Hyperconnected consumers expect to interact with retailers through multiple channels simultaneously.

Technology is changing the way consumers shop for fashion through social media apps, retail shops, digital dressing rooms and augmented reality. Consumers now expect an integrated and consistent digital experience across platforms when they go online to browse, research and buy goods.

Fashion Capitals Go Digital

While couture fashion hubs have long been in New York, Paris, London and Milan — Instagram and TikTok are now setting the fashion agenda, with Instagram becoming a store window display and TikTok furthering the conversation. Technology has disrupted the traditional fashion power structure centered around Fashion Week. Instead of limiting the introductions to elite editors, buyers and stylists — many are taking their fashions directly to new pipelines making the merchandise in their runway shows readily shoppable. Influencers can buy the collections online and in stores the same day they were shown on the runway instead of the usual six-month lag. Social media also is democratizing fashion by enabling younger and smaller designers to directly connect with followers and new audiences.

“Smart” Wardrobes

It’s more than smart watches or what you wear on your wrist. Technology in fashion is becoming more pervasive. Digitally-enabled fabrics, with IoT capabilities are expected to become big business as new multi-material fibers reveal new applications.

Gaming and The Direct-To-Avatar Model

The fashion world was recently abuzz with news that Balenciaga and Fortnite teamed-up for a multi-tier partnership. Included are Balenciaga outfits for Fortnite players, a physical Balenciaga collection inspired by the game’s Retail Row, a virtual Balenciaga store and billboards featuring gamers, and behind-the-scenes videos on how it came together. It’s Fortnite’s first luxury fashion collaboration and a sign that fashion and the metaverse are getting cozier. Prior partnerships with the same cross-category linkup include Louis Vuitton x League of Legends in 2019 and Gucci x Roblox earlier this year.

This is big news because 50% of Fortnite’s 400 million global players are spending their time in Fortnite, allowing them to create their own virtual worlds. Immersive, customizable worlds are engaging and serving as creative outlets for large audiences that fashion brands are looking to target.

As the worlds of fashion, fabric and technology intersect, new collaborations are driving innovation.

Innovation in Fabric

MIT and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), joined forces in 2017 to build a bridge between design and engineering, and develop sustainable fabrics. 

MIT and FIT also reached out to AFFOA (Advanced Functional Fabrics of America), a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based nonprofit public-private partnership. AFFOA and its membership ecosystem are helping to develop transformative textile-based products that meet the needs of defense, commercial and consumer markets. 

The MIT, FIT AFFOA collaboration is yielding interesting results, as fashion and tech come together. Here is the latest news according to releases from the following groups.

Team Natural Futurism, developed a biodegradable lifestyle shoe using natural material alternatives, including bacterial cellulose and mycelium, and advanced fiber concepts to avoid use of chemical dyes.

Team Peacock, prototyped athletic apparel with color-changing material to highlight an athlete’s movement and quickly analyze motion through an app.

Team Ecollab, designed apparel and footwear using PE (polyethylene) and color changing material that is multifaceted and environmentally conscious.

Team Laboratory 56, created footwear to enhance longevity of product and reduce waste using PE, while connecting with the community through a recycling app program.

Tech fashion and the metaverse merge at CES 2022. 

What strategies can advance the vitality of the post-COVID smart city?

The pandemic has clarified smart cities require a toolbox that leverages technologies for scalable implementations. Included are connectivity/5G, the cloud, IoT, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. They enable a city to become hyperconnected for greater efficiencies and sustainability based on technology, data integration and analytics, cybersecurity and citizen engagement.

Climate Change and Energy

Cities represent 2% of the earth’s surface but are responsible for 60%+ of CO2 emissions. The global population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion people in the next 25 years.

The pandemic put a green spotlight on the need for cleaner air, less pollution, lower-carbon and more efficient electricity available anytime, anywhere giving more control to businesses and consumers. The industry is moving from a traditional one-way generation, transmission, distribution and retail paradigm towards a model that is similar to the way we produce, view and interact with content through various devices. It’s about multifaceted ubiquitous access where people are independent producers and consumers of energy.

