NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 1.1 DEFINITIONS
AND SEGMENTATION OF WEARABLE DEVICES
One of the hot topics among all of those discussed this year is
smart wearables. It is a new eco-system seeking out a place in the
mass consumer technology offerings, with a wide variety and
presence of players. In this respect, both large and small
technology companies are already competing with products aimed at
this market: we were introduced to Samsung's smart watch and also
the Pebble model, as an example of the difference in size and
capacity of those fighting for the biggest slice of the pie. The
general perception that it is an emerging market that will create
opportunities for those who decide to play is gaining strength
considering the forecasts that various analyst firms have published
recently.
Wearables are small electronic devices, often consisting of one or
more sensors and having computational capability. They are embedded
into items that attach to the body, such as a user's head, feet,
arms, wrists and waist. They can resemble a watch, eyeglasses,
clothing, contact lenses, shoes or even jewelery. Wearables either
capture data or present data. The types of data collected could be
as simple as the number of steps taken in a day or as complex as
ECG or brainwave measurements. For output, wearables can convey
information to the user through a variety of means, from the
blinking of an LED light to a complex display of data.
We consider a Wearable computing device, as one that ultimately
either provides data via a highly portable device that a consumer
can wear (such as Google Glass and or the smart watch), or one that
takes some form of measurement and data from a consumer like a
fitness band or watch. Sizing such a market is challenging,
Wearables have broader applications then just fitness and health.
And while consumer applications drive the market, many of the
design, usability, manufacturing, and production are adaptable to
commercial, military, and medicinal applications as well.
Commercial
Wearable tech has many enterprise-level applications for
businesses. An April 2014 survey of
businesses indicated that the majority did not plan to implement
wearables on an enterprise level, but that even of those that did
not, they expected that, if they did, the benefits would include
"improved communication, enhanced productivity, and better customer
relations." A recent University of London study confirmed this, concluding, after
a month-long experiment, that wearables can boost productivity and
job satisfaction in the workplace.
Enterprise-level applications include enhancing resource access to,
and tracking the whereabouts of, remote workers; enhanced
communication (through wireless headsets and wristbands, for moving
employees such as retail workers); augmented vision (through smart
glasses, used for example, in the construction industry, to "see"
inside walls); and increased payment options (through a wristwatch,
for example). Further wearables have considerable industry-specific
applications for uniformed professions, such as law enforcement and
emergency medical technicians.
But perhaps the biggest benefit of wearables for business is the
data that wearables collect. Such consumer information could be
invaluable to marketing and sales departments. This application of
wearable tech has doubtlessly influenced the entry of large firms,
such as Google, Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung.
Consumer
There are a number of consumer wearables currently on the market,
ranging from smart wristwatches to smart contact lenses to
sensor-integrated clothes. Examples include XOEye's XOne camera
glasses; CSR's smart jewelry, which can be worn around the neck and
blinks when the wearer receives a phone call; SafeNecklace, which
can monitor kids during field trips; OMSignal's spandex shirt,
which can monitor a wearer's vital functions Lumo's posture
correcting belt, the Bluetooth LumoBack belt; the Pebble Steel
smartwatch, on which the wearer can receive text messages and
emails; and Sensoria's electronic anklet which tracks the wearer's
speed and distance, just to name a few. There are even electronic
tattoos under development. However, the consumer market for
wearables is extremely fragmented.
Military
One wearables enthusiast is the U.S. military, which sees the
technology providing enhanced efficiency for soldiers. Wearables
that can monitor the vital signs of soldiers can be the difference
between life and death. Other wearables, in the form of helmets,
overlay information over a soldier's eyes to increase their
awareness of their surroundings. An example of this is the Aviation
Warrior, a wearables system developed by Raytheon, which includes a
helmet, wrist display and portable computing device, all designed
to provide the soldier with as much information as possible about
who is on the battlefield in real-time.
The military is not limited in the scope of its wearables-related
thinking to soldiers. Under development is a wearable that can
"translate" the actions of military animals. The system is known as
FIDO (facilitating interactions for dogs with occupations"), and
after training, the dog could activate different sensors to
activate different things, for example a tug to issue a beep to
indicate the presence of an explosive.
Medical
Another early adopter of wearables is the medical community, many
members of whom are interested in miniature wearables for
healthcare monitoring. One such wearable is MC10's ultra-thin
Biostamp, which, when affixed to the body, can monitor heart rate,
temperature and other vital statistics, and can send that
information wirelessly back to doctors. Others include a bandaid by
medical sensor company Corventis that monitors heart conditions; a
muscle contraction sensor by TMG that measures muscle fatigue; and
a "smart" insole by Moticon for use in patient analysis,
monitoring, and rehabilitation.
