We’ve witnessed the transformation of the cellphone. A mere mobile phone has now become a portable computer. From emails to step count, cellphones of today can perform a wide variety of tasks. However, we’ve never imagined that the same functions will one day be performed on a watch. The birth of wearable technology has changed everything.

The popularity of wearables has made India the only country in the top 20 to see triple-digit growth in wearables in 2020, according to IDC report. Last year, the Indian wearables market posted a remarkable growth of 144.3% (YoY) with 36.4 million units in shipments. Not only this, with this remarkable growth the country continues to be the third-largest wearables market globally, reports SME Futures.

The major portion of wearable tech growth in India was due to the increased sales of hearables and smartwatches. Hearables’ shipments grew more than threefold in 2020 compared to the previous year.

Smartwatches are now more popular than wristbands in India. With 46.7% of the market share, Xiaomi continued to lead this category in 2020. Realme, which entered the segment in 2020 finished second with a 12.3% share, states the IDC report, according to the IDC report.

Read more Wearables shipments in India Jump 165%; Earwear and Watches Lead to a Record Quarter for Wearables

“Hearables became one of the most sought-after electronic categories in 2020. The newer version of hearables is much better in managing the increased audio usages and improved aesthetic and design also made them the trendsetter,” said Anisha Dumbre, market analyst at IDC India.

India, as a leader in the tech market, always catches up with the tech trends. With a rising disposable income of Indian consumers, a huge number of them are shifting their behavior towards wearables, giving smart devices a lot of traction. Apple is currently leading in the smartwatch category and other companies such as Fitbit, Realme, Xiaomi, Fossil, Garmin, Samsung are significant names in this arena too.

In the hearables and smartwatches category, Indian companies such as BoAt and Noise have been leading the charts. As per the IDC report, “Noise led the watch category with a 24.5% share in 2020 followed by Realme with a 15.7% share in the same year. While BoAt emerged as the biggest player in this category, accounting for one-third of the category in shipments.”

Actofit is a Navi, Mumbai-based company that makes connected ecosystems and wearable gadgets around health and fitness. The company has been witnessing a surge lately. For them, 2020 has been a good year but in a surprising way.

Pratik Saraogi, Founder and CEO told SME Futures: “With the pandemic being a huge part of 2020, we, like many other businesses, took a conservative approach in terms of our expectations. However, what we could not predict is how health-conscious and health-focused this pandemic has made consumers, especially those that are from India. The caveat here was that consumers were not only worried about their own health, but a lot of times it was for the health of the people around them (family & friends). This health fear that the pandemic catalyzed gave a great boost to our Smart scale (body composition analysis checks) sales.”

Fire-Boltt, an Indian company that makes earphones, earbuds, headphones, and smartwatches, has been recognized as a top 5 selling brand on the e-commerce platform Amazon.

Aayushi Kishore, co-founder of Fire-Boltt says that the company emerged as one of the frontrunners in the wearable and audio segment during this period. “Our smartwatch with SPO2 features was ranked among the top 4 selling smartwatches on Amazon within days of its launch. Other than our fitness wearables and smartwatch, our audio products also did well.”

Innovation is trending

Indian consumers prefer variety, style, unique features and trendy products. Therefore, Indian companies are diversifying their portfolios in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Lalit Arora, co-founder and CEO of Vingajoy, a Delhi-based consumer electronics and mobile accessory brand, says:

“We keep on doing research to fulfill the demands of the market and continuously strategize to deliver the best-in-class. The best part is that the consumers are gravitating towards the emerging brands and are actively experimenting with our new products. The feedback from their end was quite appreciative and encouraging.”

Spotlight on medical wearable devices

Wearables have now become a part of healthcare. The pandemic has made wearables ever more necessary as they provide remote monitoring. Globally, various companies working on wearable medical products are constantly innovating and creating new devices.

Sanjeev Swamy, founder and CEO of Livinguard AG, a hygiene tech platform, professes:

“People have become more conscious about maintaining a healthy day-to-day lifestyle; thus, this has led to a big surge in the wearable tech market in India. According to me, textile tech can play a vital role in this segment. Antimicrobial, antiviral and antibacterial solutions for textiles and apparel have been some of the major trends in the wearable tech market.”

