穿在身上的技术革命

    让海量数据更有意义。穿戴式产品通常包含不同的传感器，让用户能自动探测包括海拔、速度、脉搏、所在地等各种信息。“量化自身”运动就是穿戴式商业的生活实验室，让人们以更加精密的方式了解自己的身体和行为。数据可以通过智能手机或计算机，从用户的穿戴式设备传送到云数据库。这样，用户就能实时查看、分享和分析这些数据。

    穿戴式设备捕捉的数据通常储存在云数据库中，因此该领域设计的其实是智能系统，而不仅仅是小物件。

    然而，原始数据对普通人而言用途不大。人们初次看到一整天的能量消耗，或者夜晚的睡眠类型的图表时，可能会觉得有趣。但是如果图表和一系列数字就是全部，人们可能就会开始产生所谓的“图表疲劳”（在Fjord公司，我们这么叫的）。几次之后，新鲜感就会消失殆尽。但是这些设备收集的数据被用于带来实质性的利益时，就变成了无价之宝——比如省去麻烦、节约金钱、或是成功地帮助治疗和预防慢性疾病。下面是几个例子。

    • 当你出门骑车或是忙着照看小孩时，可以扫一眼智能手表，看看给你打电话或发邮件的是谁，再决定要不要从钱包或口袋里掏出手机，以此达到过滤通讯的效果。

    • 不难想象，智能眼镜可以在云数据库中匹配你看到的商品，为你省钱，分享其他人的购物经验，从而让你得到最佳的交易机会。

    • 在一篇神奇的博文里，近期确诊为2型糖尿病患者的丹•洪详细描述了带传感器的可穿戴设备让他了解到饮食和运动对自己健康的影响和将来的危害。他以一句简单的话结尾：“数据拯救了我的生命。”这是不是核心利益？

    构建个人生态系统。可穿戴科技并不是一项独立的业务，它还可以简化和强化我们做的其他事情。在英国，巴克莱信用卡（Barclaycard）为参加节日活动的人准备了定制的无线射频识别腕带。这样，人们无需携带现金或钱包就能在节日活动上购物、观看演出。迪斯尼（Disney）最近推出MagicBand腕带扩展了这一概念。迪斯尼世界的参观者使用可以它做很多事情，比如付费搭乘交通工具，再比如在迪斯尼度假村打开房门。

    智能手机已经成为了互联世界的枢纽。但是不断增大的屏幕意味着手机越来越大，充电越来越频繁。这种趋势给了体积更小，能耗更低的设备一个好机会。而可穿戴设备将会成为人们便利的好帮手，同时也补充了智能手机的功能。当你骑车，或者开车时，智能眼镜或耳机的语音引导是不是显然比智能手机更实用？一目了然的智能手表难道不适合接收当地商店的购物信息？运动时，你不希望你的科技产品经久耐用，防水并且提供光照吗？去夜店或者海滩，腕带难道不比砖头似的智能手机更安全、更方便吗？

    Making sense of the data deluge. Wearables typically contain a range of different sensors, allowing users to automatically detect anything from altitude and speed to their pulse or location. The "quantified self" movement is the living lab of the wearables business, allowing people to understand their own bodies and behavior in ever more sophisticated ways. As the data is transmitted from your wearable device via your smartphone (or computer) to the cloud, you can see, share and analyze the data in real-time.

    Data captured by wearables will normally live in the cloud, and the wearable business is therefore about the design of smart systems, not merely small objects.

    Raw data is not of much use to normal people, however. The first time you see a graph of your energy use during a day, or your sleep patterns during the night, it might be interesting. But if a graph and a set of numbers is all you're presented with, chances are that you'll start developing what we at Fjord call "chart fatigue." After a few times, the novelty factor has worn off. But personal wearable-collected data can be extremely powerful when it helps bring tangible benefits – such as reducing hassle, saving money, or successfully helping fight or manage chronic disease. Here are a few examples.

    • When out biking or when busy with a small child, you can filter communication by simply glancing at a smart watch to see the identity of the person calling or sending a message before you decide to pull out your smartphone from your purse or pocket.

    • It's easy to imagine how smart glasses could save you money and transform any in-store experience by matching the objects you're looking at with a cloud database to make sure you get the best possible deal.

    • In a now legendary blog post, recently diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic Dan Hon detailed how his use of a range of sensor-laden wearable devices allowed him to understand how diet and exercise impacted his wellbeing and future prospects. He ends his post simply stating that "data saved my life." How is that for core benefit?

    Enabling personal ecosystems. Instead of being its own business line only, wearable technology can also simplify or amplify other things we do. In the U.K. Barclaycard equipped festivalgoers with custom RFID wristbands, which allowed them to buy things and gain access to gigs at the festival without having to carry money or a wallet. Disney (DIS) recently extended this concept with their MagicBand wristband that allows Disney World visitors to use it for a range of actions from paying for rides to opening their rooms at the Disney resort.

    The smartphone is now the hub of our connected universe. But constantly growing screen sizes mean bigger phones and more frequent phone charging. This smartphone trend offers a good opportunity for smaller and less energy-hungry devices, and wearables will become handy companions and additions to smartphones. When biking or driving a car, surely smart glasses or voice guidance through earpieces would be more practical than the smartphone? Is the glanceable smart watch not a natural place to receive contextual offers by local shops? When you exercise, would you not want your primary technology to be durable, waterproof and light? In the nightclub or at the beach, is a wristband not more secure and convenient than that big brick of a smartphone?