The Future of Wearable Fitness
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The Future of Wearable Fitness Anne Chen Winter 2014 Analyzing Trends – Final Project
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Transcript of The Future of Wearable Fitness
The Future of Wearable Fitness Anne Chen
Winter 2014 Analyzing Trends – Final Project
The World of Wearables
First came fitness… Then life-logging… Augmented reality… Everything else.
SAFETY / STEALTH HOME / ARCHITECTURE
FASHION ENTERTAINMENT
TRANSPORTATION HEALTHCARE
THE ASSORTMENT
THE APPLICATIONS THE REAL ESTATE
SUPPORT
RECORD
NUDGE
MONITOR COMMUNICATE
WAYFIND CONTROL
AUGMENT
ALIGN
MIRROR
ATTUNED
Why Fitness? Who Owns Fitness Bands?
Nielsen. Connected Life Report.
Hypothesis
Why hasn’t this happened yet?
For a fitness wearable to go mainstream, it needs to think less like the techies developing them and more like the mass consumer.
Innovation ≠ FLASHY + ADVANCED. Innovation = DESIGNED FOR MY NEEDS.
The novelty eventually wears off…
The Trend Forces
THE UNREADY USER HARDWARE’S HARD DATA DILEMMA
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Price. - Who owns the data? - When something’s on your body, it’s more intimate.
THE UNREADY USER
Problem: Early users ≠ Mass adopters.
“If you’re not a techie or an early adopter, people are very discerning about what they’re willing to wear every day.“
-Tracey Samuelson, Marketplace
How Innovations Diffuse
Geoffrey A. Moore. Crossing the Chasm.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The future is one in which wearable devices are invisible, innate and an extension of ourselves. “If you’re not a techie or an early adopter, people are very discerning about what they’re willing to wear every day.“ "Smart watches fall into the traditional target market for new technologies, that of gadget-loving men. Manufacturers have to urgently address how to expand their appeal beyond this usual 'geek niche' to ensure they don't end up just being a flash in the pan.” –Ben Wood, Chief of Research for CCS Insight
The Fitness Tribes
STYLISH YOGI SNACKER / FALSE STARTER EXTREMIST / DEVOTEE
Problem: Unique and similar needs.
“We're starting to see fashion companies turn into tech companies and vice versa, but there are still gaps in the language the two fields use and the life cycles of the products they make. […] But for now, there are myriad round-ish, single-purpose, wearable-device startups that continue to test the waters.”
-Becky Stern
No workout’s too challenging. Demands high-performance apparel and intense training.
Requires instruction and positive reinforcement. Looks for simple,
instantly-gratifying activities.
Has a regular routine. Loves wear anywhere clothes with a fashion
slant.
83% of the $27B yoga industry are women.
Huffington Post
Swimming, athletics and cycling are the top
three ‘sports’ that women take part in on
a weekly basis. Women’s Sports & Fitness Foundation
In 2007, health club membership in the US
stood at 41.5 M, up 139% from 1987.
Women’s Sports Foundation
Presenter
Presentation Notes
“While men and women wear fitness bands in nearly equal numbers, women were more likely to use mHealth devices (mobile health devices used to monitor specialized health needs) than men.” –Nielsen, 2014
“Though nearly half of Americans said they’d be interested in wearable tech in the future, 72% wish devices were cheaper.”
-Nielson, 2014
Take-Away: Make It Affordable
JAWBONE UP24 - $129.99 FITBIT FLEX - $99.95 NIKE+ FUELBAND - $99
Problem: The Price Issue
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Price. - Who owns the data? - When something’s on your body, it’s more intimate.
HARDWARE’S HARD
The Hardware-Software Debate
Problem: Too many choices.
“The silo mentality of the major players in the tech industry like Samsung or Apple that allows them to build their own ecosystems—each with their own unique devices, platforms, and operating systems, is creating further friction in the industry. And that’s not including all the startups with their own respective platforms.”
-Janice Cuban, Wearable World News
Presenter
Presentation Notes
http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/01/five-questions-for-becky-stern-director-of-wearables-for-adafru/ http://wearableworldnews.com/2014/07/21/three-hurdles-wearables-need-clear-go-mainstream/
“Despite sustained media attention (and fashion spreads), wearable products are yet to gain traction. For an industry that is projected to grow to 45 million shipments by 2017, sales volumes for wearable tech lag significantly behind those for mainstream products. But, the problem isn’t about marketing. It is about design.”