5G revolutionizing the wearables industry

Seeing the soaring interest in wearable devices, Gartner predicts that users will spend $81.5 billion on fitness devices in 2021, up 18% from $69 billion last year.

Read more Huami Amazfit Ranked No. 1 by Shipments in Spain, Indonesia and India

Manufacturers are designing wearables to be sleeker, smaller, and superfast. With embedded sensors, wearables now come in the form of smart clothes and shoes. Wearables generally come with mobile connectivity and have been upgraded from 3G to 4G. So, it is conceivable that 5G implementation is the next step.

The 5G connectivity will take wearables to a new level. Wearables powered by 5G will deliver improved data and insights into our health in real-time. Additionally, the IoT system will be at the center of this technology with a multitude of sensors, which will make gadgets more powerful and accurate.

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Researchers at Stanford University are partnering with wearable device-maker Empatica and a COVID-19 saliva test manufacturer, Clinical Reference Lab, to gauge how wearable devices like smartwatches can detect the virus even before symptoms appear.

Related This App Combines AI and Biosensors to Detect COVID-19 in Two Minutes, Even in Asymptomatic Patients

Tejaswini Mishra, Ph.D., Research Scientist in the Department of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine, joins Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous to discuss the use of wearables to detect COVID-19.

“We're using biometrics measured by these consumer smartwatches, such as heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation, activity, electrodermal activities of skin conductance. And we're looking for changes in these biometrics to then detect COVID-19 infection at a pre-symptomatic stage before people develop symptoms. And so we look, for example, increases in heart rate,” Dr. Mishra told Christoforous.

Just a month ago, MIT Media Labs spinoff Empatica Inc. secured the CE mark for its Aura system, a wearable solution for the monitoring and early alert of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. For use with people 14 and older, Aura is commercially available in Europe and the U.K., and for pilot purposes in the U.S. – pending FDA authorization.

Empatica, Fitbit, and Garmin are working with the Stanford team, according to Dr. Mishra.

How early can these devices detect COVID19?

“We're able to detect it on an average of four days in advance using our algorithms, and we're able to see it as far as nine days in advance in some cases. Now, mind you, these are studies we did on symptomatic individuals. So we did an initial study that we published in November 2020,” Dr. Mishra said.

How effective are these devices?

According to Dr. Mishra, the current devices are already pretty good at detecting COVID-19. She said that 80% of the people in their initial study, were able to detect COVID-19 with wearing only Fitbits. “And so, the current devices already work. And the cool thing about using devices that people were already wearing is that you have a year or two of retrospective data on these people. So we're able to compare their heart rate during the COVID infection to their own personal baseline and then try to see changes or elevations in heart rate compared to their own baseline. So it's a very personalized, individualized, tailored monitoring process,” she said.

How about the asymptomatic Carriers

A large group of people do not show symptoms of COVID-19 even after they’ve been infected with the virus. These asymptomatic individuals can spread the virus much more easily. What kinds of symptoms do asymptomatic people have?

Related Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Innovative Diagnostic Devices Helping The Healthcare System

“Even if you don't have symptoms, your body's still fighting an infection. Your body's trying to clear the virus. You're making tons of white blood cells to try to fight the virus. And so that's where we expect your heart rate to go up. Even if you don't have a fever, even if your skin temperature or body temperature doesn't go up, you still have a heart rate increase because your body's working a lot harder to fight these germs, and that's what we're able to detect,” Dr. Mishra said.

“Think of it as a thermometer. Your temperature is high, and you don't know why it's high, but you know that it indicates something. And so that's really what we're catching. And then the future is really, really big, and you could do any number of things with these wearable devices,” she added.

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Wearable technology is fast becoming a part of our lives. From a sweat sensor that detects stress levels to a wearable that tracks your sleep, soon there’s going to be a wearable technology for tracking and measuring almost anything you can think of.

Wearable technology can play an important role in monitoring the health of the elderly. It can be used to monitor their heart conditions and early detect Alzheimer’s disease.

