How LocationData is Fueling the Wearable Revolution

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Two critical factors to the growth of the wearables industry

Introduction

How to optimize wearables for function, form and battery life

Why device level location is vital for a fluid user experience

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION

The wearable market is already worth $3 to $5 billion today, according to a report by Credit Suisse. In the next two to three years it is expected to be a $30 to $50 billion market.

After years of iterating on prototypes, and everyone from garage-based hardware hackers to consumer electronics juggernauts entering the space, we’ve finally reached The Year of The Wearable. While their new technology breaks into the mainstream, these pioneers face an industry full of challenges.

Every week, a new smartwatch receives funding on Kickstarter, a new connected fitness band emerges from a Fortune 100 tech manufacturer and an Ivy League dropout in a garage in Southern California takes aim at Google Glass. The wearable market is already worth $3 to $5 billion today, according to a report by Credit Suisse.* In the next two to three years it is expected to be a $30 to $50 billion market. With so much competition in the market, the most daunting challenge wearable manufacturers will face is differentiating their devices. The winners in the market will make products that users can’t live

without, like today’s smartphones. Better user experiences start with the basics like increasing battery life, adding location data and reduced form factor. Complete user experiences go a step further, adding rich layers of contextual information to fit more precisely into users’ lifestyles. The Year of Wearables may as well be called the Year of Natural Selection.

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*Credit Suisse “The Future of Wearable Technology” Report

Two critical factors to the growth of the wearables industry

Chapter

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CHAPTER 1 TWO CRITICAL FACTORS TO THE GROWTH OF THE WEARABLES INDUSTRY

The smartwatch market is expected to grow from 15 million devices to 373 million devices

by 2020**, NextMarket Insights predicts. The competition is growing and so is the need to

differentiate your device. The first thing to consider is user experience that satisfies a use

case for an indispensable device that users will want to wear everyday. Simple, right?

The second focus is creating a clean, solid API that allows third party developers to not

only leverage the functionality of the device, but dream up the next generation of use cases

that make the device even more vital. There’s a race to gaining market share because most

developers first and foremost care that their software gets used.

Many wearable device manufacturers create products that extend the mobile experience

rather than replace it. Most smartwatches and smart glasses fall in this category, establishing

persistent Bluetooth connections to become a second screen for users’ smartphones. In

order to make the device indispensable, wearable manufacturers have the ultimate vision

to build smartwatches and smart glasses that are replacement, not a mere accessory for

smart phones. These devices will deliver everything a smartphone can, directly to their users’

glasses or wrists, eliminating the disruptive behavior of pulling a device out of their pockets.

When differentiating your device, focus on a user experience that will make it indispensable; Create a solid API that allows third party developers to leverage device functionality and make your wearable more vital.

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**NextMarket Insights “Smartwatch Forecast 2013-2020” Report

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One of the most forward-looking leave-your-phone-behind devices is the Neptune Pine

smartwatch. It packs a lot of connectivity beyond Bluetooth into its 66.0 x 53.5 x 14.2 mm

body: Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular networks. It’s equipped with everything a standard Android

device needs, so it’s compatible with many Android apps that rely on native location

features. True differentiation in the market helped the Neptune Pine reach 8x its Kickstarter

crowdfunding goal.

Likewise, if you’re a smart glasses company that equips its device with a camera, you’ll likely

want Instagram to build on your platform. Your target users are Early Adopter Instagram

addicts, and your success hinges on appealing to their photo sharing habits.

3rd party apps play a crucial role in the industry, as they provide the device with an added value which sometimes becomes the decision maker for the user when purchasing the product. The more features the wearable provides to the users, the more valuable the device is.

Alex CaboGeneral ManagerNestwork

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If you don’t offer a standard native set of features at the device level, including location,

Instagram will not be able to geotag photographs on your platform. Lacking native location

prevents Instagram from building a consistent experience for their users, and they will likely

dedicate their resources elsewhere.

Developers will flock to wearable device platforms that allow their users to have a consistent

experience with the apps they already use in their everyday lives.

It is critical that smartwatches and smart glasses empower 3rd party app developers with

platforms that have the same capabilities as smartphones--including native location.

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Why device level location is vital for a fluid user experience

Chapter

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CHAPTER 2WHY DEVICE LEVEL LOCATION IS VITAL FOR A FLUID USER EXPERIENCE

When you know where you were when something happened, you can usually infer or remember a tremendous amount of related things about that experience, which makes the data secondary, and the experience primary.

Shane Luke CPORecon

The ease and flexibility of adding

device sensors like accelerometers,

gyroscopes, and compasses to

wearables has driven an explosion

of fitness wearables and apps.

The wearable technology market

is packed with competition.

By 2017, the global market for health

and fitness wearables alone will reach

170 million devices, according to ABI

research.***

Unlike smartwatches and smartglasses

which typically establish persistent

Bluetooth connections with mobile

devices, fitness devices usually collect

data and periodically sync with a

smartphone. Users view their activity

levels once their device connects to

their mobile app, which pairs that

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***Forbes “The Next Big Thing In Enterprise IT BYO Wearable Tech”

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activity with primitive location data from the mobile device. However, location data at the

device level provides an extremely valuable context layer that elevates the user experience

of fitness devices.

