Interconnection
Wearable electronics come of age
Despite challenges the market for wearable computing devices is expected to soar over the next four years. Eric Braddom looks at the opportunities and challenges confronting connector manufacturers working in this space
A
ccording to market research group Canalys, the market for wearable computing is expected to grow
from 46 million units in 2014 to 285 million units in 2018. Wearable computing applications include everything from fitness trackers, health monitors to smart watches that provide a new way to interact with and utilize a smartphone, to augmented reality glasses like the Google Glass wearable computing device.
Wearables have the potential to change our lives and impact many industries, not only consumer electronics. Moreover, the products will be driving new requirements for components in terms of
miniaturization, rugged design, cosmetics, sensor integration, and more.
Drivers There are several enablers for wearable computing. The first is the pervasiveness of smartphones. Smartphones create personal networks via Bluetooth Smart wireless computer network technology that enables users and wearable devices to access applications via phone or in the cloud. Major OS players, such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS7, have announced that they will include Bluetooth Smart wireless computer network technology for facilitating wearable computing devices.
28 October 2013
There are several use models driving the wearable market. First, there is the Quantified Self movement in which people can use wearable computing devices to track aspects of their life, like activity, and change it more easily because they are aware of it. Second are social interfaces. A Martian Watch product facilitates hands free communications, while many of the watches, such as Pebble product, show who is calling or display simple text messages. Google Glass wearable computing device also provides an augmented reality capability with its integrated heads-up display. And finally, wearables are bringing new functionality like a remote camera trigger for a smartphone in the Cookoo watch product. Another interesting new feature is an alarm that goes off when you lose your smartphone or tablet computer. In terms of fitness, the new Quantified Self movement is leading the wearables market today. Essentially, the technology allows you to track some aspect of your body and your life, granting one the awareness to modify their behaviour. Examples include activity trackers that monitor things like how much you move, your pulse, the distance you travelled, sleep cycles, and more. A popular product in this realm is the Nike+ Fuelband, which tracks daily activity, including running, walking, basketball, dancing and dozens of everyday activities. According to Gartner, fitness and athletic performance wearables, including activity trackers, performance analyzers and pedometers, are expected to amount for US$3.2 billion of potential revenue by 2015. Other wearable products like the Google Glass wearable computing device are targeting augmented reality applications and a new type of user interface. The eyewear, scheduled to be
Components in Electronics
launched by 2014, already has thousands of fans worldwide. It features voice- controlled menus, video and photo capability, maps, search and smartphone connectivity.
Companies are also using watches to enable a simpler user experience by displaying messages about who is calling, triggering an alarm when a smartphone or tablet is left behind, enabling hands free communication, updating Facebook, or controlling your phone with features like a remote camera trigger. An example of the popularity of watch wearables is Silicon Valley startup Pebble Technology, which has already received 275,000 orders for its smartwatch.
Other examples of this trending technology are Samsung’s much anticipated Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which was unveiled in September, Casio’s G-Shock, the Basis Watch, CooKoo Watch, Martian Watch and more. Samsung’s Gear is an Android-powered device which works as an extension to a limited number of its phones and is able to show incoming calls and messages on a 1.63in screen. It has voice control, a basic camera and can run, according to Samsung, up to around 70 compatible apps.
Canalys has predicted smartwatch shipments will rise to 500,000 units this year and to more than 5 million in 2014.
Biggest application areas Nowadays, analysts forecast that fitness tracking is the biggest application. However, in my view, if watches become capable of tracking blood pressure and glucose, we could see them grew substantially faster. Think about this – with wearables being able to tell temperature, pulse rate and other vitals taken every few seconds for the previous month, it opens the door to many new kinds of healthcare applications. Instead of relying on your vitals measured just one time when you arrive at the doctor’s office, doctors can improve their diagnosis with the additional patient data made available with these devices. While augmented reality glasses are not
forecasted to experience an explosive growth in the near future, I am personally most excited about the potential of the space and the new kinds of use models it will enable.
Challenges & hurdles Wearables are set to boom, but not without challenges. One of the big obstacles is the ease of use. None of the wearables that I have tried were simple to configure or use. However, as we have seen large consumer electronics companies do in the past, if a company can take a cool technology and make it simple to use, it opens up significant market potential. For example, Apple is famous for winning in crowded markets as a latecomer because of their products’ cool designs and ease of use.
I have tried many of the new wearables on the market and believe that they have potential, but still require some tweaks here or there in terms of perfecting their functionality. Beyond the technical challenges, non-tech obstacles such as privacy (worries about covert recording) or safety (concerns over distractions caused by wearables) issues could be other hurdles. In addition, the small form factor of wearables will provide new challenges to solution providers trying to put all components together. Wearables’ wow factor, miniature size, data speed, and engineering stability all require unique connectivity. Users want wearables to be quickly charged, with no thermal transfer issue, and easily connected through wireless or contactless connectivity options. Wearables should also be water resistant and rugged. Connectivity solution providers that can meet such demands will do well. Wearable computing devices use many
products found in smartphones, like antennas, waterproof I/O, contactless data, wireless power, spring fingers, pogo pins and more. Wearable gadgets are set to take off despite certain challenges. Gartner predicted that by 2016, wearable devices will emerge as a US$10 billion industry. Connector manufacturers, working together with OEMs, have significant opportunity in this space. I am excited to see how it unfolds and the new ways that our lives and many industries will be changed. The wearable computing revolution has certainly begun.
TE Consumer Devices |
www.te.com
Eric Braddom is Senior Director of Global Strategic Marketing, TE Consumer Devices
www.cieonline.co.uk
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