Wearable Technology
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY:AN INSIGHT INTO THE FUTURE
Prepared forShari Weiss
BUS 300 Section 07San Francisco State University
Prepared byChristy Tran
BUS 300 Section 07San Francisco State University
November 11, 2014
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Wearable Technology
Table of ContentsTitle Page
List of Illustrations 2
Executive Summary 3
Section I 4Introduction 4Statement of Purpose 4Significance 4Scope 5Organization 5
Section II 6Findings 6Conclusions 10Recommendations 11
Works Cited 12
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Wearable Technology
List of IllustrationsIllustrations Page
1. Percentage of Smart Watches sold in 2013 7
2. Success of Wearables 8
3. Market for Wearables 10
Wearable Technology
Executive Summary
The growth and progression of the wearable technology industry has intrigued many into a revolutionary frenzy,
considerable to the mobile device industry. We are embarking on a whole new technological revolution in the wearable
technology industry. Its profits have skyrocketed within the first release date of the pioneering Google Glass in 2012,
within these two years; we have forecasted that the wearable technology market will increase to an impressive $30
million by 2017. Although much of the market has not been seen, for much popular forms of wearable technology has
only shown the tip of the iceberg. Many of the underlying products are well within the works and will soon be able to
emerge from the bottom and show advancement in the technological world.
Our conclusion suggests that the wearable technology market will only increase and soon be overcoming within the
technological realm. The recent technological endeavors has shown its consumer a taste of what is to come and with
these emerging products to wet the mouth of it consumers, the reaction expected for future products will see an
anticipated profit. The world is ready for more, and the market will be ready to provide.
On the basis of the findings, the markets only disadvantage will be the potential marketing scheme. If only big
companies can breakthrough to provide outstanding marketing, much lesser technologies will not be given the
opportunity to comply to recent popularity of these larger products.
Wearable Technology
Wearable Technology:
An Insight Into the Future
Section I
Introduction
Introducing the Wearable Technology market in the 1980’s with the original calculator wristwatch, we’ve seen this
market progress throughout the years. Progression within the market has seen tremendous success in the recent years
along the line of the rising technology in the fitness, mobile device, and the medical market. The definite notification of
the rise of the wearable technology market revolution began with the Google Glass in April 2012, and has sparked the
fire for fashionable technology. Alternatively, the medical market has also seen the up rise of wearable medical
equipment, and as more and more of these devices come into the market, they have the potential to help both patients
and clinicians monitor vital signs and symptoms.
Statement of Purpose
The report will give an insight into the future of the wearable technology market and growth of the technological
advancements, as well as the progression of popularity seen within the fashion and medical market.
Significance
Along with the growing popularity of the wearable technology market, both fashion and medical technology has shown
signs of radical profits and a swelling bottom line. Many experts have described the wearable technology market to be
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Wearable Technology
as revolutionary as the smartphone phenomenon. Sparking such a revolution, the growth of this technology will soon
overcome the population with utmost certainty. Relevantly, we’ve seen the growing popularity of the fitness and health
bands through the marketing gurus at Nike and other promotable fitness and sports brands. The wearable technology
market is an absolute trend, but will be a permanent trend that will concrete itself into the technological world.
Scope
This report will be limited to the wearable technology in the fashion and medical market containing itself in the US retail
market; it will exclude any previous breakthroughs in the wearable technology before the birth of the Google Glass.
Areas to be discussed in the medical market will be wearable technology to do with monitoring of the heart, smart
tattoos, and dermally-implanted sensors; as the medical market has many other forms of permanent wearable
technology, these select three have shown increasingly prominent signs of technological progression and medical
popularity. Areas to be discussed within the fashionable wearable technology will span from fitness and health monitors,
Organization
The report will begin with the introduction to the world of fashionable wearable technology, introducing the definite
time point in which a product really broke through the market and risen to popularity. Beginning with the birth of the
Google Glass, followed by the Samsung watch and its initiation of the anticipated Apple watch, the extremely growing
market of health and fitness wristbands such as the Nike Fitbit. Following the findings of fashionable wearable
technology will precede the rise and growth of medical wearable technology. It will fall in the sequence of original heart
monitors and its progression in technology, followed by smart tattoos and dermally – implanted sensors.
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Wearable Technology
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Wearable Technology
Section II
Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
Introduction
This report will observe and discuss the growing success of the wearable technology market, concerning markets within
the fashion markets, technological markets, and medical markets.
Findings
The findings will be presented in three segments according to the following markets: Fashion, Technological Market, and
Medical Market. These segments will also then are broken down into sub segments of rising products within the market
and discussed will be its technological differences and the target market found for each market segment.
Wearable Technology Fashion Market
The tech industry has risen out of the garage of Palo Alto, and has reinforced its role as a major player in the culture at
large. It wants to lead not just how we communicate, but what we talk about, watch, read, and even wear, which is why
companies like Apple and Intel are building out entire teams dedicated to fashion and style. Much of the wearable
technology market has become known as a status quo or a sort of luxury good. Until just recently, wearable technology
have not been a fashion statement; too bulky, too uncomfortable, unnecessary. With the birth of wearable technology
in the form of wristwatches and wristbands such as the Nike FuelBand, Galaxy Gear, and Sony Smart watches,
consumers have exerted much interest in its sleek and everyday versatile style.
