apadmi wearable tech study

Apadmi’s Wearable Tech Study:

What Do Businesses Need To Know About Wearable Technology?January 2015

Study produced by Apadmi, the UK’s leading app developer.

Apadmi’s Wearable Tech Study | What Do Businesses Need To Know About Wearable Technology? | 2

Executive Summary

Wearable technology includes smart glasses (eg Google Glass), smartwatches (eg the Samsung Smartwatch), itness trackers ”eg Nike Fitbit), smart clothing ”eg AIQ Smart Clothing e-textiles), smart wristbands ”eg Puls), smart jewellery ”eg Ringly), smart shoes ”eg Ducere Technologies Lechal), gadget gloves ”eg The Thimble Finger Glove) and virtual reality headsets (eg Oculus Rift).

In October 2014, YouGov s new wearables tracker research reported that 2.8m people in the UK currently own a wearable technology device, but that this is likely to increase to 6.1m by September 2015.

Our research shows that there is a small section of the population that believes wearable technology makes people feel cool, look more attractive and appear more intelligent and successful. However, signiicantly more think that wearable technology makes people look unattractive or worse.

A major survey of 4,000 adults in the UK and US by cloud computing company Rackspace Hosting found that 51 per cent identiied privacy as a barrier to adoption of wearable technology. However, an overwhelming 82 per cent of US users and 71 per cent of UK users then went on to say that these devices have enhanced their lives.

We asked whether our respondents feel wearable technology poses a threat to their privacy – 42 per cent said yes, 18 per cent replied no, and the remaining 40 per cent were don t knows. Moreover, we questioned them on how they would feel if their employer required them to use wearable technology as part of their role – 25 per cent said they would consider changing jobs, 24 per cent replied they would be happy to do this, and the remaining 51 per cent were don t knows.

According to PwC, companies in the EMC [entertainment, media and communications] industries have perhaps the largest opportunity for advancement and growth in the wearable technology market . Health, retail and technology also ofer signiicant promise for brands looking to establish themselves and set themselves apart from the competition.

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Nielsen reported that among wearable technology owners, the most popular devices were itness bands ”61 per cent) followed some way back by smartwatches ”45 per cent).

We asked which smart technology items would consumers most like to be seen wearing – 45 per cent said smartwatches, 26 per cent said itness trackers, 23 per cent said smart glasses and 20 per cent said smart clothing. We also asked consumers which items they d most like to buy – 43 per cent said smartwatches, 28 per cent said itness trackers, 23 per cent said smart glasses and 18 per cent said smart clothing.

The picture emerging from Apadmi s Wearable Technology Study is that wearable technology is approaching a tipping point but that we still have some distance left to travel.

Many people still don t know enough about wearable technology or fully understand the issues around it. What this means for businesses is that it s not enough to simply build a functional wearable technology app. Companies must also make a product that s highly desirable and educate their audience about why it will improve their lives.

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Introduction

Introduction

Hello. Welcome to Apadmi’s

Wearable Technology Study. My name is Howard Simms and I m the Co-founder and Director of Apadmi, the UK s leading mobile app developer. We develop apps for clients such as The BBC, The X Factor, The Guardian, BT, Aviva, Skyscanner, EE, AstraZeneca and Lexus. Our apps are designed for smartphones, tablets and – increasingly – wearable technology.

What is wearable technology?

Wearable technology is an umbrella term for a whole range of clothes and accessories that incorporate computer and advanced electronic elements. It s designed to be worn by the user which, in theory at least, makes it much more convenient than traditional handheld technology such as smartphones, MP3 players, tablets and so on. Devices come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but current examples include smart glasses ”eg Google Glass), smartwatches ”eg the Samsung Smartwatch), itness trackers ”eg Nike Fitbit), smart clothing ”eg AIQ Smart Clothing e-textiles), smart wristbands ”eg Puls), smart jewellery (eg Ringly) smart shoes (eg Ducere Technologies’ Lechal), gadget gloves ”eg The Thimble Finger Glove) and virtual reality headsets ”eg Oculus Rift).

This is a key period in the development of wearable technology. In late 2014, Apple unveiled plans to launch its irst smartwatch at a spectacular press event in California – the Apple Watch will be available from early 2015. Meanwhile, it isn t that long since

the much-hyped Google Glass launched in the US ”spring 2014) and the UK ”summer 2014). In January 2015, however, Google announced a whole host of changes – the Google Glass Explorer Program open beta was closing, the developers responsible were graduating from innovation lab Google[x] to form their own

team within Google, and new versions of Google Glass would be released in the future. 1

Why did we write this report?

Throughout the creative industries, wearable technology is a topic that everyone s talking about and most people seem to have strong opinions on.

At Apadmi, we re certainly taking a keen interest in developments across the wearable technology space. Recently we ve found ourselves talking to a lot of organisations that have heard about wearable technology, but either don’t fully understand what it is or what the implications of it might be for their business. So we thought we d share the latest facts and igures from across the industry. But we wanted to go further than that, so we ve also commissioned our own research to get an insight into the psychology of consumers and ind out their attitudes towards wearable technology.

