Page 206 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

6.8 Wearable Computing and Smart Gadgets: Watches, Fitness Trackers, and Glasses 189

more. These became popular in the consumer market when State of the Art
Samsung came out with a computer mounted on a watch Japan is one of the leaders in developing wearable devices.
(smartwatch), and Apple released its Apple Watch in April For example, Patrizio (2014) reports the following: “A
2015. Google has released a Nexus-like platform for wear- Japanese university has shown off a tiny personal computer
ables, called Android Wear. that is worn on the ear and isn’t much larger than many
Wearables are getting popular. For example, medical Bluetooth headsets, but it can be controlled with the blink of
tracking of patients with chronic diseases is on the increase, an eye or the click of a tongue.”
and for $130 you can place a device on your dog’s collar to For the state of the art in 2016, see McDowell (2016). For
track its movements. a slide show of wearable devices and their applications, see
Vijayan (2014) stated, “Wearable computers, like fitness Khillare and Bobade (2016).
bands, digital glasses, medical devices, and smartphones prom- Three representative devices, smartwatch, fitness track-
ise to radically transform the manner in which information is ers, and smart glasses are presented next.
collected, delivered, and used by, and about, people. Many of
the emerging technologies promise significant, and potentially
revolutionary, user benefits. But as with most Internet-connected Smartwatches
devices, the growing proliferation of wearables has spawned
both privacy and security concerns.” Vijayan presents seven A smartwatch is a computerized wrist watch with function-
devices and their hidden dangers. These devices are: digital ality that is enhanced beyond timekeeping. Today, smart-
glasses (e.g., eyewear like Google Glass), wearable/embedded watches are wearable computers. Many run mobile apps,
medical devices, police cameras (wearable “cop cams”), smart- using a mobile operating system.
watches, smart clothing, and fitness bands/activity monitors. They can function as portable media players; others also
We describe some later in this section. feature full smartphone capabilities.
Dale (2014) describes a wearable headband that can read Like other computers, a smartwatch may collect informa-
the brain’s activity. The Canadian company Interaxon devel- tion from internal or external sensors. It may control, or
oped the device, called Muse (see interaxon.ca/muse). In retrieve data from other instrument or computers. It may
2014, Amazon opened a special store for wearable devices. support wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS,
and communication technologies.
For specific features, see the websites of smartwatches’
Enterprise Wearables manufacturers, such as Apple, Google, Pebble, Sony, Samsung,
and several more. For a 2016 review, see Lamkin (2016a). For
The wearables described earlier are mostly used as consumer an overview, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smartwatch. For the
products. Some companies are using enterprise applications. capability to shop, see Arthur (2015). A special category of
There are a large number of wearables, which already have smartwatches is fitness (or activity) trackers. Some watches
been used for a long time in enterprises. For a report on prod- can be used as medical devices (e.g., Apple’s Kardia, see
ucts, manufacturers case studies and applications, see the Broussard 2016).
2016 white paper titled: “Enterprise Wearable Technology Case
Studies/Tractica.” It includes 40 different applications. See
tractica.com/resources/white-paper/enterprise-wearable- Fitness (Activity) Trackers
technology-case-studies.
According to the PWC report, pwc.com/us/en/advisory/ An activity tracker is a device or application for monitoring
business-digital-technology-trends-wearables.html: and tracking health and fitness-related metrics such as dis-
“Wearables hold so much promise because they provide a tance walked or run, calorie consumption, heartbeats, and
hands-free way for employees to engage in real time with con- even the quality of sleep. Today, many of these devices are
text-specific business information, customers, or one another. wearable, which may be connected to a computer. For an
For example, companies across industries can provide tai- overview, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/activity_tracker. For
lored, in-the-moment job training to workers equipped with the 2016 major manufacturers (e.g., Fitbit, Jawbone, Misfit,
smart badges or wearable displays. In industrial settings, and Garmin), see Stables (2016).
goggles, lanyards, or sensor-embedded clothing could help Note that some trackers and regular smartwatches look
workers who are performing repetitive or dangerous tasks very fashionable (e.g., Fibit Blaze). These are becoming
increase productivity and reduce injuries.” more stylish with time. For the best fitness trackers for 2016,
Note: Wearable devices are subject to serious privacy and see pcmag.com/article2/0, 2817,2404445,00.asp. For how
security problems. For a discussion, see Maddox (2016). fitness trackers work, see Nield (2016).