Big innovation trends like IoT, AR/VR, AI, low-power wireless technologies, nano-technologies and smart textiles are reshaping the wearables market for the next chapter in its evolution. These technologies are unleashing a new era for digital wearables across sectors including fashion, entertainment, fitness, sports performance, and enterprise and productivity, as well as healthcare. Do we need to change our way of looking at wearables?

Beyond stylish form factors and design, the future for more sophisticated wearables will be reliant on increasing consumer expectations of actionable feedback based on the new ‘gold’ – data. It is the growing ability to accurately and effectively analyze this data, and provide an action, insight or diagnosis that is starting to change the wearables landscape, and holds the key to disruption. At the back end, hidden under the hood, this involves Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analysis. This is the ‘magic sauce’ that is underpinning this next generation of wearables.

Opportunities

What will be measured? Will it be sports performance, fitness or just plain activity? Will it be parameters associated with wellness or health, such as chronic disease, illness or pain management? Will wearables increase worker engagement, motivation or squeeze greater productivity and efficiencies in the workplace? If I purchase a device, do I pay, or will it be reimbursed?

Every one of these questions represents an opportunity for the channel. From a business strategy perspective, the channel may want to consider identifying four local or regional metrics, and then mapping products/categories against them. Parameters might include:

1. Demographics: Age, gender – which age groups are trending larger
2. Local sports activities and teams, including at schools and colleges
3. Proximity of institutions like clinics, rehab and assisted-living facilities as well as physicians and gerontologists
4. Other work-related environments including, for example, manufacturing and enterprises.

Aside from products that are fads and are less sustainable, the wellness and health sectors merit closer scrutiny by channels. They represent what’s here as well as future opportunities. Stores like Best Buy are developing categories within their physical and virtual stores that showcase this ever-growing category – particularly with the consumerization of health.

People are catching on that the monitoring of exercise, weight, and heart rate can lead to making healthier decisions. It’s like having a personal assistant who tracks and monitors your health and then encourages you to make decisions that improve your overall quality of life.

The use of wearable devices by consumers has nearly quadrupled in the past four years, from just nine percent in 2014 to 33 percent today, according to Accenture. Roughly three-fourths of health consumers view wearables — such as those that monitor glucose, heart rate, physical activity and sleep — as beneficial to understanding their health condition (75 percent), engaging with their health (73 percent), and monitoring the health of a loved one (73 percent).

Longer Lifespans

People are living longer lifespans, and boomers want to stay healthy as long as possible. With the Baby Boomer generation comes technological shifts and an ever-increasing role for wearables, because they are always on a person.

The aging tech-savvy Baby Boomers want to retain control over their own health, and also plan to live independently for as long as possible. Companies are addressing the elderly and aging as a separate and lucrative market with its own needs – and for channels this represents an emerging, burgeoning market. Empowering people to ‘age in place’ usually has better outcomes, higher quality of life, and is cost-reducing for already overloaded medical institutions. In a recent poll, 90 percent of older Americans were said to prefer to live in their own home as they age.

These wearables and devices support a higher degree of convenience, security, and assistance to this population. Sensors in wearables can detect abnormal activity such as falls, change of habits, and altered sleep. They also act as health monitors that can help the user achieve the care they need by recording and tracking their condition for them, and then easily sharing this information with a doctor or caretaker.

Increasingly, wearables will also bridge the gap between patients and the care they need, even when they are not in the same room or building as a provider or doctor. They will also offer faster response to emergencies and medical issues, as they arise. Exhibits and discussions at CES 2018, HIMSS 2018 (the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s IT show and conference) and other events have centered around new models for care in which wearable devices are becoming part of the healthcare delivery team.

Apple and Samsung

Entrepreneurs, analysts, researchers, investors and major technology players like Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung, among others, are busy discussing how wearables are going to impact healthcare in a more significant manner and are working to develop new health-focused solutions.

A new generation of smartwatches, led by Apple Watch and Android Weardevices, threaten to render simpler fitness trackers obsolete. Improved motion sensors and fitness apps on phones could also be used to track walks or runs without a dedicated fitness tracker.

Apple, with its iOS as well as its HealthKit and CareKit platforms, is building an ecosystem including third parties that are generating products and services that cover the spectrum from provider to patient and consumer. By working with innovative medical, health and other companies, Apple is broadening its reach into the healthcare industry and helping to support digital solutions that improve quality of care and the patient experience throughout all stages of care.