While energy represents one of the last economic sectors to undergo digital disruption, smart utilities are generating the highest share of startup revenues in the smart city market, according to Statista. This includes companies in the electric, gas, water, waste and safety sectors that employ connected sensors across their grids to analyze operations and deliver services more efficiently.

Adjacencies are arising such as improved energy storage and energy management of smart buildings ranging from commercial real estate and facilities management to the smart connected home.

Urban retrofitting is emerging as an alternative solution to starting from scratch.

Governance and Standards: Urban Digitization

Digitization is transforming the public sector and how electronics systems support local governments, citizens, communities and businesses. The pandemic underscored the need for data driven management, with inputs coming from many sectors including acquiring, recording and analyzing massive quantities of citizen data from a complex network of interconnected sensors, devices and software including contactless financial transactions.

Technology standards are the glue that maximizes efficiencies across the smart city landscape. Security and consistent interoperability need to be assured since integrators and developers navigate diverse ecosystems and a plethora of complex and fragmented standards between various devices that adhere to different protocols.

Increasingly needed are privacy friendly regulatory guidelines, transparency, and other guidance around the rules that govern algorithms to protect citizens privacy. Further, with ransomware attacks increasing, the focus on cybersecurity innovations is intensifying.

Since data, computing and connectivity are central to effectively managing cities, mitigating uncertainties and predicting growth or declining sectors, the search is on for the right configuration of policy to govern AI, without kneecapping innovation.

Today, city operations are interdependent and no longer function in silos. Urban planners also do not have the luxury of delaying technology modernization until the tech ‘matures.’ The pandemic illustrated how technical mismanagement cost lives as the vaccine process laid bare the inadequacies of U.S. public service infrastructures.

Cities that embrace new thinking and innovations will overcome these challenges and thrive. Urban retrofitting is emerging as an alternative solution to starting from scratch. Increasingly, the pathway towards smart cities will include various bridges into the future.

What innovative solutions can advance the societal and economic vitality of the post-COVID smarter city? New infrastructures need to be built and transformative solutions will make cities smarter and more responsive to the needs of its citizens even during a crisis

 

Smart city initiatives promise to make cities more connected, efficient and sustainable. 

COVID-19 tested the resilience of cities. Over half of the world’s population today lives in urban centers, and that is expected to jump to 68% by 2050, per the UN. Smart cities include technologies for scalable implementations such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. Working together these technologies can hyper-connect a city for greater efficiencies and sustainability based on data integration and analytics, cybersecurity and citizen engagement.

Post-pandemic, these parameters encompass collecting and contextualizing ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) as well as connecting physical devices using IoT (internet of things)networks and geographical information systems (GIS) — for greater endurance and more equitable communities.

COVID-19 was a wake-up call around the globe. The pandemic accentuated how ill-equipped cities were. Many municipalities barely functioned, lacked agile and efficient management and had inadequate infrastructures, datapoints and funding to deal with the situation. The resulting upheaval underscored that communities need to be better prepared for shorter-term catastrophes and other extreme events.

Three Trends for Reimagining Urbanization

Opportunities related to smart city startups worldwide will reach $39 billion in 2021, according to Statista. AksjeBloggen.com is projecting that smart city startups worldwide will generate $110.7 billion in revenue by 2025, a trifold increase in five years. Many lessons were learned from the pandemic, here are a few:

1. Rethinking Neighborhoods

With restricted mobility, people stayed within their neighborhoods. This is reigniting interest in the “15-minute city” by urban managers. It’s based on livable and self-sufficient neighborhoods within a city that are pedestrian-friendly. Some cities are developing more car-free thoroughfares. The reduced need to commute to the office and the rise of remote working and online shopping, for instance, will reduce the demand for space in city centers. How will this space be repurposed?

