This document discusses the growing field of wearable technology and its implications. It explores how wearables will transform data collection and use, requiring companies to utilize prescriptive insights from massive amounts of personal data. Examples are provided of current wearables and their applications in healthcare, education, intimacy, and more. The document concludes that wearable technology offers brands opportunities to differentiate themselves, but also raises issues around privacy that require honest consideration.

1. YOUR MONTHLY BRAND & BUSINESS UPDATE
THE JANUARY / FEBRUARY ISSUE, 2015
REWIR TREND
REVIEW #03
Face to face
with wearable
technology
PERSON TO PERSON
PERSON TO COMPUTER
PERSON AS COMPUTER
TWO
ISSUES
IN ONE!

2. Oh mother…!
Let’s face it. The very idea of wearable
technology is tantalizing. It consumes
imaginations as much as it fuels both
heated and philosophical debates
around the impact of wearable devices
on our lives.
Yet, the march is on and hardware is
reigning supreme. After nearly two
decades of software domination over
the tech industry, wearable devices,
self-driving cars, drones, sensors and
connected homes are now the thing.
And these devices are part of a larger
cohesion known as the Internet of things.
What a mother of a thought…
Welcome to the Rewir Trend Review.
Where we will explore our personal
relationship with our technologies,
as we take the first steps into one of
the most important, exciting new eras
of computing history.
LANDSCAPE

3. Look who’s
talking now
Be prepared. Be very prepared, because
the entrepreneurial ecosystem as we
know it is about to change dramatically.
In the next five years, how we reach,
connect with, and engage consumers
will be transformed. And our back-end
infrastructure fundamentally converted.
When wearables become mainstream
and integrate into every aspect of our
lives, big data will be dwarfed. Leaving
us to deal with an avalanche of super data
and personal data analytics. Then we will,
excitingly enough, have the potential to
select, analyze and interpret all that data.
Not that we will be after information in
itself. No, what we will be really after
is insights.
LISTEN & LEARN

4. Dude,
just serve it
to me straight
Applications within sports, healthcare
and medicine, entertainment, retail,
manufacturing and workplace training
are already underway. Still in alpha,
they are not in our mindsets as yet.
In order for wearables to be useful,
taken seriously, and be capitalized upon,
especially in the context of this age of
information overload, data cannot be
merely informative.
It has to be prescriptive, driven by
human centered design (putting humans
in the center of everything businesses do),
and offering a simplified user experience
that achieves goals easily.
CATEGORIZE

5. A hug when
I need it…
handsfree!
T Jacket is a tablet-controlled jacket that
uses embedded air pockets to simulate
hugs and calm children without human
contact. The jacket is based on ‘deep
pressure theory’, which suggests that
pressure has a soothing effect on children
with autism or attention deficit disorders
who don’t process sensory information
in the same way as those without the
condition. When instructed to do so via
an app, air pockets inflate to produce
the effect of a hug.
PERSON TO PERSON
CONNECTED INTIMACY

6. Feel you,
touch me
Tactilu is a bracelet capable of transmitting
touch between two individuals even
when they are miles apart. The bracelet
is equipped with a touch sensor which
converts swipes and pokes into tactile /
haptic motion on its corresponding bracelet.
The wearable uses an Internet connection
and Bluetooth technology to transmit touch
between wearers.
CONNECTED INTIMACY

7. Swinging
in my hips
The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix Arizona is
using 3D printers to enable customized
joint replacement surgeries and has
successfully printed its first custom hip.
The clinic enables doctors to send a 3D
file of their patient’s CT scan to a printer
which will then print out a 3D model of
the patient’s hip joint.
The implants used in hip replacement
are biocompatible and made to resist
corrosion, degradation and wear.
The 3D printed hip will reduce the cost
of creating artificial hips and may allow
healthcare providers to build hips that
better fit the physical dimensions of
specific individuals.
PERSON TO COMPUTER
BESPOKE BIOTECH

8. Welcome
to mobility,
Emma!
Emma, had been born into a condition
known as arthrogryposis and would not
gain the ability to lift her arms as she
developed. The WREX exoskeleton was
manufactured using a 3D printer to create
a prosthetic light enough for Emma to
use freely, while incorporating hinged
bars and resistance bands to help her
move her arms in space with very little
residual strength.
The WREX was designed to assist
arthrogryposis sufferers as young as
six and offers the opportunity to scale
production, allowing researchers to
customize and print exoskeleton designs
to each patient’s unique specifications
using their own CAD software.
BESPOKE BIOTECH