The AliveCor KardiaBand watch strap with sensor, compatible with the Apple Watch, is the world’s first FDA-cleared EKG with Artificial Intelligence. It allows the wearer to check in with his heart on-the-go, track data over time or email medical-grade recordings directly to a doctor for review. Companies like Belkin, for instance, with its Fitness Armbands makes various versions of the Apple iPhone a wearable.

Similarly, Samsung is also aiming to be player in wearables, and it is leveraging its VR headset and various models of the Gear smartwatch for meaningful health. Built into Samsung hardware and software is Samsung’s Knox Tizen SDK platform. The Tizen OS and Knox security features include authentication controls and encryption, as well as how data is transmitted and stored. The SDK also allows for app and device management, customization and more.

At CES 2018 and then at HIMSS, Samsung Electronics and MobileHelp, a maker of home and wearable medical alert devices, announced a collaboration that would bring mobile personal emergency response capabilities to Samsung Gear S3 smartwatches. Called MobileHelp Smart, the devices integrate MobileHelp’s platform into a modified version of Samsung’s watch, taking advantage of its fitness-monitoring features, GPS, cell capabilities, and 24/7 emergency help responsiveness. It even has a Fall Button, which automatically detects a fall and signals for help even if the wearer can’t.

Reemo Health’s remote monitoring platform compatible with Samsung Gear watches was also introduced at CES and then at HIMSS. It is aimed at senior care, home health and post-acute monitoring. It enables tracking the user’s movement, heart rate and location, and enables one-button 911 calls. It also records the wearer’s quality of movement, sleep patterns and other relevant health data and uploads it to the cloud, so that care providers and family members can spot negative health trends on a dashboard, and intervene before there’s an emergency. It is now also working with personal safety and security company ADT and analytics company Teradata. The partnership will allow seniors to access ADT’s help line by tapping a Samsung Gear smartwatch.

Wellness, Health, Boomers & More

Fitbit is shifting from its wristband perch into niche markets and is now particularly focused on wellness and health. It’s developing a new ecosystem with features like the App Gallery, Fitbit Pay, its subscription-based Fitbit Coach trainer, and is working to integrate its recent acquisition of Twine Health’s cloud-based health platform into its Fitbit. This spring it will launch the Fitbit Ace, a tracker for kids 8 years and up, as well as the much-anticipated new smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa. The Fitbit Ace will track steps, sleep, activity minutes, and can connect to a smartphone. It also comes with an adjustable, showerproof wristband in two bright colors. The Ace encourages kids to stay active by giving them a buzz on their wrist, which reminds them to walk 250 steps each hour, and it also gives kids feedback with celebratory messages and collectible badges.

Employer Wellness Programs with Incentives

Early in March at HIMSS, the UnitedHealthcare Motion programannounced that it was adding Apple Watch to its employee wellness program, in addition to Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung devices. UHC Motion, which is powered by Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform, is an employer-sponsored wellness program that launched in March 2016. Participants can earn up to $4 per day in credits by achieving one or more of their goals on each arm of the F.I.T. (frequency, intensity, and tenacity) program. Altogether, participants can earn up to $1,500 in Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account credits per year.

Participants in the program will be able to get Apple Watches nearly for free, paying only taxes and shipping. They can then apply earnings from the program toward purchase of the device, owning it in as little as six months.

United Healthcare follows in the footsteps of Aetna, which has been offering some members free Apple Watches since September 2016.

AR/VR

Virtual reality is changing entertainment as well as gaming – and more content is becoming available. There are headsets from Sony, HTC, Acer, Lenovo, Oculus and others.

One of the more intriguing uses of VR is as the new painkiller or drug-free alternative for managing pain and anxiety – helping patients to “escape” from painful medical procedures or scary hospital stays. Leaders in this new area are Cedars-Sinai and AppliedVR, among others.

Dr. Brennan Spiegel and his team at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles introduced VR worlds to patients to help them release stress and reduce pain. Applied VR is a clinically validated content platform, compatible with Samsung’s Gear VR that is transforming patient experiences in hospitals, senior care facilities, exam rooms and more. Its easy-to-use VR content platform enables a patient to escape from the hospital and visit amazing landscapes in Iceland, participate in the work of an art studio, or swim with whales. By reducing stress and pain, the length of a patient’s stay or the amount of resources utilized can both be decreased, according to Spiegel.

“Therapeutic VR is not just creating distraction. We’ve found that, neurochemically, there is something going on,” said Dr. David Rhew, chief medical officer, Samsung Electronics America, at HIMSS 2018.