2. Public Space: Redefined 

The trend towards greener cities took on new meaning, with a resurging interest in the outdoors. Urban planners are thinking differently about street space and considering the playbook of their European counterparts, focused on squares, gardens, and pedestrian-focused street designs. While some U.S. cities created bike lanes other cities like New York experimented with pedestrian promenades or slow streets. As a consequence of the pandemic limiting indoor restaurant capacity, cities expanded sidewalks to house parklets or ‘terrace zones’ for outdoor dining reminiscent of Paris bistros.

3. Mobility 

There also was an uptake in ‘active transportation’ with walking, biking, e-scooters and other micro-mobility options. Less driving resulted in reduced carbon emissions and improved air quality, accelerating discussions about sustainability, lower emissions and pollutants. Ford recently announced plans to invest $30 billion in vehicle electrification efforts by 2025, and the company anticipates that 40% of its global sales by 2030 will be fully electric vehicles. Overall, there is a global movement towards increasing the safety and easy flow of transportation — whether for e-mobility, autonomous transport, communications and intelligent transport systems. While reducing car use was trending pre-pandemic – an emerging question is, will shared mobility survive the pandemic?

Urban Retrofitting 

Instead of starting from scratch to build new cities — urban retrofitting is emerging as an alternative solution but the path towards smart cities will be manifold. The pandemic underscored the need for public-private partnerships between government and communities with business, academia, the tech industry and fast-moving startups. Smart cities require integrated frameworks, systems and solutions that enable efficient customizable responsiveness to localized context, cultures and communities. Plus, private sector investments are often required by cash-strapped cities. 

New infrastructures need to be built with innovative solutions to make cities smarter and responsive to the needs of its citizens in ordinary times and under crisis.

 

 

 

Who can forget the fanfare when AR and VR first launched focused on futuristic entertainment experiences — Google Glass, the cardboard VR viewer or the first Oculus Rift, HoloLens? The AR/VR market is now forecast to grow from $13 billion in 2020 to over $67 billion by 2024, according to Digi-Capital.

The evolution of these technologies highlights their diverse use cases. AR delivers a modified view of the real physical world while VR delivers a unique experience in a virtual world. AR provides computer-generated context and information about the world letting users interact with ‘real’ surroundings. While VR allows users to interact with immersive worlds enabling people to learn new skills through simulation. For now, VR’s entertainment focus makes it a subset of the consumer games market, with VR apps on Steam, FaceBook/Oculus and Sony app stores. 

Mobile AR 

During the pandemic, mobile AR showed what is possible for AR-enabled messaging platforms with Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat as examples. While each has a different approach to user engagement, usage frequency for AR lenses and filters is high, with Snap claiming more than 170 million users daily, based on its June 2020 Developer Conference. Smart glasses with integrated displays may be coming soon — fully computer capable yet lightweight, stylish and wireless. Other form factors in the works include smart contact lenses.

Digi-Capital forecasts that messaging-based mobile AR’s active installed base will top 1.5 billion by 2024, OS-based mobile AR over one billion by 2024, followed by web-based mobile AR. All mobile AR platforms combined could top 2.7 billion in five years. Many companies are involved in this space including:

• Nintendo-Niantic agreed to jointly develop apps featuring AR aimed at providing real-world activities for players. The companies are introducing an app based on the puzzle video game franchise Pikmin. Launching this year, it includes activities to “make walking more delightful.”
• Apple reportedly has an AR/VR research team working on projects that could be implemented into future iOS devices including a headset or AR smart glasses to be released in 2022. Apple has a stable of AR and VR patents, and expertise gained through acquisitions including Akonia Holographics, Emmotient, Faceshift, Flyby Media, Metaio, NextVR, PrimeSense, RealFace, Spaces and Vrvana. 
• FaceBook Reality Labs is developing a wrist-based wearable interface for AR glasses using software that can read nerve impulses. Developed by CTRL-Labs, acquired by Facebook in 2019, the work is part of research into human computer interaction technologies. This could lead to AR glasses as an always-accessible, reliable neural interface with subtle hand motion controls that may potentially replace keyboards or TV remotes. 
• Google’s Earth VR puts the world at your fingertips. Its Tilt Brush enables you to paint in 3D space with VR and is compatible with Oculus and HTC Vive. 