-Rakesh Sharma, Forbes
Problem: Form has yet to meet function.
The Wrong “Whys”
53% of users want devices
that look more like jewelry.
Nielsen
Presenter
Presentation Notes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshsharma/2014/06/12/of-stupid-smartwatches-and-gimmicks-wearable-techs-design-problem/
Take-Away: Make It Seamless
Problem: Not user-friendly.
“[…] companies should also note that in most of our work and play, we want things to be usefully inconspicuous, according to experimental research. […] As we go about our business in the physical world, the distance between mind, body, and things fades away.
-H. James Wilson, Harvard Business Review
“[…] most of the current offerings are classic cases of technology in search of a use case… too reliant on the lazy assumption that advanced or extreme users are bellwethers for the mass market. It doesn’t follow that what sports geeks and self-quantifiers do today, the masses will do tomorrow.”
-Fast Company
Endeavor Partners. Inside Wearables – Part 2.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Smart textiles can be broken into two different categories: Aesthetic and Performance Enhancing. Aesthetic examples include everything from fabrics that light up to fabrics that can change color. Some of these fabrics gather energy from the environment by harnessing vibrations, sound or heat, reacting to this input. Then there are performance enhancing smart textiles, which will have a huge impact on the athletic, extreme sports and military industries. There are fabrics that help regulate body temperature, reduce wind resistance and control muscle vibration – all of which help improve athletic performance. Other fabrics have been developed for protective clothing to guard against extreme environmental hazards like radiation and the effects of space travel. The health and beauty industry is also taking advantage of these innovations, which range from drug-releasing medical textiles, to fabric with moisturizer, perfume, and anti-aging properties. Just think of all the possibilities! Is it even user-friendly? Make the Internet of Things More Human-Friendly In early research, McKinsey emphasized that the distinctive character of the Internet of Things — which is predicted to be a $7.1 trillion market by 2020 – lay in its ability to operate with little or no “human intervention.” The initial vision involved embedding sensors and actuators in physical objects like UPS packages and factory machinery to sense the environment, transmit “huge volumes of data,” and facilitate new kinds of automation. But I’d argue that notion is shifting, and that people will be a more deeply intrinsic part of the IoT. And as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands to include people, companies that create value will need to understand user experience, psychological, and even some philosophical concepts much more deeply than they do now. They must learn how people really interact with things and why those things matter. To make the IoT more human-friendly, the “things” involved need to do three things: Things need to talk to other Things we use. Today, companies usually envision singular product offerings for the Internet of Things, resulting in store shelves with things that do not connect very well to other things once the consumer gets them home. Consider Google’s Nest or Schlage’s digital locks or smartphone-controlled home lighting systems. Each product functions perfectly well on its own, but doesn’t connect to other things in ways we might expect. Though people naturally rearrange things in their heads to complete everyday tasks, IoT products lack that flexibility. “You can control each of them from your smartphone…but the Nest won’t act to adjust the climate in response to the locks being keyed open, for example, nor to lights being turned on,” according to one user. When things work together as we assume they should, our brains “cope smoothly,” displaying “interaction-dominant dynamics” (IDS), to use the terms from cognitive science. By comparison, the standalone product design characteristic of many of early IoT consumer offerings leads to “component-dominant dynamics,” where a user’s ability to solve everyday problems by imaginatively connecting a number of elements is prevented by design. Things don’t need to be so conspicuous. From smart refrigerator manufacturers to start-ups, high-design has become a predominant area of focus for the Internet of Things. Prototypes at one entrepreneurial firm include “a stylish leather clutch that can light up with a soft pulsing grid of glowing LEDs to let a wearer know she’s got a text message.” Similarly, Google just enlisted Diane von Furstenberg to design fashionable Glass frames, while the Cupertino-designed Apple Watch will eventually be angling to compete with stylish wrist-worn fashions from Geneva. Yet companies should also note that in most of our work and play, we want things to be usefully inconspicuous, according to experimental research. Working in the kitchen, I interact with the refrigerator, knife, can opener, frying pan and stove in such a way that I “see through” each individual thing to the task of making dinner. If the can opener becomes the object of my attention and scrutiny, it’s because it’s malfunctioning and thus disruptive of my smoothly coping IDS. Despite all the interest in eye-catching designs, cognitive science suggests most opportunities for the Internet of Things will arise by creating useful offerings that intentionally avoid sapping users’ attention away from what they’re trying to accomplish. Things need to go beyond remote control. Today, IoT product designs generally emphasize process automation and ability to access a device from anywhere in the world. This “remote control” logic misses the fact that our most fundamental orientation toward things is one of physical connection and interaction rather than removal and distance. As we go about our business in