At the beginning of March, Travelers Insurance, Cedars-Sinai, Samsung Electronics America, Bayer and AppliedVR announced a collaboration to explore the effectiveness of a digital pain-reduction kit that uses therapeutic VR and wearable technology (the Gear VR and Gear Fit) as a non-pharmacological supplement to managing pain associated with acute orthopedic injuries of the lower back and extremities, resulting from workplace injuries, for example. In this era of the opioid epidemic, this type of digital therapeutic might alleviate the need for an injured employee to turn to drugs to mask pain. There’s an opportunity for channels to explore new and/or upcoming sales opportunities with medical, rehabilitation and other facilities in their local or regional communities.

New-Baby Gadgets & Hearables

Perhaps no group is as tuned into data as new parents of their first-born. From the hour their baby is born, they are continually monitoring how long the baby sleeps, how many diapers are changed, how much and how often the baby eats, what the baby weighs, and the list goes on and on. If the baby is sick, add in more data points to worry about, like temperature, medication and fluids.

It’s not surprising that the latest wave of consumer data products targets worried new parents trying to get some peace of mind. Recently, a national baby goods superstore sent a sales email including a baby sock with a built-in pulse oximeter. It tracks the baby’s heart rate and oxygen levels and sends a signal to the parent’s phone if something appears to be wrong. There are also other devices with apps where parents can record the baby’s weight, feeding times and amounts, diaper changes, sleep and more. That data can then be shared with doctors and caregivers.

Hearables

This is a relatively new category for wearables. It’s no longer just about headphones or earbuds just for listening to music or phone calls. There are a growing number of smart earbuds that function as fitness coaches, personal assistants and language translators – with no bulky wrist accessory.

There are products like the Bragi Dash Pro that offers five hours of battery life, real-time translation, and more. The Samsung Gear IconX 2018brings Bixby and extended battery life – five hours of streaming music over Bluetooth, seven hours of standalone use and up to four hours of talk time. Jabra’s Elite Sport offers real-time coaching, heart rate sensing and Vo2 Max testing plus sweat- and water-proofing. Extras include audio pass-through, so you can easily switch between calls and music. At MWC, we saw the latest version of the real-time language translating earbudfrom Waverly Labs. The earbuds use dual microphones and custom noise cancelling algorithms to produce clear speech for listen and converse features.

Conclusion

A growing range of wearables and personal electronics are quickly becoming staples of our lifestyles. Simple user interfaces, seamless experiences and convenience are key. The new combinations of multiple devices and data —  Fitbits, smartphones, the weather, what we eat, how far we walk, our sleep  – will bring new insights and value to people’s lives. Increasingly, wearables are moving into the realm of becoming a more integral part of people’s well-being and health as they shift from just spewing raw data to delivering insights for healthier living.

The uses for wearables are increasingly limitless, and ultimately will become ubiquitous. At the recent Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Visadebuted three NFC-enabled limited-edition mobile payment wearables for athletes and fans. Wearable tech helped Winter Olympic athletes skate faster and stay warm. Some athletes wore self-warning jackets from Ralph Lauren, as well as the Samsung SmartSuit designed for speed skaters.

What’s the vision of wearables? What superpowers will wearables give consumers in the future? What are the new opportunities for channels? Stay tuned.

C4 Trends Senior Editor/Analyst Susan Schreiner can be reached at susan@c4trends.com.

Words like “smart” and “connected” signal a profound shift in the relationship between consumers and the products they use every day, the way businesses operate and how cities will function. Soon everything will be connected, creating a fusion between the physical and digital worlds.

Convolution of Technologies

Embedded sensors are the eyes and ears of the connected world, feeding the brain of the global economy by receiving continuous data. Sensors at the heart of the Internet of Things (IoT) are linking to cutting edge machine vision, visual recognition, technical infrastructure and cloud services as well as self-driving cars, health monitoring, machinery and even advanced farming technologies. The IoT allows companies to extract data, for example, from fitness bands and smart home devices that can be spun into actionable analytics and insights on the backend.

Sensors and chips from companies like AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and Qualcomm are powering the connected intelligent universe. It is projected there will be 22.5 billion IoT devices in 2021, up from 6.6 billion in 2016, according to BI Intelligence. This is triggering a domino effect in the connected device ecosystem. Companies will spend almost $5 trillion on IoT in the next five years and the proliferation of connected devices and the massive increase in data has started an analytics revolution.

