The enterprise applications for wearable technology have only scratched the surface in terms of applicability and use cases. Wearable technologies have touched almost every enterprise vertical market, including automotive, manufacturing, healthcare and medical, logistics, field services, retail, construction, and many more. Although the enterprise wearables market is smaller than the consumer market, the variety, breadth, and scope of how wearable technology can bring speed, efficiency, lower costs, and improve workflows for businesses suggests that a tremendous growth opportunity exists. The companies that are using wearable technology range from large hospitals to small clinics and from top-tier Fortune 500 companies to small- and medium-sized businesses that are trying to experiment with a brand new computing platform in wearables and find their own efficiencies.
As wearable devices continue to evolve and improve – an inevitable occurrence as Apple made evident with the unveiling of native app capabilities on the second version of the Apple Watch – the number of unique use cases will increase.
First movers already made great advances in applying wearable technology to accomplish business goals, enhance connectivity, and provide quality information and data. Specifically, the 15 companies interviewed demonstrate how wearables fit into and enrich five sectors: health and fitness, lifestyle, productivity and organization, food, and enterprise. Their projects hint at the rich future of wearables.
As the platforms progress and developers and businesses acquire morelessons learned from experimenting with wearables, the potential for more and better use cases is immeasurable.