By 2018, in the USA, we predict corporates will drive 15% of ‘fitness tracking’ growth
Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner, world leaders in technology research, also talks about head mounted displays which will enable employees to see instructions on eyewear whilst they are performing tasks.
Which tech trends will make the biggest impact this year?
Fitness trackers. We predict that by 2018, twenty-eight percent of workers at companies in the US, with more than 100 employees will drive fifteen percent of total fitness tracker purchases. In the US, there are seventy-two million people who work for a big company and more than a half of them have access to a wellness program, according to the US Department of Labor. This means the number of US workers who are using fitness trackers to improve their health and wellbeing will grow rapidly.
How can the financial sector benefit from wearables?
One example is in the financial markets. Analysts use multiple screens to keep track of news and changes in the market to keep on top of changing financial markets and although the jury is out on whether virtual reality will be a technology that gets traction, proposed headsets will enable analysts to see graphs in an immersive environment and to manipulate data and algorithms with hand gestures. Traders, may soon wear smart glasses with augmented reality, which shows more longevity which will add a digital interface on top of their screens to allow them to play out, more clearly, different market scenarios.
Tell us about some emerging tech ideas..
US start-up Theatro, who have combined wearable with speech recognition in their ‘Enterprise Wearable’, have developed a cloud-based unit which is the size of a credit card, to connect employees to each other and to the companies IT system. The system enables managers, to find employees at any location. Staff can also use the system to resolve customer queries more quickly, for example, check availability for a meeting, ask about fees or deal with urgent issues.
Any other trends in wearable tech?
Head mounted displays which are devices worn on the head as a helmet or like a head mounted binocular have proven interesting. Employees use these displays for viewing instructions and directions hands free while they are performing a task. It is early days for HMDs though and significant corporate investment is still needed for proper evaluation.
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