Who is this report for?

We expect that this report will be particularly relevant to business leaders who are interested in understanding how wearable

1https://plus.google.com/+GoogleGlass/posts/9uiwXY42tvc


technology might it in with their plans. Indeed, we re seeing that companies of all sizes and backgrounds are already starting to develop apps for this dynamic new category.

We want to help the business community understand what the wearable technology industry is capable of, where it s heading and what customers want. However, we hope that the report will have a much broader appeal than this, providing insights that will also be useful to the rest of the wearable technology supply chain, including device manufacturers, app developers and marketers.

After reading this report, it s our hope that some companies will be inspired to launch their own wearable technology apps, as well as giving fresh impetus to others that have already travelled partway down this path. Either way, our aim is to support the creative process in all of its forms and help to ensure that businesses don t just build a wearable technology app for the sake of it, rather they build an app that is genuinely valued by its users. This will make wearable technology more appealing to consumers and, in the long-term, beneit everyone working in this exciting growth sector.

Understanding the wearables market

Apple and Google aren t the only big names to invest heavily in wearable technology, with the likes of Samsung, Nike, Motorola and Sony all launching their own devices.

However, many users quickly fall out of love with their new purchases. Earlier this year, Endeavour Partners 2 published research indicating that a third of consumers who have owned a piece of wearable technology stopped using it within half a year. It followed this up with a study suggesting that 40 per cent of

people who own itness trackers have stopped wearing them.

So what s going wrong? An abandonment rate of up to 40 per cent is huge, and it s clear that many device makers and businesses developing apps are failing to deliver products that satisfy a genuine need for users.

Apadmi’s wearable technology study

At Apadmi, we re big fans of market research so we decided to start our investigations by surveying UK consumers 3 to get a better insight into their psychology. Our aim was to answer the following questions:

01. Do potential customers think wearable technology is desirable?02. Do potential customer think wearable technology poses a privacy risk? 03. How can diferent business sectors exploit wearable technology?04. Which speciic wearable technologies should businesses prioritise?

We round of the report by reviewing the key indings and considering what lessons can be drawn from them.

2http://endeavourpartners.net/white-papers/3 Apadmi surveyed 500 members of the public living across the UK in late 2014 via polling company Usurv



01. Do Potential Customers Think Wearable Tech is Desirable?


Do potential customers think wearable tech is desirable?

Perhaps the irst issue we need to address with wearable technology is whether or not there s really a signiicant untapped demand among potential customers.

As we ll see later in the report, wearable technology already has a huge variety of applications for both business clients and retail consumers. However, it s important to remember that the key to wearables taking of is that customers must show a willingness to keep wearing them so that they become an integral part of their daily lives. There s no point in businesses developing apps for wearable technology that nobody uses.

At the 2014 Wearable Tech Expo in New York, the expert panelists were unequivocal about the importance of aesthetics. One said: It is important to design wearables to look good. Even before people know and understand the function of the wearable, they should want it and desire it. Another said: It has to look good, feel good, and be fashionable for what you re doing in

your day. 4

Meanwhile, Intel recently said it was optimistic about the long-term potential for wearable devices, although it was scathing about the quality of the current generation of smartwatches in particular. Mike Bell, Intel s general manager of new devices, told the 2014 Web Summit conference in Dublin: Taping a cellphone to your wrist is not what I d call a wearable. There has

to be a reason why you d use the technology. He added: I haven t seen anything I particularly like in smartwatches yet. 5

Prominent journalists have also been quick to point out the distinction

between functionality and desirability. Charles Arthur of The Guardian said: Unlike a desktop or even laptop computer, which can look ugly but still be

wonderfully functional, wearable computers have to look and feel good. And Sally Davies of The Financial Times acknowledged that the wearable technology industry needed to learn lessons from the fashion industry. But she warned: Tech and fashion make for an uneasy mix…because the computing that underpins technology is all about stuf that is quantiiable and deinable – while fashion focuses on the intangible, the intuitive, how things look and feel.

If you d like to learn more about the relationship between wearable technology and fashion, incidentally, this is a subject that we’ve covered extensively elsewhere. 6

What does independent research show?

All of the evidence points to the fact that we re on the cusp of a period of rapid change in the technology sector.

In October 2014, YouGov s new wearables tracker research reported that 2.8m people in the UK currently own a wearable technology device – but that this is likely to increase to 6.1m by September 2015. This means that wearable device adoption will more than double from 6 per cent to 13 per cent of the entire UK population in a year.

A key factor behind this anticipated rapid rise is that wearable technology is becoming more and more desirable among the general public. Some 13 per cent of non-owners told the pollsters that they were keen on getting a wearable and, of this group, 46 per cent revealed that they expected to have

4http://www.techrepublic.com/article/looks-are-everything-in-wearable-tech/5http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/06/intel-cellphone-wrist-wearable-mike-bell6http://www.apadmi.com/blog/computers-catwalks-fashion-fuelling-rise-wearable-tech/

one in a year’s time. 7

Indeed, there s no shortage of research suggesting that wearable technology is shaping up to be the next big thing. To give just a couple more examples, an Accenture survey found that:

7 https://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/10/10/6-million-have-wearables-next-year/8http://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-consumer-survey-reveals-market-opportunities-in-wearable-technologies.htm9https://www.abiresearch.com/press/wearable-sports-and-itness-devices-will-hit-90-mi


What does our research show?

