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Over the years, the wearable industry has witnessed phenomenal growth. Its journey from obscurity to necessity signifies technology revolution. Based on data related to the market size, shipments, market share and consumer interests, the wearable market is poised for growth, as the number of connected wearables is expected to jump from an estimate of 325 million in 2016 to over 830 million in 2020. The wearable market includes different devices such as smart watches, wristbands, fitness trackers, smart jewelry, clothing, as well as other wearables.
Wearable App Development Services
- Standalone Apps: These apps run on the device itself and may require the phone to get a network connection or get connected directly though Wi-Fi.
- Companion Apps: Function primarily on smart phone, sending commands to the device’s app and receive interaction from the user.
- Faces: Watches featuring a custom clock screen, the kind you see when you look at a watch without interacting with it.
- Cards or Glances: Static views available from the home screen and feature updated content from an app.
Notifications: Wearable abilities to send local notifications that are delivered by a phone app.
A world new world of wearables is now building a robust ecosystem of connected devices. Considering the miniature nature of the device and its proximity to human beings, wearable is the next phase of technology evolution and a natural progression of smart phones. Wearable devices are getting smaller in size and high on performance. Right from wellness to healthcare bands, Wearable App Development is all about helping people to lead a healthier lifestyle.
If you are planning to build a wearable app, it is about time to select the right wearable app platform for maximum user traction.
Wearables App Development Platforms
SmartWatches
Described by experts as the most personal devices, smart watches started off as a mere companion of a smartphone. Smaller screen size and battery life continued to plague its performance considerably. Smartwatches were considered as mere fashion accessories; however, this is fast changing. According to a report, “Smartwatches are on pace to achieve the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2021, reaching $17.4 billion.
Wear OS
Wear OS, formally known as Wear OS by Google, and previously known as Android Wear, is Google’s Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables. Providing support to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G and LTE, and different features and applications, it is estimated that Wear OS had between 10 and 50 million application installations by March 2018. Right from easy access to notifications and healthcare data, Wear OS aims to make everything accessible at all point of time.
Apple Watch
When it comes to Wearables, Apple Watch comes to the top level. Apple captured 17 percent of the global wearables market in the second quarter of 2018, shipping 4.7 million devices, according to a report from IDC. With the debut of Apple Watch 4 offering large display and updated health sensors, it is expected that Apple Watch will continue to maintain its formidable position.
Apple Watch App Development Services aims to build apps that provide timely information and provide an easy way to complete actions. Apple Watch apps provide innovative app ideas using the built-in GPS, LTE connectivity, altimeter and Siri, the voice assistant.
Samsung Gear
Aimed at precision and dedication, Gear Fit2 GPS sports band comes with built-in GPS tracker to know running route, distance and speed in real time. Samsung Gear provides developers the possibilities of building applications for real life scenarios. It offers several possibilities such as customizing watch faces, integrating mobile/wearable payments, monitor health, and more.
Samsung and Tizen provide all the support needed to develop apps for Galaxy Watch. With the SDK, you can start building services for Samsung Gear Sport.
Fitness Trackers
Fitness trackers are growing at a phenomenal level catering to the specific needs of athletes, sportspeople, and outdoor adventure lovers. While fitness trackers don’t aim to replace smartphones, rather aim to replace regular wristwatches. These devices provide more accurate feedback on the users’ sports activities.
FitBit
FitBit is one of the most advanced fitness tracker aimed at healthier and active lives, tracking all-day activity, workouts, quality of sleep and much more. It also tracks important statistics throughout the day such as calories burned, active minutes, steps, weight and more to stay fit and see how small steps make a big impact.
With over 20 million active Fitbit users, developers can build apps with new Fitbit Studio. It is easy to build apps and clock faces using JavaScript, CSS, and SVG.
Garmin
Garmin is a GPS fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor that doubles up as a smart watch. It is a multipurpose device to track fitness activities and provide useful data related to workouts. Developers can build watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps for wearable devices.
VR Headsets
Google Cardboard
Cardboard is Google’s attempt to forge into the VR market. Made from actual cardboard and lens, it aims to provide a holistic VR experience. Google has published a complete manufacturer kit so that developers can start building everything from scratch. The only thing that they need to buy is a smartphone and the lenses.
Cardboard enables immersive VR experiences by predicting the user’s head position in both the real and virtual worlds based on data from the phone’s sensors. Cardboard features includes support for both Android and iOS devices, as well as SDKs to create VR experiences in preferred development environment.
HTC Vive
HTC’s Vive VR headset comes with a complete set of accessories that help create realistic VR spaces called play areas. Users need to set up their headsets together with the accessories and define the play areas before using them. The SDK supports several OS and game engine platforms, so you can choose the version that fits you best.
Oculus Rift
One of the leading platforms in the VR space, Oculus offers a great user experience and interaction. Its SDK is also available in several packages, including the Platform SDK and utilities for Unity game engine. The popular game engine Unreal also offers built-in support for developing Oculus apps.
Where do Wearables Stand in Enterprise?
For wearable technology to replicate the success of disruptive technologies in enterprise, they need to generate business value and improve bottom-line results of saving money or tapping new revenue streams. This is the only way wearables will emerge as a true winner in the workplace. As technology evolves wearables will become an interesting communication tool.
Wearable devices have the potential to impact each and every industry and the technology has been successfully implemented across retail, real estate, construction, and logistics. Can this technology improve work landscape or streamline processes?
Retail Industry
Wearable adoption is opening up innovative ways for retailers to reach out to customer and improve conversion ratio. Wearable technology can transform retail operations by providing faster checkout and payment processes; quicker access to promotional offers; and more real-time input into purchasing decision.
Smartwatches can serve as a natural extension of the online or mobile brand experience and serve as an integrated touchpoint to create an omnichannel experience for customers.
Healthcare
Consumers still have not opened to the idea of healthcare wearables other than trackers for fitness. The rising popularity of Fitbit indicates that users have embraced wearables that help keep track of health and fitness goals.
The multitude of smartwatches and health trackers help healthcare practitioners monitor personal health data and connect with patients in astonishing new ways. As users (patients) begin to wear monitoring devices, health care practitioners can access critical data via mobile applications during different stages of hospitalization. With greater connectivity and access to actionable health insights, wearable technology will help enrich and improve quality of lives.
Health Insurance Industry
Wearables could transform the health insurance industry. Bio-sensor, a wearable/implanted device can transmit data about biological processes which will introduce several ways to diagnose and treat health conditions. This implanted device can provide relatively accurate information about an individual’s physical condition, leading to precise assessment of risk and accurate medical diagnosis.
Advertising
Growth of wearables provide the opportunity for advertisers to reach out to their customers in a really big way. After all, there is one more screen/device to target and deliver marketing campaigns right from smartwatches to headgear.
Technology
Computer networks have vast amount of data stored. This information can be processed anywhere, anytime. Wearable computing will provide access to remote computing as a result we can get the information without hunting for it. Wearables will allow to process routine tasks faster and more accurately from the field, eliminating the need of keyboards and screens.
Augmented Reality
Wearables applications fall in the “augmented reality” category as they enhance what we see, hear, and touch so that we get more information presented in front of us. For instance, an auto mechanic can repair a vehicle with a heads-up display to get hands-free access to manuals or training videos.
Finally
The commercial adoption of this technology could help discover new possibilities to gain business advantage. Wearables can dramatically reshape the way we do business. Businesses need to include wearables in the mobile-first strategy to deliver value to end-user.
