Tag: wearable tech

Wearables battle to become appealing to users as paten publication grows at a striking rate.

Despite the fact that the majority of consumers still aren’t buying wearable technology, the overall patent publications associated with those devices has been rising at a rate of about 40 percent per year since 2010.

From 2010 through until the end of May of this year, there have been 41,301 patents published.

It looks as though the tech behind wearable technology is being firmly locked into place, but the one primary question is what it will take to make consumers actually open up their wallets and buy these devices. Moreover, once they have them, will they actually like the experience or will it end up being a flash in the pan fad that goes out about as quickly as it came in?

Wearable technology takes in a massive group of gadgets, form smartwatches to augmented reality glasses.

There are fitness trackers, watches, glasses, goggles, and even diapers that all fall within the wearables category and that are already on the shelves and waiting for consumers to purchase them. However, analysts insist that it remains far too early to be able to decide which among this type of gadget will manage to sway consumers to actually buy, and how they will transform this sector of the market.

As a whole, the patent publication of wearables that are integrated into all forms of accessories and clothing that can be worn, has been rising by an annual 40 percent over the last five years. That statistic was released by Lux Research, a firm based in Boston.

At the head of the patent filing game was Samsung Electronics. In second place was Qualcomm, followed by Apple Inc. in third. According to market analysts, Samsung is making a concerted effort to lead the way in a wearable tech market that will have far greater consumer appeal over coming years.

Tony Sun, a research analyst at Lux, explained the current wearable technology situation by saying that “First, moving into wearable electronics agrees with the general interest of using electronic devices to better understand oneself in a quantitative way.” He went on to point out that “Second, Samsung is a major consumer electronic device and component developer. Wearable devices, like smartwatches, are a natural fit for Samsung’s existing manufacturing capability, technology portfolio as well as customer base.”

The official auto sponsor of the event is using wearables and court sensors to gauge the mood of the audience.

Jaguar has take a wearable technology route as a part of its first ever strategy as the official auto sponsor of Wimbledon, which started on June 29 and runs all the way through July 12, this year.

The luxury auto maker has implemented wearables and court sensors for a unique purpose during the event.

Throughout the tournament, wearable technology in the form of biometric wristbands will be helping to gauge the mood and emotion of the crowd. Certain select spectators have been provided the wearables that record the movement, heart rate, and location of the individuals. They work with atmospheric, in-ground sensors that will then provide the brand with data that they are able to analyze in order to gauge the energy level of the crowds, as well as their movement, and audio levels, in combination with infrared.

This use of wearable technology and sensors could offer tremendous insight into the spectator experience.

That insight will be implemented in a number of ways, including a sociometric component that will incorporate the worldwide fan posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instigram. All of these various forms of technology, combined, will offer a real time understanding of the sentiment of the audience, depending on when it is and where they happen to be.

Jaguar intends to share the insights that they collect through the wearable tech and other sensors, using the hashtag #FeelWimbledon, over the brand’s social channels. According to the Jaguar Land Rover UK marketing director, Laura Schwab, “Wimbledon evokes lots of emotions and captures our imaginations in so many different ways, so we’re very excited to celebrate what makes Wimbledon so special through our #FeelWimbledon campaign.”

Schwab also went on to say that the exposure that will be achieved through this event and the insight that can be gained through the wearable technology and other forms of metrics that will be employed is considerable. She pointed out that there will be “500,000 people attending Wimbledon this year,” and this clearly offers a sizeable audience for the brand and its products.