Author: Julie Campbell

A new report issued by Forrester Research has indicated that there will be a tripling of wearables users in 2015.

According to Forrester Research in a new report that they have recently released, the number of people who will be using wearable technology is going to triple throughout next year, when compared to this year’s figures.

This will, said the report, be greatly driven by the upcoming release of the Apple Watch, early next year.

The research firm has predicted that the Apple Watch, alone, will draw an additional 10 million users to the wearable technology category. This represents a more rapid growth rate than has been issued by a number of other forecasts, which feel as though the first wave of chunky, unfashionable, and just plain ugly prototypes and early generations of devices will have put many consumers off the idea for some time. But this new research indicates that next year will be a breakout for this trend.

That said, the interest in wearable technology was found to be greatly different between the U.S. and Europe.

Polling data that was used in this Forrester Research study involved the participation of thousands of consumers throughout Europe and the United States. Among Americans 45 percent said that they could imagine themselves using wearables. That said, among Europeans, only 32 percent said that they would want to wear those devices.

That said, within the wearables category, there are areas that consumers can picture themselves using more than others. For example, health monitors and smartwatches were among the items that consumers said that they were more likely to wear than other devices such as smart glasses. People seemed more willing to wear something on their wrists, followed by those that clip onto clothing. Lastly was those that were to be worn on the ear or face.

Even in the United States, there was a difference from one region to the next among the various categories of wearable technology. That said, in every area there were people who were willing to try everything from the aforementioned devices to smart jewelry, but even tech enhanced contact lenses and tattoos had some willing adopters.

AR technology is aiming to make things more interesting for planners and exhibitors who want to share their messages.

The event attraction industry has been undergoing some changes that involve technology, over the last few months and years in order to better reach people in ways that they will find new and exciting, and Foto Master is hoping that augmented reality will dramatically improve the results that exhibitors are seeing.

Planners and exhibitors already face a considerable challenge in the delivery of their brand messaging.

Driving this effort to bring augmented reality to trade shows and other events is a company called Foto Master, which has already established itself with a substantial product line. Its specialty is already in the interactive entertainment, family entertainment, and event attraction fields. Recently, at the IAAPA 2014 expo, the company launched three additional products, which were presented there.

Clearly, the company is turning its attention toward augmented reality and other unique interactive technologies.

The three new products that take advantage of interactive entertainment and AR technology include the following:

• The AR Foto Booth – this creates party favors that have been generated within the augmented reality environment. This allows users of the booth to wear three dimensional props that will move around with them, making it appear as though the guest is in an exotic location or is within a branded image, interacting with the prop.
• The MiniMe Foto Booth – this is a similar idea to the AR Foto Booth, only it allows two participants to use it at a time, and it will shrink one of them to a miniature size. This makes it possible to make it look as though one participant is in the palm of the other participant’s hand.
• The Interactive Story – an augmented reality environment designed for children by running animated stories. The child can interact with the various characters as the story runs on a screen.