As 2014 begins wearable computers are quickly becoming one of the next technology waves. As we await rumored wearables from Apple and Google, let's first take a step back to understand what "wearable" computing is. We'll walk through a quick history, look at some successful enterprise implementations, and then wrap up with a demo of the Pebble Smartwatch.
7. Many Ways to Define Wearable Computing Over Time
7
Ed Thorp
Roulette Shoe
1961
1972
Alan Lewis
Digital camera-case
computer
1977
The HP 01
1978
1979
1981
1983
1987
1990
Eudaemonic
Enterprises
Another in-shoe
computer
for Roulette
Steve Mann
Nicolet
Hearing Aids
Olivetti
Location Tracking
The
Taft
Group
8. Today
Fitness trackers
Smart glasses
Embedded sensors
Ingestible pills
Virtual/Augmented Reality Displays (and HUDs)
Bands and Watches
In-ear audio devices
8
90 million devices to be sold worldwide in 2014
12. When Wearable Makes Sense
When your employees need to be hands free
Warehousing, Shipping, Manufacturing, Field Technicians
When your employees need to be heads up
Retail, Sales, Customer Service
When your employees’ senses are restricted
Accessibility, Loud factory floors, Large retail settings
When you need to find your employees
Retail, Factory floor
When you need to monitor employee health
Drivers, Heavy machinery operators, Field Workers
When you want to deliver contextual information to employees on the road
Sales, Shipping & delivery
12
13. Dashboards
13
DON’T DO
Display an executive dashboard with
lots of tables, rows and drill downs
Send targeted notifications to managers
when dashboard data falls outside of
target thresholds
15. Device Design
15
DON’T DO
Try to build the biggest display or add
the most features into your device
Strive to be unnoticeably integrated into
the user
1+1=1
17. 1. Terminal Handlers & USPS
Problem
Need to track containers, packages as they move through shipping center
Why Wearable?
Employees need to be able to move materials through facility as fast as
possible
Device Solution
- Wearable scanner allows rapid data capture
- Able to multitask: scan & move packages
17
18. 2. Hitachi Business Microscope
18
Problem
Two recently-merged business units were not
communicating together
Why Wearable?
Always on, reliable, automatic data capture with
multiple data points (frequency, duration,
proximity); Can track F2F communications with
other communication channels (email, IM,
meetings)
Device Solution
- Wearable badge-like device
- Able to create a detailed organization network
diagram
20. 3. Vuzix Smart Glasses
20
Problem
When machinery breaks down, repairmen are not nearby & operators are
not knowledgeable with how to fix the machinery
Why Wearable?
Allows an employee to talk to a remote expert while sending a live video
feed and seeing detailed repair instructions, all hands free
Device Solution
Google Glass for the enterprise
22. 4. The Container Store
22
Problem
Finding SMEs for customers with specific
questions
Why Wearable?
Know the location of the person, not the device;
Always on; Keeps employees “Heads up and
hands free”
Device Solution
- Employees can talk to the Theatro device to
find a specific employee – immediately – and
know if they’re busy or not
23. 4. The Container Store
23
Heat Maps
- Do you have enough help in
high margin areas?
- Are employees positioned at
store entrances to welcome and
answer questions
- Comparing staffing plans to
actual needs
25. Anecdotes
Don’t expect dramatic change/improvements
Similar to my Retina experience
Great for important notifications
Be careful you don’t over do it
Limited functionality w/o your phone nearby
Don’t think of it as a smartwatch
Haven’t used my phone ringer since I switched AND I no longer miss
calls from my wife!
(and she lets me wear it in public)
25
26. Pebble 2.0
Launched in Feb 2014
Additional APIs made available
Improved stability!!
Pebble App Store now available
Improved developer guides & Example templates
More iOS Notifications – good & bad
Pebble Steel
Still room for improvement
Developer community size & breadth
Emulators
26
27. Building Apps
https://developer.getpebble.com/2/
Option 1
Install SDK on machine
Apply for developer access
Manually install developer iOS app
Upgrade device firmware
Develop in Terminal/XCode
Option 2
https://cloudpebble.net/ide/
27Hint: pick the 2nd one!
1. Data – Sensors collect data & relay to primary system2. Not Standalone – Satellite devices3-5.Interacts with the user based on the context of the situation, typically in an always-on state6. Glanceable viewing (vs. “reading” on a full device) - Access to critical data 7. Can multi-task - Don’t have to stop what you’re already doingBig difference with smartphones
Self proclaimed “inventor of wearable computers”Timing device inside shoeUsed to predict roulette wheelsLater Wheel of FortuneNot actually announced until 1966
Steve Mann – computer that could be worn as a backpack and had photo, video, textThemes haven’t really changed:Audio – Hearing aids to in ear for in store associates (e.g. Theatro)Watches – Calculator watches to Pebble, Android WearLocation tracking – IR signals to RFID to iBeaconGlasses – Steve Mann to Google GlassGambling has been a large driver of wearable tech progressLet’s think about why – want it to be discreetNow think about wearable applications such as retail where discreteness is valuable
@Jeff – get the source for this stat
What I’ve learned with wearables is that the focus should be on the “WHY”
150 lookups at 10 seconds each = nearly 30 minutes/daySo if we can serve up the RIGHT information at the RIGHT time that you can read in a glance, can we save time?@Jeff – Get this stat source
Let’s walk through some use cases
Same data as before, but much much quicker data capture
With this data could see clear communication gaps – e.g. a manager who is not communicating with direct reports in the new group