koru wearable trends 2017
TRANSCRIPT
KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
2017THE INDUSTRY
REGROUPSAROUND ITS ROOTS:
SPORTS
GARMIN FENIX 3
@clindholm korulab.com
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSTREND SUMMARY
SPORTS & FITNESS ARE THE FINANCIAL ENGINES
PLATFORM PARADOX: DRIVING OUT SEGMENTATION?
DIGITAL COMPLICATIONS:AT HOME IN CLASSIC BODIES
HEARABLES: AUDIO & AI MEET FOR AN INNOVATION FEST
WEARABLES ON STYLE STREET
WEARABLES DISAPPEAR INTO THE FABRIC OF FASHION
THE LONG JOURNEY TO WEARABLE HEALTH ELDORADO
KIDS’ WEARABLES BECOME A HABIT
WEARABLE APPS - WHO CAN FILL THE BLANKS WITH USER VALUE?
WONDERFUL WATCHFACES: RE-INVENTING THE CLOCK
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSFIVE YEARS AFTER THE FIRST WEARABLES HYPE, WE ENTER AN ERA OF CONSOLIDATION
We are seeing a unified focus on sport, fashion and fun. At the same time, early pioneers like Pebble, Jawbone and smaller players are exiting the market or struggling.
Fitbit is strong, with a cloud- unified product line accross fitness and sports. Meanwhile, Apple needs to show eco-system love, or Samsung and LG will grasp the opportunity to lead the industry in new device directions.
Garmin has quietly built a wide product range, while Google has ‘gone back to the drawing board’ Google’s strength, as ever, could be having the courage to start over.
Displays are still the main technical hurdle, consuming too much power to be on all the time.
Numerous niches are set to be uncovered through emerging new app platforms, such as Suunto MoveSense and Garmin Watchmaker. Full SW stack and HW controls will enable transformative innovation.
Hearables will become one of the innovation hotbeds for artificial intelligence, sensors, form factors and style.
SPORTS & FITNESSare the financial engines
Sports is where wearables first emerged in 1982 - and it is still the locomotive that powers wearables in 2017
Apple and Nikecollaborate: but can users ‘just do it’ or are they locked in two data and experience silos?
Garmincould win big if it can
communicate benefits and distribute its huge
product range.
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSMORE STYLE & ‘SMARTS’ EMERGE IN SPORTS WEARABLES
It was surprising that Apple moved into sports, rather leading with new and unknown. The player with the biggest war chest should charter new territory.
We expect Under Armour to launch their own wearables, hopefully with courage to show the way.
Garmin added style and leapt into new price band of €1,500 in an attempt to make sports wearables aspirational, matching the price of Tag Heuer Connect.
We expect several players to exceed the €2,000 price point by the end of 2017. This will deliver exotic materials like titanium, ceramics, carbon and gems into wearables, enabling further segmentation.
We’ll also see growing algorithmic support for specific sports. Heart rate monitoring will open up more sophistication as well as a route to mindfulness, stress management and medical uses. By the end of the year we will see mindfulness expanding sports products.
Virtual wearable fitness coaches will improve rapidly during 2017 and turn into freemium services.
Despite all this, full independence from the mobile phone remains a holy grail for sports enthusiasts. The challenge is how to keep it simple.
INDEPENDENCE FROM THE PHONE IS WHERE SAMSUNG SHOULD EXPECT COMPETITION FROM RIVAL LG
CAN GARMIN MANAGE DISTRIBUTIONWITH SUCH A WIDE PRODUCT RANGE?
SOUNDBITES2017APPLE LOVES NIKE. BUT DOES THE APPLE EXPERIENCE
‘JUST DO IT’ FOR NIKE FANS?
ALSO THIS YEAR:
AMER GROUP DRIVES SPORT DRIVEN ECO-SYSTEMS USING ITS SUUNTO BRAND
FITBIT IS IN A GOOD PLACE BETWEEN FITNESS AND FASHION
UNDER ARMOUR WILL HIT THE MARKET WITH SMART ARMOUR
IS THE JOURNEY TO HEALTH TOO LONG?JAWBONE MISSED SPORTS AND MIGHT DISAPPEAR IN 2017
MUSIC COULD BECOME THE NEXT KILLER APP WITH A SURGE IN SMART HEARABLES: BRIGHT DAYS FOR SPOTIFY?