the physical world, the distance between mind, body, and things fades away. When I grab a hammer to install shelving, the distinction between “hand” and “tool” recedes into the unconscious, while completing the job becomes the main object of my thinking; in function and thought, the tool is the extended hand when it works properly. Even our words suggest this: the tool is “handy,” the completed bookshelves are “handiwork.” As cognitivescientists put it things like hammers became a part of the body’s “extended periphery” and are “functionally a component of the [subjects’] smoothly coping IDS.” So, what might a “handy” IoT offering look like? An offering from New England Biolabs offers one example. The company’s biologist customers work by handling a variety of things, including petri dishes, microscopes, indicators, forceps, probes, slides, beakers, test tubes, and — importantly for the sake of this example — freezers stocked with enzyme samples. Yet, in carefully studying the behaviors of its biologist clients as they interact with lab equipment, New England Biolabs recognized that running out of the right enzymes at the right time would often slow down experimental work and drastically reduce scientific productivity. Lacking the expected products, the freezer and its contents would suddenly become unhandy to scientists. To solve the problem, New England Biolabs developed an IoT enzyme freezer to replace its conventional one. The IoT enzyme freezer tracks inventory levels of multitudes of enzyme SKUs, predicts demand based on patterns in biologist behavior, and ensures the right samples are always handy when researchers need them. An IoT innovation that both recognizes the way users really think about things and removes barriers to a smoothly coping IDS, the new freezer makes experimentation more productive. “We get to the Eureka moment faster,” according to one user. So remember: while much of today’s IoT rhetoric focuses on making things smarter, the distinctive value of the freezer derives from the way it makes people smarter. �
DATA DILEMMA
Data’s Personal
Problem: How close is “too” close?
An extreme example: Biostamp’s "seamless sensing sticker“.
“At the center of the wearables business ecosystem are the device manufacturers who make money primarily through the sales of their devices. However, unlike many other consumer electronics categories, the smart wearables business ecosystem extends well beyond the hardware providers. […] The expanse of the ecosystem is primarily driven by the fact most of the smart wearables on the market have an open API (Application Programming Interface).”
-Endeavor Partners. Inside Wearables – Part 2.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Price. - Who owns the data? When something’s on your body, it’s more intimate. http://endeavourpartners.net/assets/Endeavour-Partners-Inside-Wearables-Part-2-July-2014.pdf
Data’s Hoarded, But Not Utilized
“Once users are being measured and quantified, the data must be interactive and easy to understand. The users need to be able to look at their data in ways that are interesting to them, but also know what to do to influence their measurements and scores. […] Insight, not data, is the key. When it comes to productizing these solutions for consumers, it’s important for entrepreneurs to remember to package their offerings not as Analytics, Data or Tools, but instead to sell Insights from the numbers. That’s where I think Quantification can move away from just efficacy and become about taking control of your own life.”
-Richard Yao, IPG Media Lab
Problem: How to harness it?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
http://ipglab.com/2014/11/13/techwreck-what-to-do-with-all-that-wearable-generated-data/ Assuming that each of us has a picture of the “real world superhero” we want to become someday, then the optimal way to level up and reach that goal begins with the ability to measure and score our lives. Thankfully, new technologies in mainstream gadgets like iPhones and the Nike+ enable this kind of measurement, and are fueling the so-called Quantified Self movement, starting with the continuous tracking of various aspects of our physical bodies. Using sensors in our smartphones and other wearable devices, we can chart how many calories we burn, our body fat percentage, how many steps we take in a day, how long we sleep — even how many hours a week we spend commuting or sitting at a desk. Soon we’ll be able to access the same kind of statistics on our digital selves: Social reach and influence; tastes and preferences; achievements; credibility and reputation; habits; expertise. All that information at your fingertips at all times theoretically allows you to carefully chart a path for improvement—and share your winning strategy and stats with others. On a grand scale, that makes for an interconnected world of healthier, happier people making much more informed decisions. Make it Seamless, Make it Mainstream The Quantified Self movement is made possible by ubiquitous, low-cost, and always-on connected sensors. The real key for successful measurement and tracking solutions is to make them seamless, meaning that there’s minimal friction and initial behavior change for the user. Consumers don’t want to wear clunky, ugly, embarrassing, or uncomfortable devices, nor will they tolerate products that require them to change their daily routines to input lots of stats or data themselves. If behaviors and signals can be measured in the background or with minimal disruption to existing habits, then users can be on-boarded easily and are more likely to accept the idea of being tracked continuously for long periods of time. Once users are being measured and quantified, the data must be interactive and easy to understand. The users need to be able to look at their data in ways that are interesting to them, but also know what to do to influence their measurements and scores. Basis cleverly embeds a heartbeat sensor in