• by Holly Pavlika , Columnist, May 2, 2014

Today’s social media-savvy moms are considered early technology adopters, but is mom ready to embrace the wearable Internet and become the next mobile device? 

Trend tracker and futurist Faith Popcorn, founder and CEO of the Brain Reserve, thinks so. I recently talked about the coming wave of “embeddable moms” from her latest insights: Flying into the Future. According to Faith and her global community of 10,000 future thinkers from the Brain Reserve, moms will soon become some of the most fervent adopters of wearable and embeddable technology.

“An embedded chip will function much the way Google Glass does, but it will be internalized. You won’t need to type a question or say it out loud. Just by thinking it, you will have the answer appear in your “mind’s eye” – in a corner of your field of vision. Moms will embrace this so they can keep in contact with their family, their friends – she can know where they are, what they are doing, ask questions, and get answers without stopping to click away at her smartphone. Who wouldn’t want that?” quipped Faith.

So how soon until we can expect this to happen? The Brain Reserve sees internalized tech being popularized within the next decade, but for moms, wearable technology will be adopted much earlier – likely in two to five years. 

I asked Faith why she believes that moms will want to become even more connected.

“Moms may fantasize about unplugging, but she can’t and she won’t. Moms don’t want to be unreachable by their kids, partners, parents or friends. If anything, she wants more info,” said Faith. “Let’s face it, moms often dream about being in two places at once. Wearable and embeddable technology is now being developed that will allow us to (almost) do that. We are watching as everyone from sex-toy entrepreneurs to scientists at MIT finding ways to “touch” long-distance. Technology will let her hug her loved ones even when they are separated by thousands of miles.”

But what about marketers?

In stores, location-based technology is already being used to bring new and more targeted shopping experiences to consumers via their mobile devices. Faith sees technology applications like this heralding a new opportunity for retail stores to reinvent themselves as exciting experiences for the consumers and moms alike. “What you are seeing happening with pop-up shops – where it’s quick and fun and gone tomorrow – is the formula. Marc Jacobs’ Tweet Shop, where your social media earns you swag. Urban Outfitters’ new spaces, where you can have a drink, watch a performance and see art.” 

All of these experiences could easily be expanded or augmented via wearable and embeddable technology, spawning the dawn of the "The Outsourced Brain" — an integrated internal technology that will “bridge the gap between user and data allowing for streams of intuitive information. 

“You will think, ‘Translate this for me,’ and it will happen in real time. You will be able to hear a translation of the foreign language that is being spoken to you. You will say, ‘Calendar, tomorrow morning,’ and see what is planned and be able to say cancel or confirm. You will be able to intuitively prioritize these tasks and ideas simply by the amount of attention you pay to them – tasks will advance and recede in your mind’s eye,” said Faith.

Whether it’s a wearable smart watch or bionic ear, science and technology are giving us new ways to access information, communicate and connect. And if history tells us anything about such advances, one thing is for certain: there is no turning back.