Reimaging Digital Shopping

In May 2020, Kohl’s collaborated with Snapchat to create Kohl’s AR Virtual Closet. Using a smartphone and the Snapchat app, consumers enter an AR dressing room, mix and match items, and make a purchase from home using the app.

Retailers like IKEA and Wayfair have AR apps that display how furniture would look in your home. Louis Vuitton and Gucci offer apps that let consumers ‘try-before-you-buy’ from home. And when COVID-19 temporarily closed Kendra Scott jewelry brand stores, the retailer introduced an AR tool letting customers virtually try-on jewelry at home and then purchase. Beauty retailers Sephora and Ulta are using AR to help customers digitally test beauty products since customers can’t physically test instore currently. 

These are just a few applications but health care also holds enormous promise. Opportunities in this new ecosystem including new developers, suppliers and channels will grow as AR/VR uses continue to evolve.

 

 

The 65+ mature market and the aging-in-place phenomenon are two of the timeliest intertwined trends that offer opportunities across the healthtech and wellness landscape — for brands, innovators, investors and ultimately, the retail channels.

COVID-19 forced seniors to start looking for technology-based solutions more than ever before – as a consequence of being stuck in their homes with the sudden evaporation of direct access to family and/or in-person medical appointments. Loneliness and isolation are forcing them to use devices – and is accelerating the adoption of devices quicker than might have otherwise occurred. Seniors are acquiring digital skills and are more connected to the Internet than ever.

Connected and digital health capabilities are also enabling them to be in 24/7 contact with their caretakers and health providers. Consumer-based solutions and devices are figuratively, and in actuality, ‘lifelines,’ enabling older adults to connect with their communities, friends, and families – while maintaining their quality of life and wellbeing while they live independently and safely.

Boomers Setting the Pace

Even pre-pandemic, Boomers and seniors were increasing their uptake of smartphones, Internet connectivity and digital health devices. The push towards wanting to age in place and have in-home healthcare, if needed, was starting to gain traction, and the momentum increased over the course of 2020 with COVID-19.

Given the massive numbers of the Boomer demographic, this group has always been a force for change. They have always lived their lives ‘their way’ – starting from their more youthful, restless days in the ’60s and ’70s through the Beatles and the ‘Age of Aquarius’ era, and onward. That brings us to 2021, and the desire for most of this group to continue to live full, healthy and autonomous lives in their homes of choice. In addition, their increased life expectancy translates into a larger pool of older consumers, and a larger potential market for products and services aimed at this demographic. This is a huge upside opportunity for the retail channel.

By the Numbers

The 65+ population was the fastest-growing age group in the country over the past decade, swelling by more than a third, according to the U.S. Census. AARP is reporting that 87% of those aged 65+ want to stay in their current homes and community, as they age. Americans over the age of 50 account for $7.6 trillion in direct spending and related economic activity, according to Oxford Economics/AARP. Older adults in the U.S. dominate 119 out of 123 consumer packaged-goods categories, according to Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. And by 2030, more people worldwide will be over 60 than under 10, according to the Milken Institute. Between 2015 and 2030, the 60+ population will generate over half of all urban consumption growth in developed countries.

In addition, rising healthcare costs and health policy in the U.S. is driving care into the home. One such example is Medicare’s 2020 changes in reimbursement for telehealth technology, which has been expanded for 2021. Some Medicare Advantage plans now cover at least one pair of hearing aids – and other categories are coming into sharper focus.

The need for home health aides has never been higher, as more people and their families decided that it was best to keep senior family members at home. The demand far exceeds the supply. Complementing this trend, hospitals placed a greater priority on quickly discharging patients to their homes – rather than making them stay longer or moving them to transitional care or rehab. This is requiring more and different types of monitoring. Technology is seen as the answer to aging in place, and the solution to other stresses on the healthcare system that were exacerbated during the height of the pandemic.

Technology to the Rescue

Technology is liberating boomers, seniors, families and caretakers by connecting care to the home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 29% of U.S. seniors ages 65 and older have used video conferencing services, 27% have used telehealth/remote consultation services, 22% have used a grocery store delivery or pickup service, and 55% have an online video service subscription, according to recent research by Parks Associates.

