Companies in race for wearables market
Print Edition
A new generation of wearable technology is promising not only to log data about users’ health but to predict and avert crises — from drivers falling asleep at the wheel to runners wearing themselves out in a marathon.
But there are concerns over the accuracy of the personal information collected by the burgeoning range of smart wristbands, watches and clothing — and how companies might use that data.
Wearable technology is the fastest growing category at this year’s Computex, Asia’s largest tech trade show which kicked off in Taiwan on Tuesday, with health-tracking a dominant theme.
“Health and fitness sensors and data are fundamental for wearables and largely define the category,” said Daniel Matte of market research firm Canalys.
Market tracker IDC predicted in April that sales of wearable tech items would triple this year to 19 million units worldwide, growing to 111.9 million by 2018.
At Taiwanese smartwear company AiQ’s Computex stand this week, a muscular mannequin showed off a lycra cycling top. Stainless steel fibers in the fabric and electrodes in the sleeves sense heart rate and other vital signs as well as calories burned, sending the data to a Bluetooth clip which can transmit it to a phone, tablet or other smart device.
The technology will appeal to sports fans, but it is Taiwan’s bus drivers who will be the first to benefit, when companies ask them to wear smart shirts later this year in a move that could prevent accidents.
“We will provide a shirt which can monitor the drivers in case they are falling asleep, or in case any vital signs are not OK, and it will provide a signal or a warning to the bus company,” said AiQ vice president Steve Huang.
The clothing was trialed for a year on discharged hospital patients to track their condition and it received positive feedback from wearers, he added.
But analysts and consumers still have reservations about whether smartwear can really tell us the truth about our bodies.
“Current sensors are not very accurate, but there will be improvements,” said Matte.
But while tech firms jump on the health-monitoring bandwagon there are questions over how the huge flow of data from the new devices will be handled.
Huang said, “There will be a lot of legal and moral issues.”
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