The smart technological revolution has now entered its wearable technology stage. Individuals have actually been experimenting with “wearables” for a lot longer than the term existed, but this year has actually seen this segment reach a tipping point. Today, we have products like the Apple Watch, FitBit, HoloLens, Pebble, Google Glass and this is just the start.
Although the wearable industry is presently experiencing a little boom, developers are dealing with numerous difficulties. Structure useful wearables is tough due to the fact that of the numerous performances related to it. As a result, this relatively new technology will require new APIs and new apps that boost the human experience.
The Challenges
The challenges dealt with by app developers essentially mirror those of handheld devices. Wearables have just put the spotlight on these concerns. If you consider it, there isn’t much difference when it concerns the following:
Battery life in wearable technology is very scarce, even on devices like Pebble that constantly have the screen on. As a result, developers have to keep this in mind when starting developing a wearable application.
Smaller screen size (together with multiple screen sizes), types, and shapes make it essential to have user experience to adapt to each device. Android Wear assistances squared or round screens and Pebble has an e-paper display screen. Further, Pebble needs an absolutely adapted UI created for the black and white display screen.
Limited computing power goes hand in hand with these small devices as size does matter. So developers have actually restricted alternatives and require to be especially creative with their app development.
Another difficulty is the truth that wearables are not yet as popular as mobile phones. There is no mass appeal for these items yet and they are not expected to have a major effect (for now). It’s still an emerging field and it will require time to attain mass adoption.
Wearable Software is Fragmented
The difference between wearables and portable devices is its desired function. Wearables are developed to provide faster interaction that is condensed to view at a glimpse. As an outcome, fragmentation has the tendency to happen when software and hardware fail to run at a regularly high level. Further, the existing market just provides a limited variety of software and hardware mixes.
No Established API
Without the presence of a conventional API, all coding of features will have to happen individually. As a result this sometimes results in issues with adjusting business logic and synchronicity. Whenever a new device is added to the brochure, it will require a repeat of the exact same operations. There are several running systems, but there isn’t a market standard. Even more, there isn’t any cross-platform development presently occurring.
We haven’t seen established APIs because they are still in a development phase (however there are a number of methods to integrate). Google is currently establishing their Android wearable software development kit. Further, there is NTT Docomo’s Device Connect WebAPI (essentially to link devices). GitHub is also currently sharing the API as open software to enhance both technical specs and API for mass commercialization.
What Does the Future Hold?
In the immediate future, it looks like wearables will remove in the health and finance sectors. For example, Apple released its HealthKit which is a developer tool to make it easier to access health associated data from wearable devices by means of a central repository. Google on the other hand has released Google Fit which similarly lets developers access health data from Android gizmos and apps.
According to Juniper Research, the health associated wearables market will reach $53 billion in four years. So you can anticipate a great deal of developers to be focusing on this wearable segment. A few of the popular health associated wearables are as follows:
- Agamatrix Blood Glucose Meter
- ADAMM (Automated Device for Asthma Monitoring and Management).
- HealthPatch MD (give up cigarette smoking).
- Quell (nerve stimulation).
- Valedo (for neck and back pain)
Although the health sector is anticipated to see some growth, there is also a chance of it competing straight with other consumer wearables like FitBit.
The financing sector will also see a rise in using wearables in the market. The introduction of Apple Pay along with the Apple Watch appears to point in this instructions. Further, banks like CaixaBank and Barclays currently have their own payment-capable bracelets.
What developers require to attend to when developing health and financing apps is security and privacy. Tackling these essential concerns will be crucial to growing this segment in the marketplace.
Lastly, when it concerns design and production, it’s fairly challenging to design and source from a hardware perspective. The phrase “hardware is the new software” is heard very frequently and remains real for wearables (and it will be intriguing to see how this industry develops).