Read more Heartbeat Health And The American College of Cardiology Join Forces For Breakthrough Virtual Care In Cardiology

Monitoring heart disease of the elderly

The American Heart Association (AHA) conducted a systematic review of studies of older adults who used mobile health technologies to manage their cardiovascular disease. It included 26 studies that examined mobile health technologies for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease among participants 60 years and older, reports MobiHealthNews.

The AHA review found that mobile health interventions, especially those that use texting, can improve health behaviors like exercise and diet, as well as medication adherence in older adults.

“We know that controlling blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol are essential secondary prevention strategies and often require medication management,” Eric Schorr, Ph.D., BSBA, RN, the lead author of the scientific statement and associate professor in the Adult and Gerontological Health Cooperative at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, said in a statement.

Age is one of the largest risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. Therefore, it is crucial to effectively manage heart disease and take preventative steps.

Dementia is not a normal part of aging, and although visible symptoms manifest themselves later in life, the diseases that cause it often develop much earlier, reports AZO Sensors.

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms show

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate, resulting in memory loss and cognitive decline. It is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80% of dementia cases in the U.S. In the U.S., Alzheimer's kills more people than diabetes and more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

Alzheimer’s Research UK and Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre (BU ADRC) has entered into a three-year partnership to use smartwatches and headbands to collect digital data to detect Alzheimer’s years before symptoms show.

The devices will be used by up to 200 participants with or without dementia for two weeks every three months for one year. The wearables will monitor their sleep, neural activity, fine motor skills, speech and language, and physical activity.

The data will be shared with the Early Detection of Neurodegenerative diseases (EDoN) initiative, which aims to develop a robust machine learning model capable of detecting subtle patterns in people’s digital data, acting as a red flag for early disease.

Read more Alzheimer’s Research UK Launches Global Initiative to Use Wearables to Revolutionize Disease Detection

“The diseases that cause dementia can start in midlife, but we currently don’t have inexpensive and non-invasive methods to detect this early disease,” states Dr Jesse Mez, Clinical Core Director for BU ADRC. “Digital technologies like smartphones and wearables could provide a low cost, easy-to-use way to pick up some of the very subtle early changes in diseases like Alzheimer’s.”

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Last week, Max Weinbach of Android Police found references to Samsung’s next TWS called Galaxy Buds2 in the latest version of the Galaxy Wearable application. Weinbach also spotted a few details regarding the forthcoming Galaxy Watches, which he shared on Twitter.

Read more Galaxy Wear App Update Reveals Samsung Is Working On Galaxy Buds Pro Successor

A bunch of strange terms like "Water", "Merlot", "Wise" and "Fresh" appear in the code of the current Wear app from Samsung, reports Netzwelt. Weinbach, who’s a well-known leaker, now claims to have cracked Samsung's secret language and reveals to us in a series of tweets what is hidden behind the terms:

"Wise" and "Fresh" are said to be upcoming Samsung smartwatches. These are believed to be marketed as the Galaxy Watch Active 3 and Galaxy Watch 4.

"Merlot" is said to be the code name for a new processor that is used in wearables.

With "Water" Samsung is supposed to designate a compatibility layer of the products.

Both of these wearables will be available in two sizes and in Bluetooth as well as cellular variants.

According to Max’s findings, the Galaxy Watch4 and the Galaxy Watch Active4 are codenamed Fresh and Wise respectively:

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 (Fresh)

• Sizes: 41mm, 45mm
• Variants: Bluetooth, Cellular

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active4 (Wise)

• Sizes: 40mm, 44mm
• Variants: Bluetooth, Cellular

Furthermore, the smartwatches should also be able to determine the blood sugar level without drawing blood from you.

Read more Samsung Launches ISOCELL GN1 50-Megapixel Camera Sensor With Faster Autofocus

According to rumors, Samsung will use Google's WearOS instead of the in-house Tizen system for its upcoming smartwatches.

“So when I found the Buds 2 leak, I found a few things about upcoming Galaxy Watches,” Weinbach twitted. “There's a new plugin codename 'water.' I believe 'water' is the Samsung wearable/WearOS compatibility layer. It mentions 'merlot,' which I believe is the chipset for 'wise' and 'fresh'"...