a watch (a form factor that’s already familiar to people and non-disruptive to wear) and then offers analytic tools that motivate them to make changes based on the data. When I tried out the Basis demo, it overlaid my heart rate with my Outlook calendar and even told me which meetings (and people) were stressing me out the most (!). There were other surprising insights: I learned that when I hit stop and go traffic on Highway 101, my heartrate often spikes into the 90s from silent, internalized road rage. Those are the sorts of self-discovery insights that make the Quantified Self experience so rewarding. Numbers, presented with useful context, provide an immediate path to better control over my own life. Zimride, a service that pairs up car drivers and commuters looking for rides, also uses the Quantified Self to incentivize users. If I frequently commute down to San Jose and I’m known to be on time, I build a reputation score through my riders that makes me valuable and desirable to other potential riders, who pay me for the trip. My punctuality is quantified, I feel good about myself by seeing my score go up, and I’m motivated to keep increasing my status and show it off. I can also see a running tally of how much pollution I have spared the atmosphere by eliminating another vehicle from the road. Insight, Not Data, is the Key When it comes to productizing these solutions for consumers, it’s important for entrepreneurs to remember to package their offerings not as Analytics, Data or Tools, but instead to sell Insights from the numbers. That’s where I think Quantification can move away from just efficacy and become about taking control of your own life. The emotional value of that is what people pay for. Astrologists, fortune tellers and even management consultants remain popular today for a simple reason: Most people would rather be told what the big takeaways are, what they really need to worry about and what exactly to do next. This kind of “so what?” is ultimately more valuable in the eyes of the consumer. (Anecdotally, I’ve seen enterprises pay 10 times more for business insight reports and consultations than for self-service analytics tools). Furthermore, the richer the data set one can draw from, the more interesting the potential insights to be gained, which leads me to my new business mantra: “proprietary data equals power, but insights equals gold.” So while it’s important to build up a data set comprised of useful and complementary signals, it’s the “so what?” that allows you really make money from the numbers. Hungry Games? Despite the growing buzz and proliferation of new gadgets and apps in QS, I have found that much of the initial innovation and entrepreneurial activity has been around tracking physical activity (“calories out”). However, I’m personally on a quest to tame what I think is the most elusive beast of all: “calories in.” Most common medical problems stem from our eating habits, but there really isn’t an easy way to seamlessly and accurately capture the data about the food we ingest each day, short of implanting a sensor into the body to track caloric intake (which violates the low-friction requirement for an effective QS solution). Many food-tracking apps ask users to input or tag each item they eat (too much work for most people), and some even attempt to identify nutritional data from photos (not accurate enough via automation). If we can’t find a seamless, automatic method to accurately quantify what we’re putting into our bodies, then perhaps we can leverage the interactive, social and fun aspects of Gamification to get users to play along and enter the data needed? As an example, each day I play a game of “Foodville” with myself: I set a target # of points (calories) each day, and I get to spend them however I like for as long as I don’t exceed my 24 hour limit. As I’m about to eat or drink something, I think about the number of calories I’m about to spend on that item (usually glancing at the product packaging, or doing a quick Google mobile search to look up approximate nutritional info), and then take a mental note of my remaining point budget. At the end of the day, I feel great about meeting my target and advance one day closer to weekly Cheat Day, or else push off Cheat Day until I qualify again. Each week that I stay on plan I count towards my “winning streak,” which culminates in an Amazon shopping splurge that I treat myself to Although it was a pain at first to look up caloric values for everything I ate or drank, I found that after several weeks I developed a sixth sense for nutritional data, and could pretty much ballpark the point count for most everything I ate. As I got deeper into Foodville, I layered on advanced missions to maximize lean protein and fiber, and minimize net carbs and sugar. It turns out that this is the same approach that Weight Watchers has been using for decades – I simply think about it as a game and try to layer in “boss battle” and “epic win”-style levels and rewards for myself. Unfortunately, I’m only playing Foodville in my mind, and don’t have a simple, gamified app that I can share or play with others. Perhaps a slick app encompassing elegant use of social and game mechanics would enable multiplayer modes, P2P pressure/obligation/guilt loops, use of Seven Deadly Sin motivators, progressive and adaptive leveling, and other tools to make Foodville palatable and easier to begin playing for mass audiences? I’m hoping to see clever QS + gamification designers team up to come up with such apps, and someday seeing the Top 25 charts dominated by titles like:
Take-Away: Ask for Permission
“According to the report, one glaring concern users have about wearable devices is skepticism about privacy and security. Of respondents participating in a survey, 82% said they were worried that wearable technology would invade their privacy. Similarly, 86% expressed concern that wearables would make them more prone to security breaches.”
