© CanStockPhoto/nicholashan

How Wearables Intersect

with the Cloud
and the Internet of Things
Considerations for the developers of wearables.

By Joseph Wei

T
he first wearables DevCon for developers of function, such as fitness tracking, health monitoring, and
wearables was held in San Francisco 5–7 March message display, others have taken on the integration of
2014 and was greeted with great enthusiasm, with multiple functions in the same device; the BASIS watch, for
more than 1,000 people attending the three-day example, combines time, fitness, and health-monitoring
event. With the introduction of Google Glass, functions into a single device. According to a new market
Epson Moverio, Pebble, and Fitbit, wearables have certainly report published by Transparency Market Research, “Wear-
captured the attention of many consumers and enterprises. able Technology Market—Global Scenario, Trends, Indus-
While some of these wearables mainly provide a single try Analysis, Size, Share and Forecast, 2012–2018,” the
global wearable technology market is expected to grow
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCE.2014.2317895
from US$750 million in 2012 to US$5.8 billion in 2018.
Date of publication: 27 June 2014 U.K.-based Juniper Research projects that the number of

2162-2248/14©2014IEEE July 2014 ^ IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine 53

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54 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

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FIGURE 1. The diversified wearable market, as envisioned by Beecham Research, Ltd., and Wearable Technologies AG. (Photo courtesy of Johanna Mischke, WearableTechnologies, AG.)
 Since data are often stored on
wearables, data protection needs
to be considered for any sensitive
data kept on them.

wearable devices shipped will rise from about 13 million in

2013 to 130 million in 2018, and the size of the market will
jump from US$1.4 billion in 2013 to US$19 billion in 2018.
Business Insider Intelligence projects shipments of 100 mil-
lion units in 2014 and forecasts the market will ultimately
be worth about US$12 billion per year. Such widely diver-
gent forecasts by research firms are typical when industries
are in their relative infancies and hypergrowth mode. FIGURE 2. The data.gov Web site.
This is an exciting time for hardware designers, as many of
the past decade’s innovations came from software and the Web.
To achieve predicted growth, we need to examine the underly-
ing technologies, usages, and business models. Unlike tablets
and smartphones, which evolved from the PC era and whose
features and form factors are more standardized, most of the
development work for wearables is on the software applica-
tions. The wearable market is much more diversified than most
people realize, since it is driven by many different market seg-
ments, as illustrated by the chart by Beecham Research, Ltd.,
and Wearable Technologies AG (Figure 1). Many wearables
for consumers and enterprises will have optimized hardware
features and form factors to address the specific needs of the
applications. This article will highlight a few key areas for
developers of wearables to consider in delivering new user
experiences and benefits in conjunction with the cloud and the
Internet of Things (IoT).
While most wearables are connected to the cloud via smart-
phones, they can still be considered a subset of the IoT. The
FIGURE 3. Misfit's Bluetooth fitness tracker is designed to be a
IoT encompasses market segments including connected cars, fashionable accessory. (Photo courtesy of Alyssa Anderson, Misfit.)
smart appliances, and many others. The IoT is still in its early
infancy, without any universal standard definition; thus, any
“thing” that can be connected to the Internet beyond the tradi-
tional IT devices is deemed to be part of the IoT.

What's Next for Wearables?

For developers of wearables, a few key areas to pay attention
to are connectivity, the cloud, security, design, and design for
manufacturing.

Connectivity
Connectivity to the Internet or the cloud for most wearables is
through the smartphone. The communications among the IoT
devices at home are mostly based on Wi-Fi and ZigBee. There-
fore, it is a two- or three-step process for a wearable to com-
municate with these IoT devices. A recent announcement from
CSR on its mesh technology for better Bluetooth Smart con- FIGURE 4. Some consumers may be more likely to use a wearable
nection with IoT applications opens up new opportunities for if it is aesthetically pleasing like the June UV monitor bracelet by
wearables and IoT devices [3]. Netatmo. (Photo courtesy of Fred Potter, Netatmo.)

july 2014 ^ IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine 55

 Design for manufacturing
Design for manufacturing is often overlooked by smaller
A recent announcement from companies, as many use outsource manufacturers to carry out
CSR on its mesh technology for their production. It is advisable to include someone with
better Bluetooth Smart connection manufacturing experience early in the design phase to ensure
that the final wearable design is optimized for volume pro-
with IoT applications opens up duction, quality, and reliability.
new opportunities for wearables For wearables to achieve fast and widespread adoption,
we need an environment that supports open innovation and
and IoT devices. seamless connectivity. Developers will need to focus on the
right balance of technology, aesthetics, user experience, and
a sustainable business model. With newly available resourc-
The cloud es such as crowdfunding, 3-D printing, open data, and the
The cloud is becoming as ubiquitous as a basic utility like cloud, the barrier to creating new wearable devices is much
electricity, as data can be accessed anywhere in the world lower, allowing more developers to take part in this new
with an Internet connection. The data collected by today’s ecosystem. If any of the market growth predictions is only
wearables exist largely in siloed systems or in disparate 50% accurate, wearables will still be a huge market for
clouds. This makes the work of analyzing the data for poten- many new innovations.
tial business intelligence limited and difficult. While the end
users still benefit from the results of the data collected, the ABOUT THE AUTHOR
greater impact will be felt when these data are anonymously Joseph Wei (joseph.wei@ieee.org) consults on wearable
(privacy protected) combined with other data for intelligent technologies, product designs, investment, and partnerships.
contextual processing, for which the cloud is a great tool. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and serves as the chair of
World Bank Open Data provides open access to data about the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society, Santa Clara Valley,
development in countries around the globe [11]. Data.gov and the vice chair of the Santa Clara Valley Section. He is
­(Figure 2) is a valuable resource from the United States that also the coorganizer of the Silicon Valley Wearable, IoT, and
provides access to a catalog of federal government data [5]. Connected Car Meetup.
Developers can search and choose the appropriate set of data to
be combined with their own data to deliver more useful and REFERENCES
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beechamresearch.com
[2] BI Intelligence. (2013). [Online]. Available: www.businessinsider.
Security com/research
Security is a constant concern for connected devices. Wireless
[3] CSR. (2014, Feb.). Game-changing Bluetooth Smart solution enables
devices provide the flexibility of connecting everywhere. How- whole home control from the smartphone for the first time: CSR Mesh
ever, they are also more susceptible to security breaches. Blue- allows Bluetooth Smart to come of age for Internet of Things applica-
tooth currently supports Advanced Encryption Standard-128 tions. [Online]. Available: www.csr.com/news/pr/2014/csr-mesh
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56 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine ^ july 2014