The question that we set out to ask our respondents was what exactly makes wearable technology desirable or otherwise.

So we asked consumers to tell us how they perceived wearable technology in its current form. Respondents were allowed to choose as few or as many answers as they wanted so the percentages don t add up to 100 per cent, but we feel this approach gives a more accurate overall picture of the true spread of opinions.

There were a small number of positive responses:

- 10 per cent would feel cool wearing wearable technology- 8 per cent think wearable technology makes people look attractive- 20 per cent think wearable technology makes people look intelligent and/or successful

But the lion s share of responses were negative:

- 17 per cent think wearable technology makes people look unattractive- 34 per cent think wearable technology makes people look like show- ofs- 32 per cent think wearable technology makes people look ridiculous- 35 per cent said they would feel embarrassed or self-conscious wearing wearable technology- 18 per cent said wearable technology available at the moment is unattractively designed

52% were interested in buying wearable technologies8

while ABI Research predicted that the total market for wearable devices in sports and healthcare alone would grow by 8x from:

20.8m devices in 2011 to

169.5m in 2017. 9

So our research shows there is a small section of the population that believes wearable technology makes people feel cool, look more attractive and appear more intelligent and successful. However, signiicantly more think that wearable technology makes people look unattractive or worse.

What lessons can be drawn from these indings?There are several points worth highlighting here.

Firstly, wearable technology is clearly about more than just functionality. By their very nature, wearable technology devices are designed to be worn – and items such as smart glasses, smartwatches, smart jewellery and smart wristbands are likely to be highly visible to the user s social circle. The current crop of wearables has been criticised in some quarters for being too visually unappealing, but the next generation of devices is clearly going to put aesthetics centre stage.

Secondly, the market for wearable technology is growing at an incredible

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feel cool

makes people look attractive

makes people look intelligent and/or successful

makes people look unattractive

makes people look like show-offs

makes people look ridiculous

feel embarrassed or self-concious

unattractively designed pace. Millions of people in the UK already own at least one item of wearable technology and, over the next 12 months, millions more will follow.

Last but certainly not least, there are still signiicant numbers of people who feel ambivalent towards this emerging sector. There’s still a lingering sense that wearable technology makes people look like show-ofs, for example, which suggests an education job remains for the industry to explain to customers how it can help to enhance their lives.

What lessons can be drawn from these indings?

There are several points worth highlighting here.

Firstly, wearable technology is clearly about more than just functionality. By their very nature, wearable technology devices are designed to be worn – and items such as smart glasses, smartwatches, smart jewellery and smart wristbands are likely to be highly visible to the user s social circle. The current crop of wearables has been criticised in some quarters for being too visually unappealing, but the next generation of devices is clearly going to put aesthetics centre stage.

Secondly, the market for wearable technology is growing at an incredible pace. Millions of people in the UK already own at least one item of wearable technology and, over the next 12 months, millions more will follow.

Last but certainly not least, there are still signiicant numbers of people who feel ambivalent towards this emerging sector. There’s still a lingering sense that wearable technology makes people look like show-ofs, for example, which suggests an education job remains for the industry to explain to customers how it can help to enhance their lives.


*What makes wearable tech desirable or otherwise?

01. Do potential customers think wearable tech is desirable?

Three Actionable Insights For Businesses

Target celebrity endorsements and brand partnerships. Some forward-thinking elements of the wearable technology sector have clearly identiied that they need help to win over the mainstream. Technology innovation company OMsignal recently teamed up with clothing designer Ralph Lauren to launch the Polo Tech Shirt, an item of smart clothing, and secured some welcome publicity when professional tennis player Marcos Giron wore it at the 2014 US Open. Similarly, Google collaborated with fashion icon Diane von Fursenberg to develop a range of stylish Google Glass products. And the Apple Watch featured on the cover of Vogue China shortly after being the star attraction at designer Azzedine Alia s exclusive dinner party during Paris Fashion Week. Headline-grabbing initiatives such as these will help new entrants to the market attract a far wider audience.

Constantly review your market research. The technology and fashion worlds are both phenomenally fast-moving. Of course, you should always invest time and money into ensuring that your wearable technology idea has a unique selling point that will appeal to a clearly deined target market. But with these sectors, you also need to review and update your market research throughout the development process. Stylish new apps are being launched all the time on the most popular devices so you don t want to be left launching a concept that s already months out of date.

Consider cross-platform synergies. Several start-up device manufacturers, such as Pebble, Fitbit and MEMI, have managed to raise signiicant amounts of money and garner some positive publicity via crowdfunding. But we re also seeing an inlux of established technology giants into the wearable space, including Motorola, LG and Samsung. Admittedly, this proliferation brings some challenges to businesses that would like to reach the widest possible audience with their apps, but it also opens up exciting new synergy opportunities because many still run the same operating system (Motorola, LG and Samsung all run Android Wear for example).

