In previous posts we’ve touched on the massive impact we can all expect from the upcoming “Internet of Things”, so this time it seemed fitting to take a look at Wearable Technology and see how it will impact our business and personal lives. Up to now, the global wearable technology market hasn’t quite delivered on its enticing technological promises nor reached promised levels of consumer adoption.
However, 2015 could end up being the breakthrough year in which wearables start to catch on and begin to achieve mass market acceptance.This year, there are likely to be 3 key wearable trends:
• Growth of smartwatches
• Integrating technology into our clothing
• Wearables for business productivity
Gartner has predicted that smart clothing has the biggest potential for growth moving from virtually zero sales in 2014 to 26 million items in 2016. According to Ashley Norris (digital consultant) he states: “The first smart clothes evolved through medically based projects that featured sensors integrated into shirts and hats to monitor conditions such as epilepsy. Now, though, clothing brands are waking up to their potential. So expect to see smart bras (to monitor health and fitness), intelligent jackets and more, all of them with built-in electrodes that can pass on data to a smartphone or other device.”
He goes on to say that later this year we can expect to see “wearables creeping their way into the workplace with smartwatches replacing mobile phones in industries such as construction, and healthcare professionals using virtual-reality headsets to undertake simulations of medical procedures.” The momentum to introduce wearable technology spans the garage-based startups all the way up to corporate technology giants. The potential is massive and through the use of scaleable manufacturing, and rapid prototyping, new products are hitting the market at an increasingly fast pace.
The infographic below highlights how wearable tech will change our lives and illustrates some of the exciting new products we can expect to see.
Credits: The infographic was sourced from ComputerScienceZone at: http://www.vizworld.com/2015/04/how-wearable-tech-will-change-your-life-infographic/#sthash.Zw9D3wGk.dpbs