Tag Heuer has two clicks of differentiation.What do users want in a brand experience?
Nixon likes Google’s differentiated
standard: unique experiences on top of
the common apps
Going back to the drawing board is a bold, brave decision
by Google.
PLATFORM PARADOXdrives out segmentation
Going back to the drawing board is a bold, brave decision
by Google.
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSGOOGLE WILL RETHINK WEAR
Shrinking the phone experience and the app model did not deliver for Android Wear.
The wearable context is a tough nut: ergonomics, multi-modal challenges, size, and power consumption require new types of user experience thinking. On top of this, fashion and design are even more important than anticipated.
Integrating the contextual smarts of Google Now with relevant glanceable content is completely new territory in interaction design: blending this with gestures will yield something special.
Smaller manufacturers like Nixon appreciate lower barriers to entry, and creating specific apps for their community enables them to play in the wearable field.
But is it enough to entice consumers?
Moto decided it could not differentiate without service, and postponed its Android Wear devices.
CLOCK FACES, APPS AND WIDGETS MERGE INTO CONTEXTUAL, SOCIAL AND NEW GLANCEABLE EXPERIENCES
ANDROID SHOULD ENABLESMALL FORM FACTORS
ASIAN MANUFACTURERS FLOOD THE MARKET WITH ANDROID DEVICES
ALSO THIS YEAR:
CONVERSATIONAL INTERFACESCOULD BECOME A CENTRAL THEME FOR THE RE-INVENTED ANDROID WEAR
CONTEXTUAL TASKSCOULD REDEFINE THE IDEA OF APPS
WHO WILL KICK START SERVICES?NO BUSINESS MODELS IN SIGHT
BOLD DESIGNERS WILL START ELIMINATING BUTTONS IN INTERFACES, TO TURN CONTENT INTO TOUCH ACTIONS
SOUNDBITES2017
DIGITAL COMPLICATIONSin classic bodies
Withings Steel HR was our favourite new product in 2016. We expect it to be a major trendsetter for the Swiss and classic watch industry.
HP is charging forward as a shaper of the digital movement powering brands
WithingsShows the power of
pixel-based complications. We
expect to see others follow their lead
WITHINGS STEEL HR
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSFUSION WATCHES
Small, touch-based digital widgets are taking complications into the 21st century. These will act as a bridge to always-on digital displays with invisible pixels and universally accepted wearable use cases.
With Nokia, Withings has a bright future: Nokia is re-inventing itself and uniting digital health and wellness through a smart 5G and IoT network.
HP is active with dozens of projects to transform classic watches with their connected movements. Their smart watch group is led by Bill Geiser, a pioneer in the field.
But who is going to make the digital Swatch - a smartwatch designed purely around fun and style?
HEARABLES:where audio and AI meet for an innovation fest
Mersiv - creating an interactive language learning tool? Could inspire to make headset experience fusions.
Vinci is showed the way and giants follow
in their offering. Hearables will become
fashion experiences.
AIRPODS BY APPLE
Mersiv interactive language tool.
Virtual assistants will emerge within headsets and by 2018 all innovative brands will be voice assistant enhanced.
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSHEARABLES RUSH TO MEET SAMANTHA
Spike Jones’ sci-fi movie Her featured audio/AI interfaces, or ‘hearables’ - which are highly relevant today. We think hearables will become the next platform bet for Google.
Due to the highly segmented, fashion-dominated market in headphones, they could become the next mass market of smart wearables.
There are interesting interface challenges around assistant behaviour - when to engage, listen or provide advice. And for these assistants to truly work, they need to integrate the utility of hearing aids which can adapt to ambient sound.
Jabra is a big player in hearing aids; if they dare to invest they could lead. Beats, now part of Apple, could finally show the rationale for its acquisition. Screens will bring new angles to fashion headsets.
Having a virtual coach helping you push harder, or your own virtual assistant is here now - and getting us closer to the world of Her.