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Tech-Savvy bands are here to stay
The beginning of the “smart watch” really began with the Pebble smart watch in 2011 after creating their first
Kickstarter account in order to raise funds to manufacture and further invest in the product. The Pebble allows for tech-
savvy individuals to develop and customize their own personal interface for the product, instead of adapting to software
already incorporated into a product. Smart Watches that furthered the excitement for the smart watch revolution was
the Galaxy Gear, prominently promoted alongside the Samsung top selling mobile device, the Galaxy series, using an app
development purchased through the Android Market. With Pebble to open the door for such product, big technological
companies in the technology
company branched out and began
the manufacturing of a branch
product of their own, Sony began
creating their SmartWatch,
Qualcomm with their own version
of Qualcomm Toq, and Apple just
recently announcing their
re3lease of the iWatch in the
Figure 1: Percentage of Smart Watches sold in 2013
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following year. With popularity of the smartwatch
growing rapidly, it has been foreseen to easily surpass
number of units sold of mobile devices in 2002.
Wearables in the Technological Market
Technology has been able to show off its true artistic
abilities in the revolution that is wearable technology.
Beginning with the Google Glass in 2012 designed to be
an optical head-mounted display (OHMD), which is
unlike anything in the market, displays information in a
smartphone-like hands-free format. Wears can
communicate with the Internet via natural language
voice commands. Although with the expensive price tag
of $1,500 per unit, the product wasn’t as perceivable to
the consumers as Google has intended, though with the
initial product out, a release date of this coming year has been announce to release a more affordable Google Glass 2.0
at around of $500.
Sources: http://smartwatchesuk.com/samsung-dominate-smartwatch-sales-2013-34-
Figure 2: Success of Wearables
Source: http://visual.ly/wearable-app-awards-20135
Wearable Technology
Wearable Technology in the Medical Market
Given rising healthcare costs, there has been an ongoing move toward shorter and shorter hospital stays. Patients are
going home sicker and require ambulatory health monitoring. Many patients are living with chronic diseases, which
need to be managed. And our population is aging, with many older citizens who either cannot afford to—or do not want
to—live in an assisted living facility. Oftentimes, the elderly live alone or are left alone during the day. And so there is a
need to be able to look out for their safety. Wearable and implantable technologies sense parameters of various
diseases and can either transfer data to a remote center, direct the patient to take a specific action, or automatically
perform a function based on what the sensors are reading.
Technology for your heart
Traditional methods that monitored your heart, such as the Holter monitor in which you wear for 24 hours to record
over 24 to 48 hours on a continuous loop, capturing and transmitting just a few minutes of recording to your physician
were insignificant since arrhythmias can be missed. A new wearable technology called CardioNet's Mobile Cardiac
Outpatient Telemetry unit is worn continuously for up to 21 days for cardiac outpatients experiencing arrhythmias who
need their heart monitored for an extended period of time based on physician-selected events to be monitored and the
chosen reporting speed, the device automatically transmits detected events to the CardioNet Center, which then relays
reports to a patient's physician.
Smart Tattoos
Continuous monitoring can occur via wireless monitors, wireless patches and articles of clothing. But cost is, of course,
an issue—as is patient compliance. Researchers at the University of Illinois—working with colleagues in Singapore—have
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figured out how to embed flat, flexible, stretchable electronic sensors into temporary tattoos that can withstand
wrinkling, bending and twisting of the skin. These microelectronics, which are thinner than a human hair and applied
with water, could be used to provide irritation-free monitoring of electric signals produced by the heart, brain and
muscles.
Dermally – Implanted Sensors
They are working on micro-particles that can be injected into the highly vascular dermis layer of the skin and change
color to reflect changes in blood chemistry. These "active" inks are luminescent; imperceptible to the naked eye and
visible only by using a special light. Wearable and implantable technologies have the potential to provide significant
savings—in both costs and lives. For any device to be successful, however, it has to be designed in such a way that it is
inexpensive for the payer, unintimidating for the user and both accurate and reliable for everyone.
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Conclusion
The wearable technology market has obviously shown huge signs of impact on the technological market and an even
increasingly high insight into the culture and fashion of our society. From fashion to medicine, wearable technology has
launched a permanent platform onto these markets and will only increase and provide smoother transitions in the
medical field and more trends to come in the fashion market. As for the technological advancements in the wearable
technology market, we have already foreseen much extension into the technological clothing, smart devices, and other
fitness technologies.
RecommendationsFigure 3: Market for Wearable
Technology
Source: http://www.mhealthtalk.com/wearable-technology-market-to-exceed-6-billion-by-2016/8
Wearable Technology
The wearable technology market is an elusive one, without proper marketing, a new and intriguing product could
absolutely flop. Much of the wearable technology market is still very unknown, only a few have slipped through the
cracks and shown light on wearable technology, and it seems that only big corporations have been able to do so. More
than 70% of the wearable technology market is underground and have not been able to hit mainstream, and with
precise marketing and soliciting, the market could fully take over and really become the revolutionary asset it has been
foreseen to be.
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Loose, Kate. "Wearable Technology - Apple, Intel Fashion Accessories - Style.com." Style.com. Style, 18 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
McDermott, John. "Ad Spenders Bet on Wearable Tech as Smartphone Sales Ease | Digital - Advertising Age." Advertising Age Digital RSS. Advertising Age, 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
"Samsung Dominate Smartwatch Sales in 2013 with 34% of Global Market." Smartwatch News Smartwatch Reviews Smartwatchesuk. Ed. Smartwatchesuk. SmartNews, 13 June 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
"Wearable & Implantable Technologies." - IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
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