In the wearable tech context, IoT platforms offer two main advantages. This represents an interesting take on industrial IoT, which is currently centered on monitoring and optimizing physical assets and infrastructure. In the B2B market, IBM has worked with North Star Bluescope Steel to develop wearable tech worker safety monitoring solutions powered by Watson (IBM, 2016a), and Honeywell (working with Intel) and Fujitsu are developing similar systems (Financial Times, 2016). ![]() For example, in the B2C market, Microsoft offers such a service linked to its Microsoft Band wearable (Microsoft, 2017). To increase the usefulness of wearable technology, such devices can be linked with cloud-based service platforms to collect and analyze user data. The goal of wearable tech deployment in these research contexts is advancing knowledge on social dynamics by collecting objective, high quality, real-time, longitudinal data (Kozlowski, 2015). Computer science researchers pioneered the development, testing, and deployment of wearables in social science research contexts over a decade ago (Choudhury and Pentland, 2004), and this field has continued to evolve since (Montanari et al., 2016 Montanari et al., 2017). data handling and security), data analytics and visualization, and virtual user interface design. Via Internet of things (IoT), wearable tech links with other research fields, such as IT infrastructure (e.g. In addition to facilitating certain sensing capabilities, certain wearable form factors also facilitate accessible real-time dashboarding of measurements, a good example being MIT’s conversation tone analyzing system, implemented on the Samsung Simband (MIT News, 2017).Īs a research topic, wearable technology is also closely intertwined with the field of “quantified self” and overlaps with technical research fields including machine learning, signal processing, sensors and MEMS (micro-electrical mechanical systems), and sensor fusion. ![]() Wearable devices are also gaining traction in the B2B settings where they are deployed for workforce analytics (IBM, 2016a). Spire for breathing and stress, Lumo Lift for posture correction), and in health to refer to devices such as medical and bioanalytical monitoring devices of various types, (Delahoz and Labrador, 2014 Heikenfeld, 2016). Fitbit, Apple Watch, smart jewelry) and other health and well-being trackers (e.g. The term is used in consumer electronics to refer to devices such as fitness trackers (e.g. The term wearable technology broadly encompasses any sensor or information presenting device worn on the body. ![]() In this article the authors briefly discuss this diverse landscape and also introduce research from Maastricht University focusing on the deployment of wearable devices for workforce analytics in a services context. Beyond the buzzword hype though, wearable technology is slowly disrupting a number of different commercial settings, often involving new data-driven services. ![]() One explanation for these figures in the B2C market could be consumers’ escalating disenchantment with smartphones (Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight) (Forbes, 2016) and a predicted trend towards consumer uptake of wearable devices instead (Acatech, 2015). Elena Frâncu, Benjamin Lucas, and Martin Wetzels Introductionįorecasts point to worldwide spending on wearable devices reaching $19 billion by 2018 (Feigenbaum, 2015) and reaching a staggering $34 billion by 2020 (Forbes, 2016).
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