THE WEARABLE UX STARTS TO SPLIT:COMBINING GLANCEABLES AND HEARABLES MAKES SENSE
AUDIO NECKLACESWILL BECOME FASHION ITEMS
AUDIO COULD GIVE BIRTH TO CLIPPABLE SMART MEDALLIONS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
THE FIRSTNOISE CANCELLING AUDIO MEDALLIONSHIT THE MARKET
BEATS WILL MAKE HEARABLES COOL AND SMART,OTHERS WILL FOLLOW
WEARABLES GET CACHED MUSIC: A MASSIVE GROWTH OPPORTUNITY FOR STREAMING PLATFORM PROVIDERS?
SOUNDBITES2017
Wearables onSTYLE STREET
Fossil Q brings timeless style and the giant design machine of Fossil into the connected digital age
Kalevala KoruEntered the smart
wearable space with a line of focused devices
around security, activity and social location done
in partnership with BiiSafe
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSWEARABLES MOVE TOWARDS FASHION
Fossil will lead the wearable industry towards fashion, with its own platform, services - and hopefully, flair.
Now Fossil’s acquisition of Misfit marks a transition in its strategy, opening up a ‘tracking movement’ that can be integrated into a broad range of products.
Miniaturising this movement is a priority and we expect Fossil to bring out a micro-sized tracking engine during 2017, and also pioneer smart movements with flexible interfaces.
We expect Swarovski to launch a range of smart jewelry ranging from trackers to smartwatches.
Jewelry opens up more focused offerings, and opportunities for activity, security and reminder type-wearables.
The market has seen rings, earrings and clip-on wearables specifically aimed at women. Oura can start to assess flu symptoms and menstrual cycles from the finger providing a whole new level of utility.
We expect style driven wearables to be one of the biggest themes of 2017.
Into the fabric ofFASHION
Fitbit Flex II is the benchmark for motion movements
Amazfit EquatorTakes trackers to new
level of style and a brand we will hear
more about. And puts ‘Designed in China’ in
new light
FITBIT FLEX II
We expect to see further developments in tiny tracker devices, which will pave the way to rich partnerships with fashion brands
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSINVISIBLE WEARABLES
Fitbit leaped ahead with its tiny Flex II tracker: small enough to disappear into objects that do not look and feel like wearables.
These tiny objects represent state-of-the-art in miniaturisation.
The key question is how small is small enough?
Will freezing size be essential to enable increases in functionality to take place?
We expect Misfit to launch a much smaller tracker engine in 2017 and provide both bangles and smart strap integrations, helping classic watch lovers go hybrid. Huami is the design leader in the field.
This market will initially be a market of three: Fitbit, Huami/Amazfit and Misfit. We do not expect Apple to follow as their brand value alone does not enable aspirational value to be captured. Hence we think they will focus on hearables.
The long journey toWEARABLE HEALTH ELDORADO
Philips is well on the way to adding flair, while keeping the medical rigour which will lead them to success
Withings and Nokia support each other
into a healthy future centered on everyday
beauty and utility
PHILIPS HEALTHSUITE
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSPROACTIVE HEALTH:A WEARABLE HOLY GRAIL
Will doctors start prescribing wearables in 2017? Unlikely.
But we think sensor-based and cloud services will move closer to providing predicting tools in diabetes, or cardio.
Philips launched their health-certified product suite with a stylish cardio watch. Fitbit expects to grow into a health company, and Jawbone sees it as its pivot.
But as a pivot, this could be painful: taking up to year to get answers to regulatory questions.
In the wellness market, we are seeing interesting niches: wearables for the elderly, menstruation trackers, breathing and emotion trackers are all now available. In-ear biometrics still remains in research in 2017, but is the holy grail for non-invasive monitoring.
PHILIPS IS IN A GREAT SPOT TO LEARN WITH ONE FOOT IN MEDICAL AND ONE FOOT IN WELLNESS.STYLE, DISTRIBUTION, PRICING AND MESSAGING ARE ALL BIG QUESTIONS YEARNING FOR ANSWERS
DIABETES MANAGEMENT BENEFITS FROM CONTEXTUAL & PREDICTION ALGORITHMS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
HEART RATE-VARIABLE ANDDEEPER CARDIO UNDERSTANDINGWILL HELP MANAGE RISK. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY STARTING TO SEE DAWN
NOKIA’S VISION IS TO UNITE PREDICTIVE AND REACTIVE HEALTH USING WEARABLES, SMART OBJECTS AND A HEALTH PLATFORM
ENIGMA’S LASER BASED SENSOR OFFERS A DEEPER NON INVASIVE UNDERSTANDINGOF GLUCOSE AND LACTATE THRESHOLD LEVELS
EMPATICA IS SHIPPING ITS CERTIFIED EPILEPSY MONITOR
SOUNDBITES2017
MAGIC BAND BY WALT DISNEY WORLD
BBK is the number one kids’ watch in China, with 875k shipped in 2016 Q2 alone
SperoInnovates past the
Star Wars franchise - adding a screen and
experience could liberate the force
KIDS’ WEARABLEScreating habit
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSKIDS’ WEARABLES
Wearables for kids is emerging as one of the hottest categories, where next generation messaging could be invented.
