Each week, Prospect asks a range of experts, as well as our readers, to come up with answers to the questions that define the news agenda.

This week, Apple announced the Apple Watch—the company's first smartwatch. In so doing, they reignited the debate around wearable technology. But will the supposed shift toward products we can wear on our bodies actually happen? If it does, what effect will it have?

A device with a purpose

Gadgets appeal to us because they do something useful, or evolve a problem. The most successful fulfil a need we didn't know we had. Smartwatches, the most tolerable of the current wave of wearables, are a device in search of a purpose. Some replace smartphone functions, removing the need to take the phone out of your pocket repeatedly by transferring notifications, directions and even calls, to your wrist. But the clever money is on wearables that monitor health—an industry worth $3 trillion a year in the US alone—from blood pressure and blood sugar or cholesterol. These could have the power to change lives, but we need to ask whether those with access to the smart, wearable health tech of the future are really those that need it most. Jemima Kiss, Head of Technology at the Guardian

Think about users

Wearable tech will only take off if you work on creating a delightful user experience. In the sports world, wearable tech has been around since heart rate monitors came out in the 80s. Those didn't really become popular until people worked out how to use them—after Sally Edwards wrote The Heart Rate Monitor Book in 1992. There's no magic to it, but it does require you to understand what your users need—including the needs they don't know they have. That's partly about the software; the smartphone apps developed by small start ups. But the big companies like Apple have to face the challenges on the hardware side. For example, the Apple Watch can pick up heart rate using light off your wrist. Dr Kim B. Blair, Vice President of Cooper Perkins, Inc. and the founder of the sports innovation centre at MIT

Form and function

Until this year there just weren't any wearable tech devices with a compelling design: people felt wearing Google Glass would make them look like a “glasshole” and many gadgets were gimmicky too. Traditionally there has something of a rivalry between the fashion and tech worlds, but now we are seeing a rise in collaborations on products, and more focus on creating a strong aesthetic. The Apple Watch is 100 per cent a game changer. Not only in terms of raising the profile of wearables, but also with the sleekness and quality of the design and allowing users to personalize their straps or size of the face. Watches and tech have traditionally always been a man's game—but Apple have clearly also thought about how this will appeal to the female market. Lizzie Paton, US luxury correspondent at the Financial Times

Cut the beeping

Wearable tech won’t change your life today. Nor will it in 2015, when Apple’s new Watch hits the shelves. But the fundamental promise of all wearables—smartwatches included—is this: tech that is less interruptive than ever. That is something that could change your life. Imagine apps that block calls when you’re busy; that delay notifications until you’re in the right frame of mind; that, in other words, get rid of the beeps and buzzes constantly interrupting your life. Such things are possible when you can measure mood and activity in real time. Is there more to the Apple Watch version one than hype and consumerism? Probably not. But be in no doubt—tomorrow, wearable tech will certainly be changing your life. Will Seymour, Senior Analyst at the Future Foundation

Britain's opportunity

Wearable technology opens the door to a a world of new data analysis opportunities. Analysing data allows us to preempt natural disasters, support civic services and improve healthcare. However, big data needs to be better understood and should not be perceived as the preserve of large corporates. Wearable fashion crosses into the mainstream and puts data insights into the hands of the public. There's an opportunity for Britain to lead innovation in wearables. We have skills and experience in developing software, along with a great reputation for creativity and design. Wearables, representing a coming together of the digital and the physical, is the perfect place to combine Britain's creative disciplines with our excellence in technology development. Katy Turner, Chief Marketing Officer at Tech City UK

This week's Big Question is edited by Josh Lowe, Serena Kutchinsky and Jeremy Gordon

Reader responses

@prospect_uk bulkier clothes

— Christopher Mims (@mims) September 12, 2014

@prospect_uk @mims wearable energy suits and solar tenting that provide power from our movements will be dramatically more important.

— Russell S. Day (@Transcendian) September 12, 2014