The Rise of the Wearable Device

By now, chances are that you or someone you know has gotten their feet wet and purchased a first generation wearable device, such as a Fitbit, Jawbone or Pebble fitness band or tracker. While wearable devices are currently not as prevalent as other mobile devices, such as smartphones, they are gaining wide spread attention and on their way to becoming more mainstream. Fitness trackers make up the majority of sales, however, smartwatches have quickly taken second place thanks to the recent launch of Samsung and Apple’s smartwatches, to name a few.
Though wearable devices may seem like a specialty item right now, the market for connected devices designed for wearing instead of carrying is evolving rapidly and is poised to explode. In the future wearables devices will serve as a crucial means of staying connected and accessing information. This emerging market promises to be not only large, but also highly lucrative.
While wearables serve as convenient gateways to information, resources, and innovation, the possibility of private content being leaked is a concern. In an effort to meet security expectations, manufacturers of wearables devices, platforms, and apps have banded together to monitor and profile how individuals and companies are using the devices. Understanding more about user habits, the type of content and method of access will help to establish the precautions to secure data and content.
Following the rise in fitness based wearables and smartwatches will be dozens of more specialized connected wearables, with applications targeted to enterprise verticals, such as healthcare and manufacturing, to children, the disabled, and even pets. This shift from using wearables strictly as a fitness device is being driven by many trends, but largely by user desire for a more convenient and connected lifestyle.

The Enterprise Wearables or Workplace Wearables market is prime for growth and as such is expected to reach $8.5 Billion in revenues by 2019. While the consumer wearables market is a few years ahead, the B2B or enterprise wearables market is in a very nascent stage. Workplace wearables will be driven by earlier adopters including industrial, field services, oil & gas, and healthcare/medical. Corporate wellness may also drive the adoption of fitness bands, as companies invest more in wellness programs.
Some of the considerations and factors which will be key to success are:

• Designing with the user experience (UX) and human factor requirements at the forefront.
• Maximizing wearables lifecycle through improved battery life.
• Keeping pace with the market demand for smaller, seamless wearables.
• Keeping wearables development costs low.
• Allowing seamless integration with many other devices.
• Providing the level of security expected.

The Internet of Things is breaking down barriers between users and devices. Before long, we may all wear a smartwatch on our wrist and pay for our groceries with the swipe of a hand. While users don’t need to think about the mechanics of wearable devices, the developers driving the rise in wearables know that understanding the pieces of the puzzle and how they fit together is critical to facilitating future market expansion and revenue growth.
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