Wearables Novelty or Necessity?

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Wearables Novelty or Necessity?

• Nick Hunn WiFore Consulting
• nick_at_wifore.com

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The verdict from the shows was that 2014 will be
the Year of the Wearable
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Theyre not new weve had Wearable Technologies
for over 10 years. Its what used to be called
the Quantified Self.
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Ecouterre the ecoFashion website has been
holding a public vote on Wearable Tech for 5
years and is a good indicator of how the public
perception of the market has changed in that time.
www.ecouterre.com
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In 2013, it began to look like this. Technology
made way to lifestyle and fashion.
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Fashion became king
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There are wearables for babies
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Even wearables to tell you your kids are drowning
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As well as Wearables for Pets
This one isnt serious
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But this is one of many that you can buy today.
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Theres even Wearable Tech for your Barbie!
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Discarding altruism for fashion
Theres another trend in Wearables
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Its not all fashion Google recently announced
a glucose monitoring contact lens for diabetics
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The same concept picked by Ecouterre in 2009
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Wearable Tech used to be about helping society
deal with health issues
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And enabling Assisted Living
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Now its about Objects of Desire
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Which at least recognises the need for a business
model.
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The Big Question is Will we move past wristbands
in 2014?
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Behind the glister a perfect storm is forming
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Previously disparate industries are starting to
come together
Tech
Fashion
Medical
Sport
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Albeit only tentatively
Tech
Fashion
Medical
Sport
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The big change is low cost sensors

• The availability of small, cheap,
  micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS) has
  rocketed.

MEMS Shipments 2007 10 million 2014 3.5
billion 2020 300 billion
They measure movement, position, temperature,
activity and vital signs, but only cost a few
tens of cents.
Initially developed for cars, theyre now in
every smartphone, tablet and wearable device.
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Along with the availability of low cost wireless

• Bluetooth low energy (also known as Bluetooth
  Smart) has changed the game.
• Its low power, running on coin cells
• Its already in hundreds of millions of
  smartphones and tablets
• Its designed to work with low power sensors
• Chips are available combining it with application
  processors
• Its cheap (1)

Bluetooth SMART is the first wireless standard
specifically designed to be easy and flexible for
designers to use, allowing it to be applied to
totally new connected product designs.
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The glue binding these together is
The Internet of Things
Analysts predict over 50 billion connected
devices will be in use by 2020, generating a
tsunami of personal data.
A significant proportion of those could be
wearable devices.
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Its never been easier to make products
Crowd-sourcing is funding a new wave of hardware
innovation. Reference designs from silicon
vendors mean products can be developed much
faster. Far Eastern ODMs are keen to support any
new product or company which moves them away from
a dying PC market.
Emotiv 1.6M
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Large companies are close behind

• Samsung is engaging startups that it will fund
  with early-stage investments in the 100,000 to
  2 million range from its 100 million
  accelerator fund.
• Apple has been hiring health sensor experts (from
  Sano Intelligence, Proteus Digital, Vital
  Connect, C8 Medisensors, Masimo and Senseonics).
• Intel has demonstrated intelligent ear-buds which
  choose music based on your heart rate.

As PC and laptop markets start to die, the pace
of smartphone evolution slows and smart watches
fail to inspire, market leaders are looking to
wearables as the saviour of their industries.
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Hardware and Wireless arent enough
They may be pretty, but by themselves, your
wearable is just a Hardware App
The market will be won by companies that
understand the value of data insight.
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BUT Lots of data needs new business models,
which bring new problems.
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Nobody expected wristbands to be worn 24/7
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What does all that data tell the manufacturer?
When people actually go running.
And how often?
How often youve had sex.
Whether anyone else was there?
And who they were?
Whether you have a prostate problem?.
Or a urinary tract infection?.
How does that change your responsibility?
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Successful companies will employ Data
Scientists Behavioural Scientists Fashion
Designers Ethicists Do you?
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Designers need to think past sensors and hardware
The new game is about data.
Unless you complete the chain, wearables are only
Fashion Tech
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Multiple service purchases are key
To reach the connected wearable device numbers,
consumers will need to have multiple
devices. Unless services are renewed, devices
will be discarded. The industry needs to find way
of making devices compelling for three years or
more.
Number of wearables and associated apps
Source WiFore
It opens up a market opportunity for wearable
device service providers, who can manage multiple
devices and generate compelling insight.
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Wearables can be objects of beauty

• To be successful, they also need to enable
  compelling applications which can generate
  sustainable revenue.
• Otherwise, theyre just pretty hardware, and that
  could be a very limited market.

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Creative Connectivity Blog www.nickhunn.com
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/nickhunn
Essentials of Short Range Wireless
www.wireless-book.com