Unlike in the past, when digital services and devices were viewed as only for the 24/7 connected, convenience-seeking Millennials, they are now a lifeline to many homes and individuals of all ages. COVID-19 has spotlighted the role that our homes play in our health and well-being – and together with a variety of technologies, it has transformed ‘home sweet home’ into platforms by which we access services, experiences, and connect with each other.

Recently, AARP launched the AARP Virtual Community Center – a new online destination where older Americans can find a wide array of free online classes and events – including from N.Y.-based OATS – Older Adults Technology Services. “Their [OATS’s] expertise and high-quality programming are lifelines for older people as they explore new ways to live, cope and thrive in a changing world,” said Scott Frisch, AARP executive VP and CEO. “The role of technology in reducing social isolation and providing a platform for engagement has never been clearer,” commented OATS Executive Director Tom Kamber.

Categories and Products

At CES 2021, AARP Innovation Labs showcased products and apps that help people actively and independently age in place in their homes and communities. Here are a few such companies and products.

Zibrio SmartScale – This is a scale that uses a highly sensitive algorithm to measure one’s postural stability and risk of falling, in a 60-second standing test, with eyes open. Users can test their balance on a Zibrio scale to establish a baseline, encourage appropriate intervention like a balance exercise program, and keep tracking balance to see how well the intervention is working, since it comes with the Zibrio Balance Coach app. Zibrio’s patented BioCore balance measurement technology is based on 15 years of research on astronauts, athletes and older adults.

Nobi Monitoring – Nobi looks like an ordinary ceiling-mounted lamp, but it’s packed full of motion and RGB sensors, AI and other tech to help seniors live independently and more safely. It’s a “smart” lamp that will literally watch over an aging family member, and monitors when a person is sitting, laying down or standing – and even illuminates dark rooms when a parent wakes up at an odd hour to go to the bathroom.

While the lamp can detect falls, ask you if everything is okay and if not, send alerts to quickly get help to a caretaker or trusted contact, it’s also meant to prevent falls with activity monitoring and helpful reminders like hydration, reporting fire, or detecting intrusion. It doesn’t require a telephone – and if necessary, Nobi will even open the front door. Nobi debuted at CES 2021 and is expected to be ready for European countries soon.

Caregiver Smart Solution/Aging in Place – This is a smart caregiver solution or wellness monitor that provides insight into a senior’s activity at home or in assisted living communities. The Core Kit includes a downloadable app, a smart hub and small, non-intrusive sensors that are placed discreetly around a home. The collected data is fed into the AI and machine-learning-based app for early detection of potential health issues – and it’s available to the caregiver or family members. This wellness monitor seeks to understand and track normal daily routines, such as if a person is eating, sleeping normally and moving around – and can detect behavioral symptoms of physical changes. Its fall detection and emergency buttons can instantaneously alert the caregiver for immediate help. In addition, the app maintains the history of alerts sent to the caregiver – which can also help answer questions from the doctor.

Samsung/Sight & Hearing Impairment – We all know of Samsung’s reputation for its diverse line of technologically advanced products – but did you know that many of its products also include accessibility features? Declining sight and/or hearing often comes with age or with other conditions. At CES 2021, Samsung introduced its SeeColors Application and Sign Language Zoom Feature across its 2021 range of Neo QLED, Micro LED, and Lifestyle TVs. The SeeColors application helps those with sight challenges better view billions of colors. The app is designed to help those with Color Vision Deficiency to adjust the color settings on their Samsung QLED TVs to meet their individual needs. Samsung also showed off the ability to invert colors on a menu. It leaves the video as it is, but makes it easier for people who are low-vision to see the menu options. In partnership with scientists at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Samsung has adopted the Colorlite Test, or C-test, within the SeeColors app to recognize a user’s CVD levels and then automatically optimize their viewing experience.