-William Welsh, Information Week
Problem: Everyone in Stealth-Mode
CV Dazzle explores how fashion can be used as camouflage from face-detection technology.
Stealth Wear’s counter-surveillance designs.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/mobile-and-wireless/wearable-devices-privacy-security-worries-loom-large/d/d-id/1316833 NON INVASIVE Restricted to Boundless – exploring the ways in which we are now free to connect whenever and to whomever. Static to Activated – exploring the infinite possibilities our connectivity has given us. Obligation to Intimacy – exploring the changing nature of our closest relationships Systems to substance – understanding our need for self reflection in a world that’s constantly switched on.
=
FORMULA TO SUCCESS:
INTENSE WORKOUTS
HEALTH x MIND FOCUS
COMRADERY
FITNESS GEAR
+
+
+
A CULT FOLLOWING
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Price. - Who owns the data? - When something’s on your body, it’s more intimate.
Recommendations
MAKE IT AFFORDABLE. MAKE IT SEAMLESS. ASK FOR PERMISSION.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- Price. - Who owns the data? - When something’s on your body, it’s more intimate.
It doesn’t matter where it’s on us. Anything that touches our bodies automatically inherits a high level of intimacy.
Tech can’t speak its own language. It needs to speak our’s.
Dissolving into our bodies, dissolving into our lives. Remove the
“Tech” from “Wearable Technology”.
Concept
Specifics Leverage existing competencies.
Activewear sales growing more 4x as fast as the $201 billion US apparel industry.
NPD Group
Keep thinking “clothes”.
Partner Equinox recently launched a workout-tracking App.
Bloomberg
Wearables have a long way to go before replacing Smartphones.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
“If you’re not a techie or an early adopter, people are very discerning about what they’re willing to wear every day." "The fusion of fashion into technology will be an important part of the widespread adoption of wearable technologies. If you are making a product that is intended to be worn 24/7, like a Fitbit tracker, design is key." As many have pointed out however, most of the current offerings are classic cases of technology IN SEARCH OF A USE CASE... too reliant on the lazy assumption that advanced or extreme users are bellwethers for the mass market. It doesn’t follow that what sports geeks and self-quantifiers do today, the masses will do tomorrow. SoulCycle was founded on the belief�that fitness could be inspiring. With a motivational workout, a beautiful environment and outstanding customer service, each 45-minute class can be a transformative experience. SoulCycle co-founders Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice met in New York City and were determined to find an alternative to the fitness routines that felt like work. Combining inspirational coaching with high-energy music, the pair designed a workout that benefits the mind and body. SoulCycle trains world-class instructors to teach the SoulCycle method which engages and empowers riders in a way that leaves them mentally and physically stronger than when they arrived. Now, SoulCycle is leading the fitness revolution with people everywhere demanding the Soul experience. Since 2006, when Julie and Elizabeth opened their first studio on the Upper West Side, SoulCycle has opened 25 locations nationwide, with plans to open 50-60 studios worldwide by 2015. Riders of all ages have responded to the SoulCycle cardio party (SC’s youngest rider is 12-years-old, their oldest is 78-years-old) with approximately 20,000 people riding at SoulCycle every week. In 2007, SoulCycle launched a robust retail line, today a new retail collection is released every month. In 2012, the company unveiled their very own SoulCycle Bike, an indoor cycle designed specifically for the SoulCycle ride. Julie and Elizabeth are humbled by the response to SOUL and are working hard to bring the party to the people. SoulCycle isn’t just in the business of changing bodies; it’s in the business of changing lives. SOUL ACCOLADES * Voted Best hit-each-body-part fitness class by NY Magazine in 2010 * One of the top 10 NYC Google Searches of 2012 * Voted one of the World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Fitness of 2013 by Fast Company