Messaging was the first killer app of mobile after voice and has shown stickiness and transformation over the years. We think messaging is the biggest killer app opportunity in wearables, and kids watches could be the birthplace.
Huawei has partnered with Disney to leverage popular characters in clock faces. The Disney Magic Band could become a platform.
Reima has created a tracker to motivate kids to move more. And parents are looking for tracking piece of mind, as GPS is now actually reliable enough for this use case. Kids are naturally looking for fun, games and social.
Activity, heart rate, breathing and UV light all have dedicated kids tracker products - but it’s debatable whether these are scaring parents or reassuring them.
The experiences are currently primitive or overkill. Vendors are squeezed between experience expectations and cost expectations, but we expect to see developments in 2017.
DISNEY TURNS THE MAGIC BAND INTO AN INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE
WEARABLE GAMING COULD EMERGE IN KIDS WEARABLES - WHAT IS POKEMON GO FOR WEARABLES?
LEGO COULD MAKE WATCHES FUN FOR KIDS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
THE CHINESE WILL EXPERIMENT UNTIL THEYDISCOVER A WEARABLE TAMAGOTCHI
WE EXPECT SPERO TO ADD A SCREEN TO ITS STAR WARS FORCE BANDFOR A RICHER EXPERIENCE
SOUNDBITES2017
WEARABLE APPS - WHO IS GOING TO FILL THE BLANKS WITH USER VALUE?
APPLE WATCH LAUNCHER
FINDING KILLER APPS requires more nurturing from Apple
Viber launched an app for Apple Watch, and messaging is ripe for innovation with a surge in emojis, asynchronous voice, the addition of alpha input context sensitivity and gestures
Apple’s dilemma: AI and voice is a killer
app, so should it leverage the control
point, or invite Google, Alexa and Watson for an innovation party?
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSWEARABLE APPS ARE SETTO BE DISCOVERED
We expect 2017 to bring us killer app contenders in messaging, identity and glanceable utility widgets (which we prefer to call ‘faces’).
The most popular wearable apps are variants of popular phone apps, scaled down, or simple utilities such as lights, reminders. Apple may want to provide leadership to unlock this market, helping support developers or even investing in them.
Unique wearable services need discovery, iteration and nurturing to become viable businesses.
Watch face complications, and the boundary of apps, widgets and clock faces will become blurred.
Glanceability, swipe, and tap interaction where no more than a few seconds of user interaction is needed will dominate, and turn into ‘faces,’ a new wearable killer app.
These gestures will be combined with context, habit and AI, to focus the most relevant information into the wearable.
Security is an obvious place for innovation leveraging different types of bio data.
Messaging and music are likely leaders. Spotify will make wearable moves in 2017.
Faces will become functional, connected and essential in daily life. (Design George Kvasnikov)
PujieFaces will become a
public window into the souls of the users. Shaped by digital
artists: the small canvas magnifies
creativity
RE-INVENTINGTHE CLOCKone face at a time
2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDSWONDERFUL WATCH FACES
Watch faces, or simply ‘faces,’ will be an innovation canvas for wearables.
Digital complications with rich interaction, transformations and connected service functionality will transform how we think about the object we call a watch.
We expect Apple to merge their widgets and watch faces into a single unified experience in 2017.
Major manufacturers are set to offer app platforms around faces. Once the watch face has been transformed to users’ tastes, the static analogue watchface will seem archaic.
Garmin launched a watch builder for their range, Samsung offers rich tools, and there are numerous platforms for Android Wear: we particularly like Pujie and Watchmaker for watch building.
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