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02. Do Potential Customers Think Wearable Tech Poses a Privacy Risk?


Do potential customers think wearable tech poses a

privavcy risk?

Privacy is often identiied as one of the biggest barriers to the mass uptake of wearables.

Sue McLean, a lawyer at multinational law irm Morrison & Foerster, told Computer Weekly: There are huge privacy and ethical implications around wearable technology. 10 And Ariana Levinson, an associate professor of law at the University of Louisville and an expert in workplace technology, explained to Bloomberg Businessweek: The concern people have from the privacy perspective is now: You re being watched all the time. 11

And it isn t just the legal profession highlighting this issue. Hayley Tsukayama, a consumer technology reporter at The Washington Post, noted: Privacy advocates are concerned the wearable-tech industry is exploding while regulators take a back seat. 12 So we decided to ind out just how much of a priority privacy is for customers.


There have been several interesting studies into privacy and wearable technology.

A major survey of 4,000 adults in the UK and US by cloud computing company Rackspace Hosting found that 51 per cent identiied privacy as a barrier to adoption of wearable technology, and 62 per cent said wearables

should be regulated in some form. However, an overwhelming 82 per cent of US users and 71 per cent of UK users then went on to say that these devices have enhanced their lives. Speciically, 71 per cent of US users and 63 per cent of UK users report wearable technology has improved their health and itness, 60 per cent of US users and 53 per cent of UK users say it helps them feel more in control of their lives, and a third of users in both the US and UK revealed it has helped their career development. 13

In a similar vein, media intelligence specialist Gorkana has produced a study showing that 47 per cent of UK adults think using or wearing Google Glass will raise privacy concerns. The same survey indicated that only 12 per cent think they know a lot about Google Glass.


It would have been remiss of us not to include any privacy questions to our sample. There has already been a substantial amount of research into this area, but we were curious to see if our indings were consistent with the wider body of evidence.

So we asked whether our respondents feel wearable technology poses a threat to their privacy – 42 per cent said yes, 18 per cent replied no, and the remaining 40 per cent were don t knows. Moreover, we questioned them how they would feel if their employer required them to use wearable technology as part of their role – 25 per cent said they would consider changing jobs, 24 per cent replied they would be happy to do this, and the remaining 51 per cent were don t knows.

10 http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240223173/Wearable-technology-new-privacy-headaches-for-employers

11 http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-01/wearable-technology-will-let-companies-monitor-worker-productivity

12 http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/wearable-technology-raise-privacy-concerns/2013/09/30/0a81a960-2493-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html

13 http://www.rackspace.co.uk/press-releases/cloud-powered-wearable-tech-improves-intelligence-and-self-conidence-says-new-depth


It s obvious from our investigations that privacy is a very real issue for the wearable technology industry, although it’s by no means insurmountable.

A lot of commentators are lagging up the potential privacy implications of devices that can record and relay so much data about an individual. And consumers appear to be taking note, with quite a few admitting that these concerns weigh on their mind when considering whether or not to buy wearable technology.

However, we also need to draw attention to the fact that a huge number of people still don t have a irm grasp of how wearable technology might

impact upon privacy in the irst place, as demonstrated by the signiicant number of don t know respondents in the survey. People are naturally apprehensive about what they don t understand. It s interesting that those who go on to purchase a device are overwhelmingly happy with their decision and the beneits it has brought to their lives.


02. Do potential customers think wearable tech poses a privacy risk?


Educate the customer. The wearable technology industry needs to do more to seek out prospective customers and explain that this category is about so much more than just privacy concerns. This means not just posting a jargon-illed list of technical speciications on a website but reaching out to politicians, industry groups, journalists, opinion formers, celebrities and consumers on the street in a language that they understand about the issues that matter to them. They need to show that wearable technology is relevant far beyond Silicon Valley and Tech City – it can help us locate missing dementia suferers, it can transform customer service in shops, it can help us speed up accident and emergency response rates and so on. Perhaps if another survey was carried out after customers had been educated more fully about wearable technology, the percentage of respondents who selected don t know would be signiicantly reduced.

Consult with staf. Any employer that is thinking of introducing wearable technology in the workplace needs to be sensitive to the fact that there may well be concerns in the workplace. To avoid causing unrest, companies should consult with staf from the very beginning. This means doing initial research into what beneits wearable technology could bring for the employer and the employee, presenting this information to the workforce in a fair and even-handed way, inviting feedback, addressing any concerns one by one and only then coming to a decision. By adopting this approach, employees will feel included in the process and they ll be much more likely to support whatever is decided.

Be transparent. Businesses that are developing apps should be open about what user data is being collected and why this is needed. There needs to be a clear trade-of between the data collected and the beneits to the end consumer. There also needs to be a clear opt-in process so people understand what information they ve agreed to share. Employers that are introducing wearable technology at work, moreover, must remember to update their employee contracts, company handbooks and other business processes to ensure staf appreciate what data can and can t be shared.

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03. How Can Diferent Business Sectors Exploit Wearable Technology?


