Solutions and apps for wearables and major IoT challenges along the way
Striving to make a physical object a powerhouse of data? Take a look at the newest Internet of things trends and those technologies which soon will become mainstream. Experienced developers have ample space for applying innovations: they can place sensors in clothes, glasses, watches, etc. Even though 87% of customers were not aware of the meaning of “The Internet of Things.” in 2018, nowadays, IoT devices are not only responsive but also affordable.
Today, we will consider the five most innovative examples of IoT devices in various business branches. If you are enjoying taking advantage of wearables for personal use, this article will be no less insightful. We will also discuss possible difficulties in adopting IoT technology and ways of overcoming potential vulnerabilities of given solutions. Without further intro, let us proceed with the first topic.
Many people tend to face the same trouble: losing or fear of losing car keys, house keys, credit or metro cards. Smart Ring, powered by Near Field Communication technology (NFC), will get you covered thanks to the sensors linked to the software. The ring has smart technologies in its core (door lick, business card share, program share, link share). Users can pay bills, unlock the car/home door, or activate a metro ticket with a simple finger approach whenever NFC is enabled.
One of those examples that immediately pop into mind, speaking about the fashion accessories industry, is a Smart Belt. This solution is beneficial not only because it complements outfits. It also helps anticipate the risk of falls from abnormal gait patterns. The system estimates the gait patterns (precisely speed and symmetry) and alerts users each time when a potential fall risk is identified. This is another technology solution for health care. The belt is able to help people in old age, people with balance disorders, patients with musculoskeletal disorders, or patients in physical rehabilitation. This solution is presented today in the form of a smart brace for posture correction. The development of the device and the technical implementation are complex, as it is necessary to take into account all sensors and correctly adjust their operation.
Gaming simulation is not the newest tendency; however, it gave rise to more innovative armbands, allowing users to handle gaming aspects just by hand gesture. Built-in sensors serve users as detectors of the arm, muscles, and finger movements to make their replication in the game. The idea is ahead of vibrating controllers and gaming peripherals.
Smart shoe sensors monitor a man’s physical activity and are even able to track your location using GPS. Like all IoT devices, smart shoes work when connecting to an app via Bluetooth on your smartphone. However, implementing this decision is costly. The development of the application, like IoT shoes itself, rests on patents, licenses, and the uniqueness of the technological solution. What to say, that should be established production of the shoe itself.
The advent of wearable computer glasses or smart glasses can be used for healthcare and security refinements. In the first case, the technology is helpful for automatic patient data entry, rapid diagnostic, hands-free video documentation and telemedicine. Police, for its part, can first of all benefit from the facial recognition function that simplifies identifying crime suspects. As for enhancing the retailing experience of the clients’, the glasses are widely used for navigation, conducting a price or quality comparison for purchase, and tracking promotions in-store. However, experience shows that smart glasses never found popularity. In fact, these IoT devices have a lot of drawbacks. So neither Google glasses nor Facebook glasses have become popular for a number of reasons.
We asked Industry experts’ opinions on potential challenges in wearable IoT to help you dig deeper into the topic. That is how they feel about top concerns related to the branch mentioned above.
Searching the Product-Market Fit
Even though there are various solutions and services for wearable IoT, not all of them – naturally – cross the chasm and the bowling alley, remaining available for a market of early adopters only. So here is a formulation of the challenge: how to upgrade and turn around your solution promptly and let it show up in the mainstream market.
First and foremost, you need to be aware of your segment and market specifics. Ask yourself: Will your product be in demand among mainstream customers? Will the solution be helpful in their daily life? It would also be an excellent bet to analyse compatibility requirements for hardware and software. As experience shows, some companies have amazing products; however, they launch too early releases:
– Moréa Pollet, Marketing Specialist at Piedmont Avenue.
Current limitations for broader adoption of wearables
Over the next decade, wearables will be actively involved in expanding IoT horizons, yet several external and internal factors limitate their mass adoption. Regarding external issues, the first thing is poor connectivity (Wifi, Bluetooth or broadband): it directly impacts real-time functionality and latency (speed of online network interaction). For instance, AR wearables can hardly operate in terms of high latency.
Hopefully, by the mid to late 2020s, enhancements of batteries and the adoption of 5G will resolve the issue and expand the capabilities of wireless devices:
– David Tal, president of Quantumrun Forecasting, a strategic forecasting agency.
Potential privacy hazard
Wearable devices can track the life of their owner and access data that could potentially be used by third parties. For example, it refers to personal health information or the movement of a user. The case of data leakage of any group of users of a particular IoT device naturally reduces the level of confidence of the entire product audience and even the company. Safety issues are extremely important. Especially acute is the problem of the safety of children whose parents use IoT devices with GPS. A number of studies from 2019 to 2020 showed the high vulnerability of smartwatches and custom apps. Therefore, when developing applications for IoT devices, it is essential to pay attention to data security, authentication errors and encryption reliability.
Security experts claim that utilising Blockchain technology is key to scaling and securing an IoT network. But what does it mean for customers?
The technology implies decentralising the public ledger used to store data within encrypted blocks. Thanks to the encryption of information and its immutability, you can decrease the risk of data manipulation and data theft, which are widespread in other transfer mechanisms and storage. Although the large-scale implementation of technology is still in the initial stage, the idea is promising.
At PNN Soft, we have experience, passion for innovative technologies and readiness to accomplish challenging tasks. We provide clients with best-in-class programming products for wearables. We have been delivering programming products for 20 years, and we hone our skills to put our ideas into the newest solutions and services. In this process, we emphasise strengthening security both during and after development.
We immerse ourselves in analysing individual companies’ features and needs. That is why our clients prefer long-term cooperation.
PNN Soft actively uses Agile, Scrum, and RAD methodologies to interact with clients effectively, satisfy customers’ needs and obtain more flexibility. Our Agile teams of experts include software developers, GUI designers, testers, technical writers, and managers.
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