With a heart rate monitor and stepometer on her wrist and a light sensor clipped onto her jumper, Dr Alka Patel looks like an astronaut preparing for a mission to the International Space Station.
But for Dr Patel, this is ordinary. Putting on her collection of wearable tech is simply part of her morning routine, alongside brushing her teeth, doing her hair and applying make-up.
And she’s not the only one – around 3.65 million Brits own a smartwatch.The Duchess of Sussex has even been spotted wearing an anti-stress patch, which claims to slow down the body’s response to stress by sending signals to the parasympathetic nervous system.
Wearable tracking devices to monitor our daily steps or activity levels are also proving popular. The difference lies in the data, as a YouGov survey found just 54% of Brits understand all of the metrics on a wearable device.