How can diferent business sectors exploit wearable technology?

Wearable technology is starting to be used more and more in all sorts of business sectors.

In such a fast-moving and diverse category, innovative new implementations are being introduced all the time. But to help us gain some idea of the potential applications of wearable technology in diferent business sectors, perhaps it d be helpful to take a look at a few real-world examples:

Healthcare. Stanford University Medical Center has started to use wearable technology as part of its treatment. For example, medical practitioners are encouraged to use Eyes-On Glasses from Evena Medical to get real-time and hands-free vascular imaging while they work. This efectively ofers them a map of the patient s veins, helping them to select appropriate veins and insert needles into them more accurately than ever before. 14

Education. Andrew Vanden-Heuvel, an advanced physics teacher who delivers online courses to students at schools without in-house expertise, is pioneering the use of wearable technology in education. To give just one example, he has used Google Glass to transmit his tour of the CERN Large Hadron Collider to watching students via Google Hangouts. 15

Construction. The construction sector has also started to dabble in wearable technology. The Harvard Business Review said that some digger drivers are now wearing fatigue-monitoring sensors, which can detect when the head or body of the user is slumped. It also noted that where tracking is used not just to increase productivity but also to boost health and safety in the workplace, such as in this example, the receptivity among workers is generally much better. 16

Retail. Retail has lots of potential synergies with wearable technology so perhaps it s not surprising that Tesco, the largest supermarket in Great Britain, is already up and running in this respect. Many of its employees at a distribution centre in Ireland, for instance, are equipped with hi-tech armbands that track what goods they re carrying, allocate jobs, set estimated completion times and monitor movements throughout the facility. 17

Social care. Helius in California provides a fascinating indication of how wearable technology could be used to support social care. It uses novel ingestible sensors alongside a specialised wearable sensor attached to the body of the recipient. This wearable is then connected by Bluetooth to a smartphone or tablet, providing real-time feedback of the efect of speciic interventions on criteria such as heart rate and activity level. 18

14 http://www.rokkmedia.co.uk/blog/health-industry-wearables/

15 http://www.online-phd-programs.org/google-glass/

16 https://hbr.org/2013/09/wearables-in-the-workplace

17 https://hbr.org/2013/09/wearables-in-the-workplace

18 http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2014/11/20/wearable-technology-and-digital-healthcare-strategies-should-shift-focus-to-chronic-medical-illness/

Sport and leisure. The Polo Tech Shirt is a perfect illustration of how wearable technology can shake up the sport and leisure sector. Developed by clothing giant Ralph Lauren alongside technology innovation company OMsignal, this shirt has bio-sensing ibres woven directly into the fabric that can track data such as intensity of movement, calories burned, heart rate, stress rate and distance travelled. It was worn by professional tennis player Marcos Giron during practice sessions at the 2014 US Open to get more accurate data about his conditioning, potentially giving him that all-important edge for competitive matches. 19

Media. Plenty of traditional media outlets are experimenting with using wearable technology to better engage their target audience, including the Manchester Evening News. In October 2014, the title s production designer Paul Smith wore Google Glass to show readers the thought processes involved in putting together the front page of the following morning s edition. 20

Manufacturing. One of the world s biggest carmakers is among several high-proile manufacturers to trial wearable technology in the workplace. General Motors, which uses Google Glass to upskill engineers at two of its factories in Michigan, told The Manufacturer: Right out of the box we found Google Glass to help in training. 21


As we ve seen, there are lots of potential uses of wearable technology in a business context, but which sector has the highest growth potential?


One organisation that has sought to answer this question is professional services giant PwC. Having commissioned several reports into wearable technology recently, it concluded that companies in the EMC [entertainment, media and communications] industries have perhaps the largest opportunity for advancement and growth in the wearable technology market . In particular, the scope for wearable technology to create more immersive media and entertainment, interact with social media, make online gaming more engaging and ofer new advertising opportunities were identiied as the key drivers of growth. 22

However, it wasn t the only sector to get lagged up. PwC reported that health, retail and technology also ofer signiicant promise for brands looking to establish themselves and set themselves apart from the competition.


We ve looked a lot at how diferent business sectors can use, and are using, wearable technology then but we’ve not yet considered how the wider public might react to these implementations.

In our study, we wanted to get a snapshot of how people currently feel about wearable technology being utilised in a variety of contexts. So we took three real-world examples from diferent business sectors and put them to our sample to ind out their response:

Healthcare. We asked our respondents if they would be happy with a doctor using wearable technology that could record during medical examinations – 33 per cent said they would be comfortable with this, 26

19 http://www.cityam.com/1409061764/us-open-ball-boys-and-marcos-giron-test-out-ralph-lauren-s-polo-tech-shirt-monitor-heart

20 http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-live-day-life-manchester-7935126

21 http://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/can-google-glass-revolutionise-manufacturing/ 22 http://www.pwc.com/us/en/press-releases/2014/wearable-technology-future.jhtml

per cent replied they wouldn t be comfortable with this, and the remaining 41 per cent were don t knows.