Wearables have further applications in clinical practice, such as
the 9Solutions IPCS, a device that tracks medical staff and
equipment in real-time.
Other
Other applications of wearable tech include, but are not limited to
recording car accidents for insurance purposes; law enforcement
surveillance; mapping terrain for outdoor activities in real-time;
and serving as memory aids.
1.2 MARKET DRIVERS
Several factors are converging to facilitate wearable technology
integration including:
• Expanded wireless capacity due to pervasive wireless (WiFi,
WiMAX, and LTE);
• Cellular market saturation and the need for wireless companies to
establish new revenue streams;
• Continuously decreasing cost of data, and the significant backing
from huge companies including Google, Apple, and others.
There are three major factors driving the proliferation of wearable
products in the market today.
• Readily available component technologies. There is a readily
available supply of low cost components for small form factor
wearable products. Sensors, Bluetooth components and other key
components are inexpensive and available for entrepreneurs to use
in their designs.
• 3D Printing. 3D Printing allows companies to easily design and
fabricate their wearable products.
• Access to Crowd Funding. Many of the startup companies are
leveraging crowd funding sources such as Kickstarter to fund their
development plans and test market acceptance
1.3 DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
A nuanced understanding of demographics such as age, gender, and
income can point to technology preferences and help drive
customization and targeting of users. Take, for example, mobile
health (mHealth) experiences. mHealth programs should be designed
to be operable via multiple communication platforms and channels
such as phones, tablets, laptops, and social media.
• The platform for mHealth already exists. Smartphone ownership in
the United States is at a high and
still growing. Almost all U.S. adults own a cell phone, half of
which are smartphones. And, over two in five (42 percent) own a
tablet. On average, a U.S. adult carries three devices, with the
most popular being a smartphone.5 Mobile devices are heavily used
for connectivity; Internet usage among U.S. adult mobile phone
owners is now at 63 percent, twice as high as in 2009, and at least
half of owners have downloaded an application (app). One in three
U.S. consumers has used their mobile phone to look for health
information.
Consumers have a growing interest in mHealth. Millennials (born
1982-1994), in particular, are already dabbling in the technology.
They demonstrate a generational difference in interest – twice as
many Millennials as overall respondents in a recent survey said
they downloaded a health tracking app (19 percent of Millennials
vs. 10 percent of all respondents). Similarly, one in four
Millennials has used smartphones and tablet apps to manage and
monitor their fitness and health improvement goals such as exercise
or diet (25 percent of Millennials vs. 17 percent of all
respondents).
• Smartphone ownership by U.S. adults aged 50-65 years increased
from 34 percent to 45 percent between 2012 and 2013. Over the same
period, smartphone ownership by Seniors (aged 65+ years) grew by
seven percent. Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), in particular, are
expected to combine an interest in technology with substantial
purchasing power to generate the fastest year-on-year growth in
smartphone penetration in 2014.10 Around one in five Boomers has
never downloaded an app vs. one in 10 of all age groupings. This
may present both a challenge and an opportunity to carriers and
health providers to engage this group in mHealth-oriented
technologies and behaviors.
1.4 EMERGING MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS
Proponents of wearable technology are already talking about
in-vehicle integration with wearable technologies worn by a driver.
For instance, physical fitness monitors in the future will help
vehicles determine climate control settings and measure the
driver's stress and fatigue levels, or even monitor a driver's
alcohol or blood sugar levels. Just as with in-vehicle smartphone
integration, Most vehicles will be able to interface with wearable
devices. As the use (and sophistication) of these devices
proliferates, some industry observers predict that in-vehicle
integration with wearable technology by either third-party
providers or automotive OEMs will become widespread by 2024.
Another emerging application is hands-free wearable digital cameras
that are either strapped around the neck or clipped to clothing,
which continuously take photos, typically every 30 seconds. These
wearable cameras use GPS to track where photos were taken and can
store between 6,000 and 12,000 images. Wearable cameras currently
on the market include Narrative Clip, Autographer, and Memoto.
Marketed as "lifelogging devices," they seek to record and archive
all information about our daily lives, which could have positive
implications with, for instance Alzheimer's patients, or negative
implications in terms of privacy violations. Ultimately, these
digital images will be viewed as discoverable evidence and could be
subpoenaed during lawsuits involving fleet vehicles. Wearable
cameras can also provide positive ramifications, especially if
photos help exonerate a fleet driver's culpability or alleged
negligence.
Wearable technology is being heralded by its proponents as a dawn
of a new era by integrating digital and physical reality. It is
inevitable that employees and businesses will be among the early
adopters of these devices and use them in the workplace as
productivity tools. Preliminary studies indicate that employees
using prototype wearable devices increased their productivity by
8.5 percent and their job satisfaction by 3.5 percent. But, are
there unintended consequences, especially when used by a mobile
workforce?
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