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TCL’s wearable display prototype that’s been in the works for years, is now close to reaching the market. After having shown off its Project Archery concept several times at various tradeshows over the past few years, TCL is finally ready to bring its heads-up display to the general public.

Read more TCL Patent Hints at a Foldable Smartphone that Can be Worn as a Smartwatch

The Wearable Display will be available commercially later this year, though the company hasn’t yet disclosed information about the price and launch information.

The first commercially available follow-up to Project Archery, the TCL Wearable Display is a light and stylish pair of glasses that come with dual 1080p Full HD micro OLED displays built-in. From virtually anywhere, users can enjoy a 140-degree inch view from 4 meters away, and with a density of 49 pixels-per-degree (PPD), visuals are sharp and incredibly vivid.

The Wearable Display is capable of connecting to hundreds of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and 2-in-1 PCs from most manufacturers whose devices have a display port over USB-C that can support 1080p resolution. Once connected, the device enables you to watch movies, play games, and more from at home, on the road, or anywhere else, enjoying a truly immersive experience.

Read more Niantic Labs CEO’s Twitter Post Hints At New AR Glasses

Australian first look at the TCL Wearable Display

EFTM’s Trevor Long tried out the glasses as an Australian first look at the TCL Wearable Display. He describes the glasses as:

“When you put them on, what you see is like a desktop computer. Icons for your apps on a screen. Similar to how a Samsung phone looks when you enable Dex and plug into a desktop monitor.

Your Smartphone screen then becomes a touchpad to move the mouse or pointer around on the screen. Tap to click.

Launch Netflix, and you can scroll with two fingers, move the pointer with one and tap to play.

When you play, you get a full view of the show. Sound comes out the ear-stalks similar to how the Bose Frames work, but the stalks aren’t as chunky as Bose.”

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The growing need for soldiers’ coordination, training and health, the increase in asymmetric warfare, and modernization programs in the military, among others, are some of the factors that are fueling the growth of the military wearables market. Wearable devices play an important role in improving the capabilities of the soldier.

Related: US Army Uses Modified HoloLens 2 for Real-Life Video Game

The U.S. military is turning to wearable technology to enhance soldiers’ capabilities and prevent injuries.  In recent months, various Defense Department components have been cautiously applying diverse wearable technologies to gauge soldiers’ stress, monitor for COVID-19 spread, and other health- and performance-related purposes.

The Pentagon’s primary developer of advanced military, medical material products is exploring how it might operationalize wearable Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, prevention devices.

Specifically, the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Device Activity’s Warfighter Brain Health Project Management Office is exploring technologies — designed with the intent to be cleared by the Food and Drug Administration — that can protect service members from such traumas or at least reduce the severity of them, reports Brandi Vincent in NextGov.

“Identification of medical device technologies with such capabilities are essential to protect the warfighter and is vital to force protection and strength,” officials from that office wrote in a request for information.

In another story, the U.S. Army is conducting several studies designed to use wearable devices -- special watches and rings that track heart rate, body temperature, and other physiological data -- to evaluate how soldiers respond to stress and physical exertion.

These devices also can be used for cognitive training to help soldiers learn how to cope with stress more effectively, increasing their physical performance, according to the experts from Booz Allen Hamilton, a firm that offers consulting, analysis, and engineering services to the public and private sector organizations.

"We know that performance originates in the brain; by knowing that, we, as performers, can either set ourselves up for success or failure simply based on these conscious thoughts," Lindsay Blaine, cognitive performance coach at Booz Allen Hamilton, said during a webinar focusing on the cognitive training and the mind and body connection.

Jannell MacAulay is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and expert in human performance training. She believes self-awareness is the key to coping in high-stress situations, writes Matthew Cox in Military.com.

"There is some stress that is actually good for us. And so when we get that ... anxiousness, our performance will actually go up," she said.

The U.S. Army is conducting a study to measure the mental health of troops operating in extremely cold environments. As part of the study, about 1,000 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division in Alaska are wearing Whoop biofeedback devices.