Education. We quizzed the group to ind out if they would be happy with their children being taught by teachers using wearable technology that could record at school – 17 per cent said they would be comfortable with this, 28 per cent replied they wouldn t be comfortable with this, and the remaining 55 per cent were don t knows.

Construction. We questioned the sample to see if they would be happy with a building contractor using wearable technology that could record entering their home – only 11 per cent said they would be comfortable with this, 34 per cent said they wouldn t be comfortable with this, and the remaining 55 per cent were don t knows.


Wearable technology evidently has the capacity to revolutionise a number of diferent business sectors. From a business perspective, it s obvious that some areas have particularly strong growth prospects, namely EMC, health, retail and technology. But it s worth remembering that we re only at the start of the journey for wearable technology and so, as new devices and apps are developed, it s entirely possible that other sectors will catch up and perhaps overtake them in due course.

From a consumer perspective, however, the picture is more complex. The three real-world examples that we put to our sample generated diferent reactions. Respondents were slightly more in favour of the idea that doctors could use wearable technology during examinations, but they were less keen on it being used in schools and came out strongly against builders bringing it into their homes. The overwhelming response in all three cases was don t know, however, which suggests that the industry needs to do more to educate consumers on privacy issues.

Would you be happy with a doctor using wearable technology that

could record during medical examinations?

Would you be happy with your children being taught by teachers

using wearable technology?

Would you be happy with a building contractor using wearable

technology that could record entering your home?


03. How can diferent business sectors exploit wearable technology?



Research examples in your industry. More and more companies are beginning to integrate wearable technology into their business processes. In the early days, this activity was largely limited to big corporates such as General Motors and Tesco but increasingly it s also happening across small- to medium-sized enterprises and even individuals such as Andrew Vanden-Heuvel, the teacher we mentioned earlier. What this means is companies of all backgrounds that are considering adopting wearables are likely to have a wealth of real-world examples to draw on.

Identify your goals. In a category as broad as wearable technology, it s easy to lose sight of what you really want to achieve. Whether you want to increase productivity, boost quality, support remote working or improve health and safety, wearable technology can help. But it may be that trying to do all of these things at once leaves you with a compromise that satisies nobody, so a bit of forward-planning at the outset can make all the diference.

Put people irst. While many businesses enjoy pushing the boundaries of what s possible, it s vital to keep in mind that your wearable project can only be successful if people on the ground are comfortable with the end result. There s no point creating something that nobody will be able to use – keep it simple and remember that the technologies that succeed are usually the ones ofering a great user experience.

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04. Which speciic wearable technologies should businesses prioritise?

Which speciic wearable technologies should businesses prioritise?

So far, we’ve been treating wearable technology as a single entity but this is clearly too simplistic.

The category comprises a whole plethora of options from itness trackers and gadget gloves to smart clothing and smart jewellery, and it’s by no means the case that all devices will grow equally over the coming years. It may be that some wearable technology devices have stronger growth potential than others. For example, prospective customers may feel relatively comfortable with the idea of wearing something on their wrist – many will have grown up wearing watches so it s not much of a leap to try a smartwatch. But the idea of wearing smart glasses such as Google Glass, which have a camera conspicuously positioned in front of the right lens, might be harder to swallow.

So now it s time to take a closer look at some of the main types of wearable technology and speciically consider which ones are likely to experience the largest surge in popularity in the coming years.


The conventional wisdom is that the itness tracker is the most in-demand form of wearable technology. Nielsen reported that among wearable technology owners, the most popular devices were itness bands ”61 per cent) followed some way back by smartwatches ”45 per cent) 23 . The thinking goes that consumers don t mind wearing itness trackers when

they re already dressed in high-visibility itness clothing or Lycra, but that they shy away from using wearable technology at work or in their social lives.

To some extent, this inding is relected in research by YouGov 24 . It found that the largest wearable technology category at present is itness devices, with 3 per cent of the UK population possessing a itness tracker – compared to just 1 per cent with smartwatches. However, it appears that this may be changing. Among those planning to buy a wearable, 41 per cent said they intend to get a smartwatch whereas only 34 per cent want to get a itness device.

61% of technology owners have a itness band

45% of technology owners have a smartwatch

*Nielsen

23 http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/tech-styles-are-consumers-really-interested-in-wearing-tech-on-their-sleeves.html24 https://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/10/10/6-million-have-wearables-next-year/



We were interested to see if there was indeed a shift towards smartwatches.

To check this, we asked which wearable technology categories would consumers most like to buy. Respondents were allowed to select up to three responses:

- 43 per cent said smartwatches- 28 per cent said itness trackers- 23 per cent said smart glasses- 18 per cent said smart clothing


The igures we ve found consistently suggest that itness trackers are more well-established in the UK than other wearable technologies.

Many people currently own itness trackers and there s evidence that

there s still plenty of demand within the market, so it s reasonable to assume that they will remain popular for the foreseeable future. However, the lipside of this is that the itness tracker market is maturing fast – one of the leading manufacturers, Fitbit, has been producing devices since its formation way back in 2007. The upshot is that businesses wishing to make inroads into itness trackers will need to work hard to develop truly innovative apps and use creative branding techniques to really diferentiate themselves from the competition.