Similarly, while declining hearing often comes with aging, there are also those with other types of hearing and accessibility challenges. Accordingly, Samsung also introduced its Sign Language Zoom and Caption Moving features across its 2021 Neo QLED, Micro LED, and lifestyle TVs. Its Sign Language Zoom automatically recognizes and magnifies the sign language area for the hearing-impaired by up to 200%. Users can specify a sign language area and adjust the magnification by zooming in on the area, as well as move the captions to avoid blocking the subtitle text.

These latest apps and features join existing accessibility functionality on Samsung devices like its Galaxy S21. This smartphone supports a wide range of offerings for visual impairment, hearing impairment, and dexterity and mobility issues.

Condition Management: Spotlight on Hearing

Hearing loss is a silent ‘epidemic’ that has been spreading during the last few decades – and it’s not limited to Grandpa. It currently affects more than 1.2 billion people worldwide, disabling 480 million. Hearing loss is related to quality of life, learning abilities, work productivity, and some health conditions – and lately there might be indirect links between hearing loss and COVID-19.

Until recently, the solution for hearing loss was expensive hearing aids, only available through ‘prescription.’ Over the past three years or so, however, this has changed, thanks to a new set of chips and technologies that are enabling the emergence of less expensive personal sound amplification devices (PSADs), distributed through mainstream retail channels – and they represent an ever-growing new revenue opportunity.

Advancing technology inspired by smartphones, even these less-expensive hearing aids ensure that the sound going into one’s ear is clearer, not just louder. They offer sound and speech processing, digital noise and wind noise reduction, plus improved management of those annoying high-pitched feedback screeches, squeals and whistles. They include AI and machine learning to analyze a wearer’s environment and their level of hearing loss, and to automatically make adjustments. They also include varied, non-obtrusive and discreet smaller sizes, and rechargeable batteries as well as Bluetooth streaming capability from a smartphone, computer or TV. Some include fall detection, or act as a fitness tracker when used with a smartphone.

These devices in a variety of form factors are coming from companies like Wehear Hearing Solutions, HeardThat from Singular Hearing, Absolute Audio Labs, Wear&Hear from Alango Technologies, Rexton, Lucid Audio, Soundwear and others. Olive Union blends hearing aids with wireless earbuds.

Companies like Alango Technologies, with its Wear&Hear line, even offer in-store kiosks for express hearing checks that provide results on the spot. Currently, the kiosk is available in seven languages including English, Hebrew, Russian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Arabic and Dutch.

Related to hearing aids are also other devices that amplify sound, such as an amplified ringer or the visual flasher from Krown, or the portable telephone handset amplifier from Clarity.

These assisted-hearing devices represent major new revenue streams in the senior marketplace given the rising Boomer demographic and sheer size of this aging population – and insurance reimbursement is increasing for a number of these devices.

Starting several years ago – pre-pandemic – tech companies began to see the advantages of designing devices particularly aimed at seniors. Getting these connected and digital health products, services and technologies into the homes of Boomers and older adults is under way, and they offer vast market opportunities for industry players and channels – particularly for those companies and channels already with a footprint in the home.

The trend is clear. While the pandemic has wrought great tragedy, anguish and destruction, one of the ‘positive’ trends to emerge from this devastation is that it has accelerated the adoption of consumer-based digital health-related devices, gadgets, systems and services particularly for aging populations.

Now is the time for retail channels to explore and deliver products relevant to now – and to create and accelerate the strategic framework and initiatives for an ongoing future. Look around your communities. Digital health opportunities for an aging population abound – whether at retail, via e-commerce or big-box stores, for in-home convenience and functionality, or for integrators who can create healthier smart homes – or on a B2B basis selling to Visiting Angels or to local assisted-living facilities.

People are aging in the comfort of their homes and are looking for consumer-based technology solutions that deliver better health outcomes at reduced costs – while also improving connectivity between themselves and others. Delivering smart digital health solutions that make their lives more comfortable, safe, and enjoyable with the added benefits of instantaneous responsiveness gives their caretakers a peace of mind – and this offers you new business development opportunities and revenue streams. This makes age tech a win–win for everyone!