Advances in Artifiicial Intelligence

AI and machine learning are shifting the IoT conversation beyond the technical challenges of connecting billions of devices and towards how smart design, product innovation and new use cases can create unique business and service models. BI Intelligence forecasts there will be $4.8 trillion in IoT investment between 2016 and 2021. AI is shaping the human experience, as new tools are being built that will give one’s senses superpowers. We’re moving beyond Siri or Cortana phone chatbots — as digital assistants and bots are being created to perform all sorts of functions. AI plays a significant role in Natural Language Generation as bots learn to decipher human speech, particularly when humans are pulling together vast amounts of data.

Transforming Fitness and Health Sensors, data, and AI are transforming clinical health care. New tools are shaping the relationship between physicians and patients at home or in the hospital. On another level, Google’s Verily, for instance, aims to make robots better surgical assistants using machine learning and advanced image processing. Miniaturized electronics, low power wireless connectivity and cloud services are enabling the development of connected wearables that monitor health and can produce actionable data for the user, caretaker or clinician. Connected wearables such as cardiac rhythm management devices, ECG monitors, mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems (mPERS), tattoos and wearable computers are already common in the medical, health monitoring and enterprise segments — and are becoming consumerized.

Smart Cities

AI, IoT and other technologies will radically disrupt how cities provide services making life easier and safer for residents. They will remake every aspect of urban life, ranging from monitoring activities like parking occupancy, storm sewer levels, street lighting and smart water systems to improving public safety, transportation, policing, electricity, and how city services are delivered. Cities need to prepare to accommodate the next generation of self-driving vehicles with the necessary infrastructure including road modifications, signage and communications to manage traffic congestion.

While challenges remain, mobile device IoT implementations will generate huge quantities of real-time raw data for advanced analytics. With machine learning, AI and other technologies, the promise includes improved communities.

Susan Schreiner

Until 1977, people used to think about robots as machines that performed pre-programmed tasks with limited memory. With the premiere of the first Star Wars movie, our perception of robots changed forever. The film introduced us to R2-D2 and his companion, C-3PO — two friendly and non-threatening robots called droids. We didn’t think much about how they could respond to natural language. Fast forward 40 years and robots are becoming a part of daily life, as the triumvirate of robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning takes hold. The Star Wars revolution brought with it fans who built their own robots, aka “Droid Builders.” There’s even an R2-D2 Builders Club, aimed at motivating students to learn more about engineering and robotics.

The reality now is that many of the “old” jobs are gone forever but are being replaced by new opportunities. The U.S. is leading the world in robotics investments, according to the Center for Economic and Business Research. Going forward, robots are more likely to replace activities within jobs rather than jobs outright. Humans will likely augment robots. For humans, acquiring skills like coding will be critical for future jobs.

Preparing Digital Natives

Lego’s Mindstorm EV3 combines Lego bricks with robust programming capabilities.

Today, coding products are marketed to children as young as three in the hopes of encouraging a lifelong passion. Robots make skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, languages and math tangible in a fun and challenging way, while imparting skills to prepare youngsters for future jobs. Robots can walk, talk and play games, all controlled by a simple interface with a smartphone or tablet.

Lego sparks imaginations. A favorite of coding enthusiasts is Lego’s Mindstorm EV3. It combines Lego bricks with robust programming capabilities including carrying out “missions” to building custom bots. Features include infrared color and touch sensors and nine alternative programming languages.

WowWee’s robotic toys teach kids how to develop their own apps to control products. WowWee’s MinionMil based on the Despicable Me franchise is a balancing robot that responds to hand gestures and is controlled from an app called Turbo Dave. Also included is a coding platform for programming fun. With WowWee’s Coji Coding Robot, kids solve problems using emojis and emoticons. This robot teaches the basics of programming with the classic :). Early readers play educational games that test memory and introduce coding concepts such as command sequences. Coji also reacts to physical stimulation like tilting.

Don’t be fooled by the playful design of Cozmo by Anki. It’s definitely for more advanced learners. Cozmo’s face is a rectangular LCD screen and its only features are its expressive eyes. It responds intelligently to its environment. Cozmo plays a number of games and when it wins, it looks smug. If it loses, it may angrily knock the blocks over. Cozmo’s built-in “emotion engine,” designed by robotics experts from Carnegie Mellon University, make it one of the smartest robots that learns from experience. The owner’s interactions with Cozmo shape its personality, from a grouchy bot to a playful one — and the engagements grow Cozmo’s “brain.” You can even write code for Cozmo using the Anki developer’s site.

