“The alarm clock rings and your day begins - unfortunately 15 minutes earlier than usual today, since the rush hour traffic on your way to work doesn’t work well with your usual timing. But the smart alarm clock is well prepared. The clock has adapted the alarm time based on the traffic forecast, so you still arrive on time for your meeting with your boss. As you get out of bed, the alarm clock communicates with the coffee maker in the kitchen. Once you make it to the kitchen, the freshly brewed coffee is ready to go, and your smartwatch shows you the tasks that you have to do today. This is just one example of how the Internet of Things can change people's’ everyday lives in the future.
The Internet of Things links intelligent objects to each other as well as to the Internet. According to market forecasts, more than 20 billion smart devices will be up for sale by 2020. A large portion of these devices will be used within the consumer electronics sector, particularly wearables, which we carry and which we can assign certain functions. Within these predictions, devices used for fitness and health are expected to be the largest trend for consumer purchase. Already in Germany, nearly one third of all citizens use wearables to track their athletic performance or medical progressions. Today, these devices offer the possibility to measure people's’ pulse and skin moisture, as well as the oxygen count in their blood.
Wearables are not only a nice gadget to have but could be used for disease prevention and monitoring in the future. According to Bitkom, 75% of Germans are prepared to submit their health data to their doctors in case of developing an illness. This data could then be used for the doctors to draw educated conclusions about the condition of the patient and facilitate better treatment. In addition to classic devices, such as smartwatches and bracelets, T-shirts and other garments that can take biological readings are already available on the market.
Wearables are not limited to the health sector
In practice, there are already numerous ideas on how wearables can be integrated into our everyday lives. For example, California-based VivaLnk is developing a patch that can assess sleep quality and recovery by evaluating programmed readings. In addition, the startup, 8sense, from Rosenheim, Germany, wants to combat the common illness of back pain and is working on developing an intelligent back sensor. This setup includes an app that uses smart algorithms to analyze the wearer's posture and then suggests personalized recommendations for balancing exercises. However, the applications of wearables go far beyond the health sector. For example, an Australian bank has developed a ring that can be used for cashless payments. The technology behind this is called Near Field Communication (NFC), and is also used in credit cards. The payment is made by holding the ring to the card reader.
An increasingly emerging topic within wearables are smart glasses. They allow the wearer to project information onto the spectacle lens in real time. They can be used, for example, during a city trip to learn more about the history of the place or general data of the area. Whether someone would like to know such information as the height of the Cologne Cathedral or the age of the Coliseum in Rome, with smart glasses, this information could directly appear visually next to the sights. Customer reviews for the restaurant you’re considering for dinner could show up right as you approach the restaurant. Once you’re on your way home, with smart glasses you are navigated back to your house via arrows on the glasses, eliminating the need to constantly look down at a smartphone, for example. In addition to navigation, such wearables would also serve as helpful appliances to surgeons performing surgery, for instance to receive live information on vital data.
The challenge: wearables and privacy
The use of wearables in connection with the Internet of Things is almost unlimited. However, with all the benefits that come with wearables, there are also negative aspects of these devices. So far, there is still scepticism around wearables in Germany. One of the biggest challenges is for consumers to protect their personal information from unauthorized access. Already in 2017, large companies like Uber and Equifax were largely affected by data leaks. Even with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is still unsure how the use of wearables will be affected. However, it can be assumed that the GDPR has no restrictive effects on usage per se, but rather on the data analysis, which is what so many companies find interesting for their uses.
Finally, the question remains as to what the future of wearables will look like. Which other wearables will be included in our everyday lives? Is there a possibility that humans would going a step further and get smart implants? How do we get away from a previously independent lifestyle without wearables to a network of connected devices? No matter these questions, one thing is for sure - in the next few years the market will develop strongly and switfly. It will be exciting for everyone to see which technologies will prevail and where society will be in 5 years. Ultimately, the decisive factor for this industry will be the actual added benefit for the customer.
About the authors:
The authors of the article, Mike Klökler and Fabian Preusker, are part of the ZOLLHOF – Talent Program. As part of the program, students independently work on pilot projects by and with corporate partners and on projects of the ZOLLHOF, one of the sponsors of the Digital Health Hub Nuremberg/Erlangen.