Another 530 members of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, are participating in a yearlong human performance study that has them wearing similar devices to track not just physical exertion but also how their heart rate responds to stress.

Related: US Army Is Testing AR Goggles for Dogs To Give Remote Commands

According to Michael Baum, branch chief of the Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center, the Army is hoping that some of the data taken from these biofeedback devices will help the service design more effective training scenarios as part of its synthetic training environment, an effort to create realistic training simulations using gaming technology.

Alvalux Medical, a Belgian medtech wearables company, announced that it has been awarded its second Patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its wearable ocular insert device.

Read more Wearable Sensor Collects Data from Tears or Saliva to Treat Eye or Mouth Diseases

The invention (US Patent 10,953,240) is a small, energized, ocular insert designed to deliver home-based Photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy to treat retinal diseases including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy which affect approximately 20 million people in the USA alone, says a press release.

"This patent represents an important contribution to the future of 'on-eye' miniaturized therapeutic wearables, and it also spawned two other inventions including our on-market, award-winning, CicaLux® product line," said Michel Alvarez – CEO and inventor. He added, "I would like to congratulate co-inventor – Professor Denis Flandre – ICTEAM institute at the Université catholique de Louvain (UC Louvain) - for his contribution and shared vision to bring smart, small, wearable, home-therapy devices to people around the world."

"This was a great basis for our deeper collaboration and further innovation in smart medical wearables involving ultra-low-power thin-film electronic circuits and sensors," said Professor Flandre.

Alvalux's first patent award announced last month (US Patent 10,953,238) is a wearable dermal repair system marketed under the CicaLux brand that delivers energized combination PBM therapy to treat various skin-related conditions, diseases and disorders. First product CicaLux Energized Scar-Care is available for sale in the European Union, USA and other countries.

Read more Nasal Neurostimulating Device to Treat Dry Eye Syndrome

About Alvalux Medical

Alvalux Medical is a Belgium-based medical device company founded in 2015 by medtech veteran Michel Alvarez.  It aims to be a global leader in smart, wearable, energized, therapeutic devices for use at home, at work, or on the go.

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Mictic is a wearable wristband that can translate your gestures and movements and turn them into musical tones and sound effects in real-time. Mictic has started a Kickstarter campaign.

“We’re coming to change your relationship to music. Mictic is the Swiss-made XR wearable that turns your movements into sound. It doesn’t matter if you already have a Grammy or have never picked up a musical instrument, with Mictic you’ll be expressing yourself the minute you put the wristbands on and connect via Bluetooth,” Mictic says.

Related: Genki Wave for Work – Control Apps and Zoom Calls with This MIDI Controller

Mictic claims to be the first wearable device that is a true musical instrument and not just a controller for Midi or other interfaces. The wristbands translate your arm movements into included instrument sounds like electric guitar, drums, cello, and genre-based soundscapes like EDM and hip-hop. We have pending patent applications capturing this technology.

How does it work?

The wristbands contain sensors that detect movement and motion with supreme precision and accuracy. You can connect the sensors with your smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

• Strap Mictic to your wrists
• Connect your smartphone via Bluetooth
• Pair with the Mictic App
• Pick your Instrument or sound experience
• Let the Magic happen

Who is this for?

You don’t have to be a musician to use Mictic. The wearable device is easy to use and can be used by anyone. “Our mission is to give everyone the power to express themselves no matter what kind of music they enjoy, and whether they are already Grammy-winners, or have had no training at all. Mictic can be used for any age range and you really don't have to be a musician to enjoy it,” Mictic said.

What type of sounds can Mictic generate?

Below a list of features that are integrated into the first app version:

Instruments

• Acoustic Guitar
• Electric Guitar
• Cello
• Drums
• Violin

Sound Scapes

• Hip Hop
• Trap
• Latin
• EDM
• Rock

Games

• Kung Fu
• Robot
• Safari / Zoo
• Lightsaber
• Tennis

The company is planning to deliver many more features shortly after launch.