Meanwhile, smartwatches are at a very diferent point in their evolution. Of course, there have been smartwatches for several years now, but it’s Apple s impending entry that has really supercharged the category. This is a company that has consistently proven its ability to produce market-leading devices and generate demand for them with its unparalleled marketing might – the iPod shook up MP3 players, the iPhone transformed smartphones and the iPad revolutionized tablets. It s still early days but initial data suggests that the Apple Watch has the potential to do something similar for smartwatches. How else can we explain the fact that smartwatches have suddenly leapt above itness trackers in the desirability stakes?

But wearable technology is about so more than just itness trackers and smartwatches. Unfortunately, the data comparing the relative appeal of other wearable technology categories is somewhat limited, and it’s not helped by the fact that there s very little agreement on classiications ”some sources classify smart wristbands as itness trackers, whereas others call them itness devices, health trackers, health devices, wrist-mounted sports computers and so on). Nevertheless, it seems safe to say that smart glasses and smart clothing currently have a narrower market appeal. More research is clearly needed to give us a fuller picture of where consumers stand.


04. Which speciic wearable technologies should businesses prioritise?


Select your wearable technology targets carefully. It s important to think carefully before selecting which speciic wearable technology category you d like to target as a business. Wearable technology is a broad church and even if you have an idea for an app that would work brilliantly on one type of device, it doesn t necessarily follow that it would suit others equally well. As a case in point, itness trackers are ideal for providing in-depth monitoring of athletic performance, which makes them well-suited in many sport and leisure contexts. By contrast, smart glasses allow employers to provide on-the-job training to employees, meaning they can help manufacturers upskill engineers in the workplace for example. And smartwatches are great for ensuring people receive messages instantly rather than waiting for them to check their phones – in a healthcare setting, this would be invaluable for keeping doctors informed of the state of their patients.

Focus on mainstream operating systems. Once you ve chosen your category, you ll need to consider which speciic device or devices to concentrate on. Bear in mind that there are range of operating systems to choose from these days. In the smartwatch category, for example, devices by the likes of Samsung and LG run Android Wear while Apple will use Apple Watch OS (based on the iOS operating system). Generally speaking, it s a good idea to focus your eforts on the more established operating systems like Android Wear or up-and-coming rivals like Apple Watch OS with signiicant growth potential. This is because relying on smaller challenger operating systems, which frequently fall by the wayside in such a fast-moving and competitive environment, means your app risks becoming obsolete before it s even launched.

Start developing now. Once you ve identiied which wearable technology categories and operating systems you want to hone in on, you d be well-advised to get moving on the development front. New software development kits (SDKs) come out all the time – the Android Wear SDK is updated regularly, while the Apple WatchKit SDK is now available too and many businesses have already started to develop apps. As a result, it can often be counter-productive to take your time when commissioning or developing apps for wearable technology.

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Conclusion

Conclusion

The picture emerging from Apadmi s Wearable Technology Study is that wearable technology is approaching a tipping point but that we still have some distance left to travel. This has important implications for businesses developing apps and the rest of the wearable technology supply chain.

Desirability is the key to driving demand

One of the things that really jumps out of this report is that style is becoming more and more important in the wearable technology market. It s no longer enough to focus purely on creating functional apps for functional devices. Analysts, manufacturers and journalists are all agreed that the next generation of wearable technology needs to put more emphasis on being aesthetically pleasing.

Having said that, it s impressive how far we ve come already. Millions of people across the UK already own a wearable technology device and many more will join them shortly. Indeed, there s plenty of data to suggest that the overall market for wearable technology is going to grow signiicantly in 2015. This is in spite of the fact that many people feel that the current crop of devices makes people look unattractive or worse – just imagine how fast the sector could grow if devices were more visually appealing.

There are lots of ways that businesses in the wearable technology sector could help to boost the desirability of their products. For example, they could actively target celebrity endorsements and brand partnerships. However, in the fast-moving worlds of technology and fashion, they need to make sure that they keep abreast of the latest developments in both industries to avoid the risk of launching concepts that are already out of date. And to free up time to focus on creating really visually arresting apps, they should look for cross-platform synergies at every opportunity.

Privacy issues need to be handled sensitively

There can be no doubt that the privacy issues around wearable technology are real and must be acknowledged by the wearable technology industry. Lawyers have been regularly voicing their concerns about the potential legal implications of our move towards ever more technology-driven lifestyles, and lately several journalists have been exploring the potential ethical ramiications as well. It s clear that this subject is not about to go away.

These attitudes are mirrored to some extent by the general public. Roughly half of consumers feel privacy serves as a barrier to the adoption of wearable technology, and almost as many feel it represents a threat to their own privacy. Interestingly, however, the research also appears to suggest that people who own one or more devices overwhelmingly believe the technology has enhanced their lives.

