Over a quarter of a billion wearable health and fitness sensing devices will be shipped worldwide by 2017, as fitness technology becomes more dominant in the wireless marketplace, according to technology research firm ON World.

Research by ON has found that health and fitness wireless technology is entering into a golden age of interest from users, with adoption rates rising rapidly.

In a survey by the firm conducted with 300 people, it was found that 20 per cent already own a wearable technology device such as a sports watch, heart rate monitor or activity tracker.

Such is the growing rate, demand for technologies like Bluetooth Smart for mobile health and fitness devices is accelerating, with ON stating that Bluetooth Smart certified products have so far increased 380 per cent since January 2013.

With this in mind ON has estimated that by 2017, Bluetooth chipsets used solely for health, wellness, sports and fitness will reach 95.7 million.

ON found that having evaluated 200 mobile sensing health and fitness products, Bluetooth Smart will be used in 59 per cent of products to be launched this year.

A collection of reports made available by the research firm has also highlighted that the IOS and Android platforms for smart watches and glasses will disrupt standard technological fitness solutions by offering a multi-purpose approach, providing a multitude of sensors and associated apps for users.

In relation to smart devices, ON's survey of 1,000 consumers found that 40 per cent were interested in purchasing a smart watch, while almost half would use their smart watch primarily for health and fitness applications.

The research from ON comes after other findings which have suggested health and fitness devices will make up half of all wireless accessories shipped by 2018.

More information on ON World's research is available here.