The real opportunity for the next generation of fitness bands and smart clothing lies in

coloring in the user experience with the contextual story around fitness activity. Mark

Gorelick, Director of Product Science & Innovation at MIO Global says, “Location-based data

has a real opportunity to enhance healthy lifestyle wearables by categorizing daily activity

into a relevant contextual story.”

Location-based data has a real opportunity to enhance healthy lifestyle wearables by categorizing daily activity into a relevant contextual story.

Mark GorelickDirector of Product Science & Innovation MIO Global

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A truly intelligent device will know the difference between taking 6,000 steps on a treadmill

and running 3 miles in a park, on a beach, or in a hilly neighborhood. “I believe that this type

of journaling of daily life promotes engagement as well as providing richer notifications,

social interconnectedness, motivational encouragement

and lifestyle awareness,” says Gorelick.

Social networks like Nike+ and the FitBit community

bring unprecedented social competition to fitness with

leaderboards and weekly challenges. But social workout

features shouldn’t be quarantined to the digital world.

They can exist in the real world too: recommended

workout spots from the local community, social gym

buddy programs and running route time competitions.

None of that is possible without device-level location: fitness bands and clothing that know

where they are when an activity is recorded, without relying on a mobile phone passing lat/

long coordinates over Bluetooth.

Recon CPO Shane Luke says, “When you know where you were when something happened,

you can usually infer or remember a tremendous amount of related things about that

experience, which makes the data secondary, and the experience primary.”

The market is flooded with wearable fitness bands, smart clothing and the accompanying

mobile apps. Only the strongest device manufacturers will survive--the ones that best fit

into their users’ lifestyles. Doing so requires a knowledge of user context, and device-level

location is the key to unlocking it.

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How to optimize wearables for function, form and battery life

Chapter

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CHAPTER 3HOW TO OPTIMIZE WEARABLES FOR FUNCTION, FORM AND BATTERY LIFE

Of all the methods available for wirelessly transferring

data from one device to another, companies in the

wearable industry have chosen Bluetooth as their

frequency of choice. Bluetooth chips are inexpensive,

and establishing a connection over Bluetooth

consumes less battery power than the alternatives.

Unfortunately, devices can only access location data

over Bluetooth when paired with another device that

has GPS, Wi-Fi, or a cellular connection. The good news

is that while wearable developers hold onto battery life

with white knuckles, they don’t have to sacrifice it for

location features.

It’s true that establishing a Wi-Fi connection consumes more device battery life than

establishing a Bluetooth connection. How much more depends on innumerable factors like

the size of data transfer and applications running simultaneously. However, by adding Wi-Fi

chips, wearables, like all mobile phones can retrieve location by scanning for nearby Wi-Fi

networks without ever connecting to one. When using Wi-Fi in this way for location, it is

using significantly less power than when using it for data transmission.

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Many Bluetooth chips on the market

today, including the Broadcom

BCM43142, have combined Bluetooth and

Wi-Fi capabilities. By using these existing

Wi-Fi chips, or by adding an additional

low-cost part, wearables, like all mobile

phones can retrieve location by scanning

for nearby Wi-Fi networks without ever

connecting to one. Wearables powered

by these chips simply need to switch on

their already built in Wi-Fi scanners to

get location. Compared to using Wi-Fi

for data transmission, using it only to do

an occasional scan every few minutes

contributes a negligible amount to your

device’s battery consumption.

Using Wi-Fi scans to surmise location data

is a method frequently used by mobile

phones, and one that wearables should

take advantage of too. If your device has

a Bluetooth-only chip, you need to add

another chip to use our system, or switch

to a combo chip. A combo chip is the best

option for size, cost, and power and is less

disruptive to the device design in terms of

footprint and board space.

To put this into context, a user with a

location-enabled fitness band wants to

chart her run. When the band is charging

overnight, it downloads information

about the location of Wi-Fi beacons in a 3

mile radius.

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The next day, the user puts on her band and leaves her apartment for a run while keeping

her phone at home.

As she runs, her fitness band scans for Wi-Fi networks, matching them with the coordinates

pre-loaded into its memory the night before. The user runs 5 miles away from her

apartment, beyond the range of pre-loaded Wi-Fi networks. The device then begins to

collect data about the Wi-Fi networks it passes. When the user returns home, she pairs her

band with her phone over a Bluetooth connection. Her accompanying mobile app displays

her run on a map by combining the pre-loaded location data from Wi-Fi hotspots she passed

along the way and positioning the out-of-range beacons using Skyhook Optimized Location.

The result is a full-color picture of the user’s run: where she went, hills she ran over, scenic

views she passed, popular stopping points used by others in her social network. And her

device paints that picture without draining much additional battery power.

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YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:

Location and Context for Wearables Datasheet

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE WEARABLES INDUSTRY?

Many manufacturers rushed to market early with minimum viable products, valuing speed to market over long term vision. In 2014, we’ll see the wearables expand their capabilities and begin to compete on user experience. Better user experience means integrating into users lives and developing ways for them to interact with the 3rd party apps they already know and love. Soon consumers will expect much of the same functionality from their wearable device as they do from their smartphones, and location will play a crucial role in delivering it.

Skyhook is the worldwide leader in location positioning, context and intelligence.

In 2003, Skyhook pioneered the development of the Wi-Fi Positioning System to provide

precise and reliable location results in urban areas. Today, Skyhook’s Precision Location

provides positioning to tens of millions of consumer mobile devices and applications.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: WWW.SKYHOOKWIRELESS.COM