that may be essential to take and to ensure you are able to use, i.e., batteries. You also need to use your tech to share the experience with others through social media, sharing videos, and uploading killer photos.
Technology can also ensure you enjoy music festivals if you are able to tap into all the tools and apps available. How you get to the festival, find meals and food trucks or make sure you are on time for your preferred performances can all be optimized through technology such as shuttle trackers, meal planners and scheduling apps.
Recording and Memorializing
This focuses on the use of mobile tech for taking professional pictures to be used for both work or social media platforms. Beyond just the use of the selfie stick, today being outdoors means being able to use drones to take expansive videos and photos of epic landscapes. There are even apps that allow you to call a drone to photograph you as you pose in hard to reach but scenic locations such as at the top of peaks or along remote beaches.
Sharing
It is vital for any tech that you use both indoors and outdoors to be integrated and be able to be linked up and used in conjunction with each other. Cloud-based technology has meant that being outdoors is no longer a barrier to accessing, uploading and sharing data and information to anyone anywhere. As much as we have all learned that working from home is as productive as being bound to an office, so being outdoors is no longer a barrier to accessing technology and harnessing its power.