What new wearable devices will be unveiled in 2015? As I write, developers and designers are hunkered down building the next generation of gadgets. It’s an exciting time with the wearables market still at its infancy, yet poised for tremendous growth – with the value expected to hit $12.6bn by 2018 according to Business Insider.
The big question is: which devices and apps will have staying power?
We’ve seen a slew of wearables launched over the past 18 months promising to transform how we live. From smart watches to smart glasses, the development game is on to see just how intelligent these devices can be.
So, what do we want? The same PwC survey revealed that 77 percent of respondents said an important benefit of wearable technology is its potential to make us more efficient and more productive at work. In a society that is tied to the workplace more than ever – spending more hours at the office, taking shorter vacations and retiring later – any tools that can make us more productive and efficient have the potential to take the market by storm.
Case in point: the smartphone. Now deemed by most employees as a must-have productivity tool, Good Technology estimates that by 2017, 328 million workers will bring their smartphones to work – up from 132 million in 2013. But it’s not the phones themselves that are making a lasting impact on how we work, it’s the mobile apps. Good Technology found that as smartphone adoption rose last year, so did the adoption of enterprise apps – with activations up 54 percent in Q4 2013 over the previous quarter.
Wearable designers and developers have to look no further than current apps on the market that successfully enable mobile workforces to get a better understanding of what’s needed to set their designs apart. Empowering employees to work smarter and better depends on apps that support five key ingredients:
The bottom line: wearable designers should keep their eye on the prize – building devices with business applications in mind that will ultimately boost workplace productivity and the efficiency of organisations, without compromising the security of their information.
How much do you know about wearable technology? Take our quiz!
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