Wearable technology-stimulated social interaction for promoting physical activity: A systematic review

Wearable technology has become increasingly popular and available since the mid-2000s, raising hopes for new and innovative ways to address long-standing issues of physical inactivity that have plagued modern societies. Despite growing interest in the field and a voluminous body of literature, analyses of wearable technology-induced social interactions and their effect on people’s physical activity are virtually non-existent. This systematic review addressed the question “Does wearable technology enhance social interactions and subsequent physical activity?” The review covered studies published between 2007 and December 2018 and was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Searches were performed within 12 databases, and a total of 3,426 sensitivity publications were identified, but only 136 (4%) met the specificity criterion, and 20 publications were included in the review. The results revealed that: (i) wearable technology has the potential to both motivate and demotivate individuals to engage in PA; (ii) interactions are made up of at least three main activities, including cooperation, competition and social recommendations, which is a rather limited spectrum of activity; and (iii) those interactions are temporary, physically organised, and can be repeated in different contexts. Wearable technology also tend to be responsible for two important tacit transformations including being used for personal/group self-actualisation to a competitive environment encouraging real-time physical and virtual contests, and for framing physical activity as a mainly personal problem by shifting the responsibility for healthy and active living from professional agencies to the individual. The social and economic implications of such a shift would be profound.