The Future of Work

Google’s charitable arm is investing $50 million in an initiative aimed at helping people prepare for the changing nature of work. Its two-year commitment will help fund nonprofits focused on three areas: helping connect job seekers with jobs; improving job quality for low-wage workers; and creating e¡ective training programs including technology skills. Robot toys can help to prepare young people for a future where robots imbued with AI and machine learning will act as assistants at home and at work. Robots are envisioned to enhance lifestyles and free people to focus on more valuable and creative work.
Susan Schreiner

Sports technology is enriching the global pro, amateur and hobbyist sports experience from coaching, practicing, playing and analyzing performance to betting, fan engagement, broadcasting and marketing. For athletes, sports tech includes many innovative tools that enhance training and offer an edge in competition. Gadgets, devices and wearables are being imbued with technology and connectivity including cameras that track thousands of movements, virtual reality and immersive media, GPS, accelerometers, sensors, gaming cation as well as data science and algorithms that predict what a player might do in certain scenarios.

Arccos, a Stamford, CT-based startup, demonstrated the power of sports tech at Microsoft’s annual Build conference last May. The company, which creates golf shot tracking technology, announced a new smartphone app that connects to sensors attached to a club grip to track each shot and provide GPS yardage information. The Arccos Caddie is the “first platform in sports that truly harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to help players make smarter decisions,” according to Microsoft Sports Principal Evangelist Mike Downey. “Through the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, Arccos Caddie instantly digests unique data sets and delivers actionable advice to any golfer – from beginners to pros – seeking to make the PGA Tour.”

And TuringSense, a Silicon Valley pioneer in wearable sports technology, scored $3 million to expand its innovative PIVOT line of intelligent, AI-embedded wearable products. It aims to revolutionize training for all kinds of human movement activity, including fitness, virtual reality gaming, sports, physical therapy and rehabilitation. The products use multi-sensor, high-speed full-body motion analysis to track a tennis or golf swing, for example. This portable device is wireless and provides instant biomechanic feedback for technique optimization, improved performance and injury prevention. Scalable cloud-based technology enables users to store and share data with coaches, doctors and trainers in real-time or via social media. PIVOT Tennis, its first consumer product, is due in Q3 2017. And in the next few years, the live sports industry will engage more deeply with over-the-top content, as well as mobile and social media platforms for premium content distribution.

Intel acquired Tel Aviv-based Replay Technologies in 2016 for its proprietary Free Dimensional Video “FreeD” 360 Replay for immersive sports technology. High-resolution cameras and computer-intensive graphics let viewers experience highlights of sporting events from any angle. For example, Intel’s “Be the Player” 360-degree replay technology was used in the 2017 Super Bowl to give football fans a unique field-of-vision perspective without needing a physical camera attached to each player.

esports

Brands want to leverage their popularity with fans whether at home or at the stadium. Companies also want to keep live sports relevant for younger generations that expect immediate gratification across any device. Major investments have been made by leading brands and broadcasters in esports. Video game tournaments are a $700 million global industry thanks to fans who watch online or at packed stadiums to cheer on their favorite players competing in games.

Players include Activision Blizzard, the maker of games like Call of Duty and StarCraft, whose publisher, Activision Blizzard, acquired Major League Gaming in 2015. It operates MLG.tv, an online broadcast network for professional level competitive gaming; the MLG Pro Circuit, the longest-running esports league in North America; and GameBattles, the largest crossplatform online gaming tournament system with nine million registered global users. Each month, Major League Gaming reaches millions of fans via web, mobile, connected TVs and gaming consoles. Riot Games, maker of esports hit League of Legends, and published by Chinese internet giant Tencent, fuels the League of Legends Championship Series.

Tech is reshaping how pro and amateur athletes train as well as how fans participate, including viewing esports.

Susan Schreiner

Beauty Tech and CES 2017

Here is a sample of a few new products that offer features previously reserved for expensive clinical or dermatologist visits.