Related: Music Fingers Wearable Lets You Make Music With Your Fingertips Even While You’re On The Go

You can connect and use Mictic via Bluetooth as Midi controller for your favorite digital audio workstation (DAW) such as Ableton, Logic, Pro Tools, Garageband, or 100s of other MIDI-compatible apps.

For more information, please check out their Kickstarter campaign.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have developed liquid metal for processing with a 3D printer.

Soft, stretchable materials that are also electrically conductive are hard to come by. It’s even harder to create a circuit that withstands damage, going as far as to heal itself. For Carnegie Mellon University researchers, however, these kinds of innovations are just another day at the office. The new material they created has high conductivity and the collected energy can be used for the manufacture of wearables, for example.

Read more Carnegie Mellon Researchers Create Autonomously Self-Healing Material for Robots

In 2018, Carmel Majidi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, and his team created a circuit that was able to electrically heal itself—that is, it could continue to function even after the main paths had been cut or damaged. Building on that development, Majidi and his team at Carnegie Mellon University’s Soft Machines Lab (SML) have made a liquid metal material capable of conducting electricity and repairing any physical damage it incurs.

“We can now suspend liquid metal in virtually any polymer or copolymer in order to tailor their material properties and enhance their performance,” Majidi said. “This has not been done before. It opens the door to future materials discovery.”

SML achieved these advancements using a liquid metal made of a gallium and indium alloy. This metal is safer than other liquid metals like mercury, authors say. These discoveries allow the technology to be expanded to other polymers, including gels. This widens the range—and effect—of their research. In fact, circuits made with liquid metals can be erased and re-drawn, making them highly adaptable, reports Madison Brewer at CMU Engineering.

These new materials can also be 3D printed. Sarah Bergbreiter, a professor of mechanical engineering, worked with Majidi and SML to print these materials using a new manufacturing process. Creating 3D structures of these self-healing and re-writable circuits will widely expand the range of applications. One such application is energy harvesting. Energy can be generated using electricity from contact between two surfaces.

What’s more, liquid metals are highly conductive, so they can easily produce large amounts of energy. And, because the electronics are soft and stretchable, they can readily be integrated into clothing.

The electrically conducive material was worked into the fabric from which shorts were made. One subject ran in the shorts on a treadmill. After 2.2 minutes, the shorts gave him enough power to operate a thermo-hygrometer sensor with a digital screen. The team assumes that further innovations could benefit from this development. Researchers from Asia also use 3D-printed wearable sensors to generate enough electricity for wearables.

Read more Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop Flexible Wearable Patch That Sticks to the Skin Like a Band-Aid

The researchers say potential uses of their invention could include bio-inspired robotics, human-machine interaction, wearable computing, and solar cells. These soft robotics will be highly adaptable and durable, allowing for a wide range of applications.

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Rising consumer demand is propelling the supply chain industry to adopt new technologies. The supply chain companies are turning to wearables and robotics to increase accuracy, speed, and safety on the warehouse floor.

Read more: LUBA Workers’ Comp Using Oura Ring To Explore The Use of Wearables in Workplace

Industrial wearables: A huge market

In June 2019, a report published by Research and Markets predicted that the industrial wearable devices market will exceed $2.78 billion by 2024, increasing annually at a rate of 9.2%, with smartwatches holding the largest share of growth, reports SDCExec.

Similar market growth is expected with industrial robots, commonly used for tasks such as picking, loading orders, and transportation, among other order fulfillment jobs. Around $2.4 billion is spent annually on industrial robotic arms and automation machines, according to McKinsey & Company report. A few years ago, there were at least 2 million robots in use on factory floors, warehouses, and similar locations, and the report predicted that number to increase to 4.4 million by 2023.

The advancing wearable technology

TeamViewer uses AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and augmented reality (AR) in its technology.

“TeamViewer helps companies like DHL, Coke or Airbus to improve quality, speed, and safety of their logistics, manufacturing, and maintenance operations,” says Percy Stocker, TeamViewer’s executive vice president, AR Americas. “Using AR-guided workflows and ad-hoc video collaboration, companies can digitize and streamline their processes, while offering a more ergonomic and intuitive solution to their frontline workers.

Companies use TeamViewer to improve quality, speed, and safety in their operations.

