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Feb 26, 2014 2:29:00 PM

The Direction of Wearable Technology

Posted by Skyhook

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While new wearable technology breaks into the mainstream, wearable tech companies face an industry full of challenges - the most daunting of which is differentiating their devices. In our eBook, we discuss three critical factors for these devices to win in a crowded marketplace. We cover how this year, we’ll see wearables expand their capabilities and begin to compete on user experience - and better UX means integrating into users lives and developing ways for them to interact with the 3rd party apps they already know and love.wearable smart location

In our research and writing process, we asked wearable industry leaders to comment on topics such as third party developers and location for wearables - check out the commentary we feature from Recon Instruments below:

Recon Instruments: Shane Luke, CPO

How will location data affect the UX of wearables?

Recon-Jet

Location data (especially when paired with time and date) is among the most valuable for the wearable UX, mainly because it provides context to the data generated by the device better than any other type.  When you know where you were when something happened, you can usually infer or remember a tremendous amount of related things about that experience, which makes the data secondary, and the experience primary.   

How can smart glasses differentiate themselves from the many competitors in the space and win the hearts of users?

I think there are 2 keys to winning over users.  One is to make the products look great.  When someone wears something, they want it to make them look better, not worse.  The other is to make the experience integrate into the user's regular life as closely as possible, so that they don't have to stop what they are doing to benefit from the technology.  That could be something small, like a runner not having to pull her phone out of her pocket to see her mile pace, or something huge, like a rescuer seeing a patient's vitals while they are transporting them out of danger.  

Get the eBook: "How Location Data is Fueling the Wearable Revolution"

According to Statista, the Wearable device market is expected to reach 12.6 billion by 2018, and these device manufacturers will thrive by creating devices users cannot live without. Skyhook created this eBook for wearable device manufacturers and app developers who are looking to differentiate their wearable technology in a highly competitive industry, as 2016 is the year of the wearable and the year of the survival of the fittest.

Download the wearables eBook today to hear from the other industry thought leaders we feature and to learn more about what's next in wearables for 2016 and beyond. 

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