First and foremost, these indings indicate that businesses in the wearable technology space must do everything within their power to educate prospective customers. Many people still don t fully understand the privacy issues around wearable technology or appreciate its potential to dramatically improve lives in areas such as health and social care. Companies must reach out to everyone from politicians and industry groups to journalists and consumers. What s more, employers that are considering introducing wearable technology at work would be well-advised to consult with staf throughout to maximize their chances of securing buy-in. And lastly, it s crucial for companies in this ield to be transparent about what data is being collected and how it will be used.


Wearable technology means diferent things to diferent businesses

Although frequently pigeonholed as a consumer-focused category, the fact is that some of wearable technology s most exciting and promising applications are actually coming from the business community. There s no shortage of examples of wearable technology disrupting established working practices in sectors as diverse as healthcare, education, construction, retail, social care, sport and leisure, media and manufacturing.

Some sectors obviously have greater potential than others though. Top of the pile are the EMC [entertainment, media and communications] industries, followed closely by health, retail and technology. Of course, this isn t to say that wearable technology projects in these sectors are likely to succeed while those in others aren t – much depends on context. We ve found that the general public is relatively comfortable with the idea of doctors using wearable technology to record medical examinations, but there s much greater concern surrounding the prospect of teachers or builders bringing wearable technology into their lives.

Nowadays, businesses with ambitions in the wearable technology space would do well to research what s already come before. Rather than trying to develop ideas from scratch, they are increasingly able to draw on existing examples from within their industry during the initial brainstorming – taking inspiration from the elements that work and improving the elements that don t. They should also set out their goals early on because, to give just one example, an app that s designed to increase productivity might look and feel very diferent to one that aims to improve health and safety. In addition, it s important to keep in mind throughout the development process that you re not just creating an abstract concept, you re creating something that real people need to be

able to use so keep it simple and don t neglect user experience.

The time has come for smartwatches

Wearable technology is an incredibly diverse category covering a range of products such as smart glasses, smartwatches, itness trackers, smart clothing, smart wristbands, smart jewellery, smart shoes, gadget gloves and virtual reality headsets. Some may always have limited adoption rates but others are showing all the signs of breaking into the mainstream in 2015.

For some time now, itness trackers have surged ahead in the popularity stakes and there s plenty of research conirming that by far the most people own one of these. Times are changing, however, and from late 2014 onwards we ve suddenly started to see more consumers reporting that they want a smartwatch than anything else. This correlates with the fact that in late 2014 Apple unveiled plans to launch its irst smartwatch, the Apple Watch. Consumers are suddenly excited about smartwatches in a way that they ve never been before, which leads us to believe that Apple s impending entry can be a real game-changer for the entire smartwatch category.

This is valuable information for businesses, but the inal decision on which categories should be targeted by a particular company will involve more than just comparing adoption rates of course. Those that want to develop apps monitoring athletic performance to the most rigorous standards may ind it best to concentrate on itness trackers, whereas those looking to ensure doctors receive instant updates on their patients might prefer to put all of their resources behind smartwatches or even smart glasses. It s also a good idea to focus on mainstream operating systems like Android Wear or rivals with high growth potential like Apple Watch OS because smaller


players come and go in this fast-moving industry. Last but not least, companies should move quickly once they ve identiied which devices to target since the industry is likely to have already moved on by the time long-winded commissioning and development cycles have been completed.

Limitless potential

I ve seen irst-hand how wearable technology can inluence users for the better. Since I started wearing a Fitbit Flex itness tracker, I ve paid much closer attention to my calorie intake. The result is that I ve changed my diet and I m now eating far more healthily than before. In truth, wearable technology can transform our lives in so many ways from inluencing our psychology to helping us do everyday tasks more eiciently, yet we ve barely scratched the surface.

Many people still don t know enough about wearable technology or fully understand the issues around it. What this means for businesses is that it s not enough to simply build a functional wearable technology app. Companies must also make a product that s highly desirable and educate their audience about why it will improve their lives.

Ultimately, the wearable technology industry needs to go the extra mile and really make itself heard in 2015. The decisions that we make now will determine whether these devices break into the mainstream and realise their true potential or remain left on the sidelines. I really hope we make the most of this exciting new era.

By Howard Simms, Co-founder and Director of Apadmi.


About Apadmi

Apadmi is the UK s leading mobile app developer, winner of App Developer of the Year 2014 and a Top 10 Global App Developer as listed by Washington DC IT research irm, SourcingLine. From the BBC iPlayer Radio app to the Guardian Witness, Apadmi focuses on strengthening brand advocacy and engagement for its clients through the development of robust, intuitive and award-winning apps and server solutions in both the consumer and enterprise space.

Known as the experts in mobile technology, the company prides itself on its deep heritage within the mobile industry; Apadmi s CEO and many of the existing team helped to develop the irst smartphone back in 1998. Since then, the company has gone on to partner with hundreds of the world s most renowned and recognised brands to improve and broaden their mobile portfolio including the BBC, the X Factor, the Guardian, BT, Lexus, Aviva, AstraZeneca, Range Rover and EE.

Apadmi LtdWarren Bruce CourtWarren Bruce Road

Manchester M17 1LB

W: apadmi.comT: +44 161 850 1321E: [email protected]

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