Wearable tech that you can wrap around your wrist and a smart contact lens with a tiny built-in camera: fact or fiction? Or are these gadgets from Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible movie franchise?

Perhaps, but this is the next wave of technology available to the mining industry.

Wearable tech, as it has been imaginatively titled, offers miners and mining companies a new level of communication.

Each industry will harvest a variety of different benefits from the devices that are either in development or have been released to the market.

The one element that connects users in every profession with their employers is communication – the ability to send information in the optimum way that best fits an application.

So what wearable tech is either already out there or in the development stages?

Wearable cameras have been around for a while, in various forms.

They allow operators to send live images from site to colleagues who can analyse the data collected, either locally or anywhere in the world.

Smart contact lenses offer similar benefits to wearable cameras but in an infinitely more manageable way.

Tiny cameras may be able to transmit data to a smartphone for processing or storage.

Still in development, the technology is almost there.

We’re all familiar with fitness trackers that can be worn as wrist watches or on the handlebars of a bike to gather information on a workout.

This has been adapted in the form of a smart watch that delivers data to a worker, regardless of location.

Miners are already utilising tablets for mobile communication and data management and relay.

But a smart screen that can be worn around your wrist enables instant messaging alerts.

Google Glass is a wearable computer that responds to voice commands. Information can be displayed on eye frames, offering hands-free browsing. It has already gone on sale in the US.

IFS Labs is a global firm that helps companies connect with the technology that is relevant to their business.

“There’s no question that wearable devices will be the next widely adopted form of consumer technology,” IFS Labs director David Andersson said.

“‘Wearable tech’ was the talk of CES 2014, the global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow in Las Vegas in January.

“Samsung has already released two ‘smart watches’, while Google Glass went on general sale for a short time last month.

“There are a multitude of practical applications for wearable devices for consumers but can the same be said for wearables in the work environment?

“Once widespread consumer adoption takes place, the enterprise is never far behind – whether it’s ready or not.

“While not always immediately obvious, there’s also a whole host of applications for wearable tech in the workplace.

“I can imagine manufacturing and construction workers consulting information in the field on a smart watch, or even a mechanic seeing vehicle diagnostics through augmented reality (AR) glasses.”

“These scenarios are realistic and, perhaps most significantly, would not require a complete overhaul of companies’ IT infrastructure – the most successful devices will be those that are simply new interfaces harnessing the power of the smartphones and tablets that most of us already carry in our pockets.

“This means the barriers to entry are few and far between. Over the next few years, wearable technology will reinvent the working day across many different industries.

“Smart watches, AR glasses and even smart contact lenses will save time and increase productivity, results that will be reflected in the bottom line of enterprises that choose to embrace this new technology.”

So when can we expect mining to embrace the latest technology? When it’s possible to argue that investing in this new technology will increase efficiency and reduce production costs, that’s when the industry will take notice.

The fact that most of these devices can interact with existing technology makes them a more attractive option, both in terms of integration and the fact that they don’t require significant spend to implement.

The day when miners start wearing smart watches, contact lenses and wearable computers may not be that far away.