“For example, DHL managed to improve the speed of their logistics operation by 15% on average. Coke significantly improved their quality to 99.99% accuracy level,” Stocker says.

The rising popularity of safety wearables

In 2019, a CDC report nodded the use of wearables to monitor workers’ health, environmental hazards, and other issues. The report said that the tools can be valuable in maintaining the safety of workers in industrial settings. Kenzen makes wearables that can predict and prevent injuries on the warehouse floor.

Wearables can improve efficiency

In the near future, wearables will be considered essential to warehouse and distribution center operations, according to Ilhan Kolko, chief product officer at ProGlove.

“Wearable scanners enhance these processes at large because they easily cut the total scanning time in half,” Kolko says. “Aside from the massive time gain, workers always have their hands free, which is tremendous relief when you load or unload a truck.”

Wearables can maintain privacy

Heidi Lehmann, co-founder of Kenzen says that workers need to know their privacy is maintained while wearing the devices.

“We need to make sure the worker is very comfortable with our solution,” she says. “This begins with the actual comfort of the device when worn by a worker, to worker privacy and making sure the worker understands that the platform has been designed with their privacy in mind.”

According to Lehmann, the worker’s own biometric information can be seen only by the workers themselves in detail and in real time.

Read more: KINETIC-JLG Partnership To Deploy COVID-19 Safety Wearables For Industrial Workers

“Other user groups only see the information they need to keep the worker safe,” she says. “For example, a safety manager would understand, through the team dashboard, when a worker is calibrating in a dangerous direction and needs assistance or needs to rest, yet they don't see any specific personal health details, only that an intervention may be needed.”

VARTA has launched a new VARTA CoinPower A4 generation battery, opening up opportunities for the future development of wireless and mobile devices in a wide range of application areas. From wireless headphones and medical devices through measurement and safety systems and automotive applications, Varta manufactures batteries as prototypes or in large series, both as standard versions and in line with customer specifications.

Related VARTA Plans to Boost Production to More Than 150 Million Cells Per Year

VARTA CoinPower batteries are the first choice for a number of modern high-tech portable products. They provide a long-lasting, reliable main power source that is lightweight and occupies a minimum of space in the host device, reports VARTA.

VARTA CoinPower batteries meet the most important design requirements of these products: Reliable high-power output, design flexibility with a minimum of space requirement, and a round form factor.

Features

• High energy density
• Wound electrode design
• Built-in safety device with chemical safety components
• Fully automated production in Germany
• Worldwide branch offices with technical support

Advantages

• Lightweight and small size
• High discharge currents
• The market’s best safety performance
• High reliability and consistent quality
• Close customer relationship

Customer Benefits

• The best performance and long battery life
• Suitable for applications with high peak currents
• Additional cell protection in case the electronic circuit malfunctions
• High reliability in the field
• Local contact, local knowledge, local language

Applications

VARTA CoinPower batteries are especially suitable for modern electronic applications such as Bluetooth Mono/Stereo Headsets, Sensors for Fitness/Sport/ Healthcare, Smart Watches, Wearable Technology, Smart Car Keys, and many more. These cells are the ultimate power source for your electronic devices and make your products smaller, lighter, and more attractive. VARTA CoinPower provides outstanding performance and reliability, excellent quality along with very safe operation.1.3 Applications.

Storage

VARTA CoinPower batteries are delivered in a state-of-charge (SoC) of approximately 30% of their full capacity. This provides the best condition for long-term storage at the lowest self-discharge rate. Higher temperatures increase the rate of self-discharge. It is recommended to store the cell at a state-of-charge between 30 % and 50 % at room temperature (20 °C) or lower.

Related SAFEDI Wearable Clip Warns Against Too Much Proximity In Corona times, VARTA CoinPower Supplies Energy

About VARTA Microbattery

VARTA Microbattery is a leading manufacturer of batteries and provides professional support worldwide to customers to help them to design VARTA batteries into their applications. Quality, reliability, high performance and customer satisfaction are the main reasons for our leading position in the market. VARTA Microbattery provides solutions to major OEM companies for high-tech applications such as Bluetooth headsets, activity trackers, heat cost allocator devices, backup for memory, and the real-time clock in PCs/notebooks as well as alarm systems, medical equipment, consumer electronics, and many more product types. VARTA Microbattery produces all major chemistries in various form factors. We are fully equipped to produce customized batteries. We are confident that we can provide an optimized battery solution for most application requirements.