Kérastase Hair Coach

The Kérastase Hair Coach, introduced at CES 2017, is the result of a three-way partnership between the L’Oréal technology incubator, Withings’ smart technology and Kérastase, L’Oréal’s luxury hair-care brand. This battery-powered brush contains a sensor that knows whether hair is wet or dry; analyzes the effects of heat (like straighteners) and products (like dye) on the hair’s health; and an accelerometer and gyroscope to measure the force of brush strokes. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity upload this information to an app, which analyzes the statistics and provides recommendations. This is one of five products developed through L’Oréal’s Tech incubator. L’Oréal believes its cosmetics should be connected and personalized.HiMirror

HiMirror unveiled its new smart mirror that’s a virtual beauty and health consultant that analyzes your skin and recommends a treatment plan. This smart mirror can detect skin conditions by analyzing pores, fine lines, sun damage, wrinkles and overall complexion. HiMirror creates a personal improvement plan and recommends products to fix flaws. The touch-free design is controlled by using gesture or voice control and a companion app for HiMirror can play music from Spotify or stream YouTube videos.Sonicare FlexCare Platinum

Toothcare is another BeautyTech category. Philips’ Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected toothbrush is a sensor-based toothbrush that monitors brushing performance, sends brushing data to your app via Bluetooth, and provides instant feedback. It also includes a coaching program so the user can set goals and receive personalized coaching, tips and alerts.

Beauty at Retail

Technology advancements are changing the retail experience using LCD marketing, interactive displays and video walls to enhance the shopping experience.

Neiman Marcus

Interactive mirror technology in the fitting room is being tested by Neiman Marcus in 20 stores to offer customers a 360-degree view to offer a side-by-side comparison without having to try on each outfit. They can even share the video with friends for feedback.

Gap

The Gap is introducing its “DressingRoom App” to enable consumers to try-on clothing remotely using their mobile devices with augmented reality. Made in collaboration with Google and app-developer Avametric, the app lets consumers enter their height and weight, and then choose from five standardized body types. A three-dimensional (headless) mannequin corresponding to those specifications appears on the screen, and then customers can try on different clothing on the mannequin to see how they look.

Susan Schreiner

When Wearables 1.0 first hit the market, consumers went wild about tracking the number of steps they were taking. People believed that these trackers would help them live healthier lifestyles. But the novelty soon wore off – to the point that people just abandoned these devices six months into their fitness journey.

As new technologies enabled packing more features into different form factors, wearables has become an omnibus category that now encompasses products ranging from smartwatches, to fitness trackers, to earbuds, as well as virtual reality and other head-gear – to clothing and other textile-based products – and to a slew of sensor-based IoT devices yet to come. Popular wearables are also enabling pet-owners to track their beloved cat or dog.

The brand landscape in wearables is rapidly evolving, and is now consolidated around a few key players. In terms of units shipped, the four clear market leaders in 2016 were: Fitbit, Xiaomi, Garmin and Apple. Fitbit and Xiaomi were leading in the activity-tracker category, accounting for 41 percent and 28 percent of units shipped, respectively, according to IDC. Garmin dominated the sports watch category with 26 percent, and Apple stood out in the connected-watch segment with a total of 44 percent of units shipped last year. Other brands such as Samsung and LG were also vying for market share – whether with fitness bands or in VR.

After the high-flying popularity of wearables, Q4 of 2016 offered a more sobering picture. While fitness trackers continued to dominate revenue in the wearables market, actual sales slowed, with Fitbit announcing employee layoffs in January 2017, according to USA Today.

The slowdown in shipments and a fall in value are partly explained by waning appeal, lack of breakthrough products as well as price decreases in most product categories. These are also indicators that some markets are maturing and saturating.

We are in a transition period.  The data seems to indicate that while there was a slowdown in 2016, the mainstream market will continue to purchase Fitbit, Garmin and Misfit trackers and there are signs of ‘ life’ in the smartwatch category with the introduction of new watches with greater capabilities.  New VR glasses and headsets are coming, and many at lower price points, and so is content: the driving reason to purchase VR devices.

Evolving Design, Form Factors & Uses

There is likely to be a move away from plain-looking fitness trackers to slimmer and sleeker hybrid devices like the new Fitbit Alta HR fitness wristband and sleep tracker.  It features a strap that looks like it came from the Fitbit Charge 2 – plus it also contains a heart rate monitor.

Under Armour’s SpeedForm Gemini 3 RE running shoes feature a tiny chip embedded in the sole, which awakens when the shoe moves.  When it detects you’re moving faster than 11 minutes per mile, it starts tracking you using its accelerometer.

Meanwhile Hexoskin has a range of smart shirts that measure heart rate, breathing rate, activity intensity, steps taken and cadence. This type of clothing is not only relevant to sportsters, but also for chronic disease management and seniors aging-in-place.