9. Play
something
sweet
Microsoft is working to incorporate health
monitoring and mood detection into a pair
of earbuds. Capable of monitoring heart
rate, the in-ear device would be able to
communicate with an associated mobile
app called Musical Heart to select the
most appropriate music depending on
the user’s mood.
The app uses biorhythms to pick up on
the wearer’s current mood and then plays
a song best suited to remedy the situation.
This means if a person had a sudden bout
of anger while taking the subway to work,
musical heart would select a soothing
song to bring their heart rate and breathing
back to normal.
BIOMETRICALLY ATTUNED

10. I, me and
my coach
My Asics is an app that helps runners to
be their own personal trainer by creating
adaptive training plans that evolve as their
workout continues. The app is designed
to understand how a runner’s body is
responding to the workout utilizing a series
of software algorithms to better calculate
what type of workout best suits their
changing needs.
My Asics works by constantly molding
a plan around the runner’s performance
levels, progressively pushing them
harder to increase the intensity of their
workout, and helping them reach their
fitness goals faster.
RESPONSIVE COACHING

11. Thinking
in my socks
Sensoria has developed a pair of sensor-
embedded socks that not only tracks
traditional fitness data such as the number
of steps, speed and total distance a user
has traveled, but also provides data about
running form and technique. Using this
data, it’s possible to identify poor running
styles and prevent injuries before they
happen.
RESPONSIVE COACHING

12. Look…
I hear!
Nuwave glasses help to amplify sound
for the hearing impaired by transforming
sound waves into vibrations, functioning
in a similar capacity to a traditional hearing
aid. Its bone conduction transducers
are ergonomically positioned to carry
mechanical vibrations against the temporal
bone to the inner ear. The Nuwave glasses
have been developed in the hope of
helping the hearing disabled find a new,
discreet way to experience sound.
PERSON AS COMPUTER
CO-EVOLVING

13. Bionic
vision,
anyone?
Researchers at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology have created the
first telescopic contact lens prototype that
provides wearers the power to zoom their
vision by almost three times. The telescopic
lens works by having a central unmagnified
optical path that is surrounded by a ring
of optics that magnify the view 2.8 times.
The wearer is able to switch between
regular and magnified vision. And, the
telescopic contact lens is just 1.17mm
thick, allowing it to be comfortably worn
and could be especially useful for people
with age-related macular degeneration.
CO-EVOLVING

14. In touch
with info
InTouch Technology is a concept that
uses a ring, bracelet, or ‘smart fingernail’
to transfer information between devices
simply and securely. When wearers touch
their device with an InTouch ring, a special
icon appears that allows information to be
uploaded. After touching another device
equipped with the same technology, users
can initiate a download from the ring back
into the device. The device has a small
amount of memory, and is powered by a
special antenna. It can also act as a
password or security device to unlock
doors, start a car or power up a laptop.
CO-EVOLVING

15. Sure we need to ask ourselves if there is a creep factor
in all of this. For sure, issues around personalization and
privacy considerations come quickly to mind. “How far is
too far?” Will be a question brands can never, and should
never ever, stop asking or stop answering honestly. But
as organizations get better at protecting (and respecting)
consumers’ privacy on the mobile side, so too will they on
the wearables side.
No matter how we look at it, and what we feel about it,
one thing is for sure: there is a perfect storm gathering in
the midst of us. Innovation in personal data analytics, big
data, mobile computing, low power wireless connectivity,
voice user interfaces, manufacturing and pure imagination
is setting the stage, and making it our inevitable future.
At Rewir, imagination and insight keep driving innovation
as always. This time resulting in the creation of the Hemla:
a divine upgrade on the well-loved Semla. We created
a human centered design on the traditional Semla to
conjure a simplified user experience. Now you can sink
your teeth into the Hemla without getting messy and
achieving a real-time, out-of-this-world taste experience.
We connected tastebud analytics, with human connectivity,
experimentation and testing, to help manufacture…
a piece of pure heaven!
Could your
brand wear
wearable
tech?
True to life, we’ve been seeing technological innovation
play an increasing role in helping brands differentiate
themselves in the increasingly competitive marketplace.
While wearable technology stands at a crossroads today,
it is poised to offer brands a big opportunity to establish
a strong edge.

16. Behind
this issue
David Lillewarg, Editor in Chief
david.lillewarg@rewir.com
Ruby Windrup, Editorial content
ruby.windrup@rewir.com
Helena Brauer, Content design
helena.brauer@rewir.com
Anna Pensar, Content distribution
anna.pensar@rewir.com