It seems like everything nowadays is a “smart” device; Smart toasters. Smart dog collars. Smart homes. In the age of “smart”, there is nothing more intelligent or more innovative than the devices being produced by the wearables industry. These devices help collect and analyze real-time personal data that informs us on everything from our health to our workouts. They’ve become extremely popular tools to help us stay informed and in-touch with ourselves to the point that one in every three people in the US now sport a wearable device.
What exactly is a wearable? Wearables are electronic devices that are worn on a person (usually close to the skin) in order to accurately relay important medical, biological and exercise data to a database. Wearables have made the IoT industry the nearly-trillion dollar behemoth it is today. Your Apple Watch and Fitbit are classic examples of wearable technology, but those aren’t the only devices being developed today. In addition to smart watches, VR and AR technology, smart jackets and a wide variety of other gadgets are leading us towards a better-connected lifestyle. Each device’s main job is to collect millions of data points that range from how many steps you take to your heart rate. And it’s a booming industry. In fact, the wearables industry is expected to balloon to a whopping $77 billion by 2025.
The advancement of wearables has been a welcomed tool for the insurance, healthcare and sports industries for a number of reasons. In order to promote healthier lifestyles, insurance companies issue wearables to their customers, who then track their health data. The data collected informs premium prices and can paint a more accurate picture about the overall health of their customers.
The healthcare industry is probably seeing the biggest benefit from wearable technology. Patients who wear these smart devices can measure information ranging from body temperature to blood pressure, which is then relayed to their medical team in real-time. If something looks off, doctors have a quicker way to accurately diagnose and treat a patient. The entire treatment process is now quicker thanks to the data collected by a wearable device because doctors no longer have to run a gamut of tests to determine an illness or disease. They can reference the data collected by a wearable to quickly figure out the cause of the medical mishap.
Having all of this health data in real-time is, of course, helping the sports and fitness industries push the boundaries of training. Professional athletes from all over the world maximize their training regimes thanks to the biometric data captured through wearable technology. Elite athletes, from marathon runners to the Golden State Warriors and Liverpool FC, are using smart compression shirts to maximize every move an athlete makes. These smart shirts use a combination of GPS, accelerometers and biomedical sensors to constantly measure the performance of each athlete. Is Liverpool superstar Mo Salah taking the optimal route to a ball? Is NBA all-star Steph Curry maximizing his hydration levels to perform at his peak ability? How can MLB players, like Mike Trout or Kris Bryant, maximize their acceleration out of the batter’s box? Wearable technology is the key to answering these questions and unlocking the optimal potential of world-class athletes.
The business world, in general, is enhanced by the introduction of wearables to its workforce. Seventy-nine percent of employees who wear a smart device in the office report that the devices are instrumental to their work. Arming a workforce with wearable devices makes sense for employers. These devices enhance communication, track employee activity, boost jobsite safety measures and can actually improve the health and quality of life for a workforce. A healthier, happier workforce will then lead to higher rates of employee retention, saving companies thousands, if not millions, of dollars annually.
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