Smartwatches: New Beginnings in 2017

Going into 2017, there was a new sense of optimism for wearables at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, particularly with the launch of the Android Wear 2.0 platform. This is good news for the channel.

In an effort to topple the popularity of Apple’s Smartwatch, Google has teamed up with LG in a Nexus-style partnership to produce the first devices powered by Android Wear 2.0:  the LG Watch Sport and LG Watch Style.  Of the two models, which both feature circular, plastic OLED displays, Watch Sport is the flagship device, based on a higher-resolution screen and having more RAM internal storage.

Both timepieces feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and the Sport model includes cellular connectivity (with both 3G and LTE data) as well as GPS and NFC radios, which allows the watch to take advantage of Android Wear 2.0’s Android Pay capability.

Along with iOS compatibility, the two watches also share another commonality with the Apple Watch: a digital crown button that serves to facilitate navigation. The displays are touch-sensitive as well, and boast handwriting recognition.  Other features include Integration of Google Assistant as well as a heart rate sensor.

Google also confirmed upgrades to the Android Wear 2.0 platform for watches, such as: Moto 360 Gen 2, Moto 360 Sport, LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, LG Watch Urbane, LG G Watch R; Polar M600, Casio Smart Outdoor Watch, Nixon Mission, Tag Heuer Connected, Fossil Q Wander, Fossil Q Marshal, Fossil Q Founder, Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch, Michael Kors Access Dylan Smartwatch, Huawei Watch, Huawei Watch Ladies, AsusZenWatch 2 and Asus ZenWatch 3.

Huawei made a lot of noise at MWC with the introduction of the Huawei Watch 2 and the Huawei Watch 2 Classic – and based on the features its targeting people who prioritize fitness above aesthetics or general smartwatch usage.  Both are loaded with connectivity and new features, including LTE (in the Watch 2), GPS, heart rate sensors, and NFC for Android Pay. The new heart rate sensor will continuously track heart rates, and both watches come loaded with Huawei’s Fit program that personalizes a training program based on goals and prior performance. A version of this program debuted on the Huawei Fit fitness tracker last year. It was expected to hit the U.S. market around April.

A Porsche-designed version of Huawei Watch 2, featuring a Porsche Design logo and special watch face, is also coming.

Of course, there is also the Samsung Gear 3 Classic and Gear Frontier that were introduced in November.  Its features are similar to the Huawei line including new heart rate sensors, and while these models also have NFC for mobile payment, instead of Android Pay, it’s Samsung Pay. And instead of running on the Android Wear 2.0 platform, it runs on Tizen

Sports & Training

At CES 2017, Coros, a startup positioned at the intersection of active sports and mobile lifestyle, introduced its LINX Smart Cycling Helmet.  It uses bone-conduction technology instead of earbuds to let riders safely listen to their music, receive calls, and communicate with other bikers while maintaining full awareness of cars and their immediate surroundings. LINX comes with a wireless smart remote so the rider can keep  eyes on the road and hands on the bars while controlling media and calls with the tap of a button. There is a mobile app available for ride-tracking. Riders can download the iOS or Android app to manage GPS ride details, stats, routes, voice navigation and voice data. The LINX Helmet also includes an emergency alert system that is triggered when the G-sensor senses significant impact, which sends an alert with GPS notification to a designated loved one.

The future of wearables and IoT is constantly influencing the sports world. Sports data can be used to boost athletes’ results, improve training and coaching methods and prevent sporting injuries, or sensors embedded in helmets are quickly able to diagnose a concussion for speedier treatment.  This applies to sports at a local school or college, as well as professionally.

Recently, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association reached a bargaining agreement that prohibits the teams from using a player’s wearable data in contract negotiations or transactions. The agreement ensures that wearable data will only be used for tactical purposes and an arbitrator will be able to impose fines of up to $250,000 on a team for misusing the data.

A wearable committee will be set up to handle the approval of new wearables and to ban wearables that become safety or security risks.  Several devices have already been approved by the league, including models from Adidas, Catapult, Intel, and VERT.

The NBA isn’t the only sport to dabble with wearables, though; the NFL, NHL, and others are all looking into incorporating wearables, either in training or in actual games.

As we move into Wearables 2.0, a new paradigm is emerging. Anything that can be connected will be connected. This includes everything related to wearables, since they are powered by sensors and IoT and may also incorporate other technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).  Concurrently, the new gold currency that is emerging is based on data collection – and for the consumer to know more about their personalized data than ever before. It’s about monitoring, data gathering, and remote functionality for real-time or predictive ‘connected intelligence’ for consumers as well as their physicians or caretakers.

