Tag: google glass

A new report predicts that the rate of wearables in U.S. classrooms will notably increase in the coming years.

According to a report from Research and Markets, the classroom wearables technology market will accelerate at an impressive rate over the next four years, growing at a CAGR of 45.52% between 2016 and 2020. Reportedly, this growth trend is mostly due to the development of wearable devices designed to sync with smartphones.

More companies in the telecommunications, mobile and apps industries are seeking to expand into the wearables market.

The 63-page report features big-name companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft, who are associated with the education sector and who manufacture wearable devices. It also mentions other leaders in the wearable tech market, including Fitbit, Samsung and Nike.

According to the report summary, “various technology companies are investing heavily in R&D to remain competitive. This is resulting in the incorporation of innovative functionalities, such as gesture recognition and augmented reality, in classroom wearable technology devices. Devices such as Fin, Ring, Kapture, and Myo are some of the products equipped with such modern features.”

It notes that Fin is a smart wearable device designed to be worn on the thumb and functions based on finger gestures.

Improved student engagement is one of the key growth drivers of classroom wearables technology.

Improved digitalization in education, school and institutions has lead to the adoption of digital gadgets and tools like e-learning modules and tablets to better student engagement. Wearable technology has taken this improvement further and has enhanced engagement in ways that were once not considered possible.

For instance, Google Glass gives students the power to harness augmented reality. They can create first-person videos and take part in unique point-of-view experiences. Meanwhile, virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift, introduces students into an entirely different immersive 3D learning experience. Such devices can assist students in learning languages among other useful subjects.

That being said, the report does note that one of the major challenges that the wearable tech market faces and will continue to face is the lack of security and data privacy. Still, even with these concerns, the classroom wearable technology market will only continue to evolve with the development and release of new tech.

Some predictions are starting to suggest that wearables are going to start disappearing next year.

Venture capital partner, Rick Yang, from New Enterprise Associates has released a prediction that the year ahead will be a critical one in wearable technology in which many of the devices we currently see on the market will be dying off forever.

Yang spoke specifically of the first generation devices that laid a foundation but that are rapidly being replaced.

According to the prediction from Yang, first generation wearable technology devices such as Google Glass, the Apple Watch and even the original Fitbit and Jawbone fitness trackers were vital to opening up the door to a spectrum of new and far more fashionable gadgets. He explained that “What that means is the wearable that integrates very directly into your everyday life, into your existing fashion sense to the extent that nobody knows you’re wearing a wearable.”

Yang added that the later generations of wearable technology feel more like an accessory than tech.

He said that with the maturity of the market, luxury brands are going to start coming out with their own versions of smartwatches like the Apple Watch. This is already being seen in some important announcements of partnerships between luxury watchmakers and design houses that are working with tech giants to come out with appealing fashion accessories that have the features expected from wearables.

Yang said that “At the premium end of the spectrum, it’s something like a Tag Heuer, right? It looks like a Tag, but it provides much more functionality than a Tag.” He also pointed to Athos, the startup supported by venture capital, which develops and manufactures workout clothes with embedded sensors for smart features. These smart clothes track heart and respiration rate, muscle groups and other health and performance issues.

To Yang, the most important feature of wearable technology in the future will be that it will function without feeling like a device is actually being worn. That way, a user can continue with his or her regular routines without having to think about whether or not gadgets are involved.