The question becomes, what will these data-gathering wearables replace in the future? How will they enhance one’s lifestyle or work?  What’s the direction of trends; what are the upcoming features, form and functions?

Health & Fitness

Insurance companies and corporations are beginning to bet that the combination of wearables and data with financial incentives might motivate employees to lead healthier lifestyles.  Health insurance giant United Healthcare rolled out Motion, which is powered by Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform. Following a pilot in 2016, the duo announced at CES 2017 the nationwide launch and integration of Fitbit’s Charge 2. It will enable participants to earn up to $4 per day in credits by tracking their progress and achieving one or more of their daily goals – including simply walking. When using the Fitbit device, participants can earn up to $1,500 in Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account credits per year.

At HIMSS, the Health IT show held in February, Samsung showcased how its Galaxy tablets were being used for pain management in Southern Hills Hospital, a leading Las Vegas medical facility, together with the implementation of AccendoWave headband technology.  The cutting-edge solution collects patient feedback on pain, and provides games, music, video clips and full-length movies from DirecTV to help keep patients occupied. It’s a way to accurately measure and proactively address patient pain and discomfort.

Verizon is another player to watch, whether for consumer products, IoT devices demanding connectivity or in relation to consumer wearables for health through connected technology.  It is connecting devices like those from Withings, including the Withings Activité Steel Activity and Sleep Tracking Watch. It is water resistant, and offers compatible-device syncing, tracking capabilities, and up to eight months’ battery power, syncs to a compatible smartphone, and is sleek-looking. It also comes with a free Health Mate app that will make the user feel like he/she has 24/7 access to a personal trainer.

Anything that can be connected will be connected.  It’s up to the channel to understand the analytics of its customers and what will sell, because there is going to be a greater merging and blending of categories than ever before.  Aside from 24/7 connectivity of everything, the new currency will be the data that is collected – and the value proposition of these products will be based not only on actual functionality but increasingly, on how this data will enhance your customer’s lifestyle or work productivity.  New opportunities are springing up, not just in the mainstream but also in vertical markets – whether with schools for sports or education programs, or in health-and-wellness programs and related facilities.

Stay tuned, because we’re just at the beginning of Wearables 2.0.

Zagg will be handling the manufacturing in both areas as Mophie becomes part of Zagg. Mophie CEO Daniel Huang will continue with his current responsibilities, reporting to Zagg CEO Randy Hales, according to the companies.

The deal was approved by the boards of both companies and should close later in the quarter. Combined, the two companies generated net sales of about $470 million last year. The acquisition comes with a bonus incentive that’s based on whether Mophie’s sales after April surpass $100 million for the year.

Popular JuicePack

The reason phone accessories are popular is because they don’t take up much space, and therefore tend to be prominently placed in retail stores. As a testament to their popularity, accessory maker Speck Products was sold two years ago to Samsonite for $85 million.

Mophie is known for its JuicePack battery cases (pictured above) and external battery products, but it also has strong retail relationships in the U.S. and overseas as well as more than 140 U.S. and international patents. Since most phones come with non-removable batteries, users often find that third-party battery packs help their devices stay charged longer.

The JuicePack battery cases range in price from the $60 Reserve, its most compact model, to the $150 SpacePack, which provides 64 GB of extra storage along with a spare battery. Mophie makes JuicePack battery cases for iPhone models from the iPhone 4 on up, as well as for Samsung’s Galaxy Note5, S5, S6 and S6 Edge. The cases are all sold for $100. Mophie also makes battery packs compatible with HTC’s One M7 phone and LG’s G4.

Mophie got its start by making iPod accessories, including an iPod Shuffle case that was also a beer bottle opener. That product came about thanks to a pitch on a suggestion board that Mophie used to generate ideas at the Macworld Expo in 2006.

A Strong Foundation

Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends in Boston, told us the acquisition will likely mean good things for fans of both brands.

“This brings together two respected brands that have loyal customers,” said Schreiner. “People love convenience, and Mophie has shown an ability to make accessories that really work well on devices. The combined company starts from a very strong place.”

In a statement, Zagg said the deal will make it the market share leader in battery cases, screen protectors, tablet keyboards and external batteries. The merger is meant to create a business with greater product diversification and improved operational capabilities, according to Zagg.

The two companies said that the merger will bring enhanced capabilities for profitable growth, superior product development, improved brand strength, expanded global distribution channels and an improved financial profile.