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The famous Apple leaker Jon Prosser has released a video that shows the first pictures of the upcoming Google Pixel watch.

The Google Pixel Watch, according to Prosser, could launch in October, alongside the rumored Pixel 6 smartphone. The smartwatch seems to have taken inspiration from Samsung and Apple offerings by including a wrap-around display and a crown, respectively.

Read more: Google Pixel Phones Will Soon Track Heart Rate and Respiratory Rate Using Your Phone’s Camera

In January 2019, it became apparent that Google was tinkering with its own watch when the company bought smartwatch technology from Fossil worth 40 million US dollars.

As per the rendered images, the Google Pixel Watch has the codename “Rohan”. (Rohan is the name of the horse kingdom from Middle-earth in the novel series " Lord of the Rings "- Note from the Red). In addition, Prosser received" an incredible amount of image material "from a Google source. The only condition of the source: Prosser should not publish the original images, but may create corresponding render images and use them with his For this reason he worked with the 3D render artist Ian Zelbo for the Pixel Watch. Zelbo not only recreated the design of the Pixel Watch but also first glimpses of the software and bracelets.

Prosser stirs up high expectations saying, it is the best smartwatch he has ever seen. That says a lot. The renders show the watch sporting a circular dial with multiple silicone band options, suggesting that Google may allow users to easily swap bands.

As per Prosser, Google will offer around 20 band options with the Pixel Watch. In an episode of his YouTube show “Front Page Tech,” the tipster says that the renders are based on marketing material he had seen from a source within Google. He collaborated with Ian Zelbo for the renders.

Nothing concrete is known about the specifications yet, but it is presumed that the Google Pixel Watch will run Wear OS by Google, the company's operating system for smartwatches, reports Gadgets360. It also may come equipped with a heart rate sensor and multiple sports modes.

After the Fitbit takeover, we became curious to see how Google and wearables will continue. Will Fitbit OS and Wear OS be developed in parallel? Will Fitbit continue to be offered at all if you'd rather push the Pixel line? These are some exciting questions for the rest of the year.

Read more: Google Announces Wear OS Update With Custom Third-Party Tiles

We will of course keep our eyes open and will submit more details as soon as we find out more on this story.

CyberLink has introduced biometric technologies for the prevention of COVID-19 spread with an update to its FaceMe facial recognition engine, a Canadian startup called Tevano, and Tiger Tech. Tiger Tech received emergency FDA approval.

Read more How Digital Technology Is Helping in the Fight Against COVID-19

Conferences are resuming at a Las Vegas conference center with the help of CLEAR. CLEAR is the trusted digital health passport that securely validates your ID, lab, and vaccination credentials, making a safer environment for employees, employers, and others.

CyberLink has integrated its face biometrics, mask detection and temperature measurement capabilities to enhance its FaceMe Security solution for user identification and contactless access control, reports BiometricUpdate.

FaceMe is uniquely positioned to integrate edge-based AI facial recognition into a wide range of IoT and AIoT solutions. FaceMe is optimized to run on most hardware configurations, from high-end workstations to low-power chipsets typically used in IoT devices. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS systems.

FaceMe Security’s compatibility with a number of popular video management systems (VMSs) has been enhanced, and support for the cost-effective Nvidia Jetson platform and other chipsets optimized. The newest addition of FaceMe Security Workstation is also optimized to run on edge hardware for real-time biometrics.

The system is so simple that a small business owner can set up a single computer, single-camera system on their own. FaceMe Security’s robust and scalable architecture allows easy and rapid implementation by system integrators, the BiometricUpdate report said.

“Biometric and vision technologies are setting new standards for IP surveillance deployments. Not only can solutions using top-tier facial recognition accurately verify identity, even for faces partially covered by a mask, but they can also detect if the mask is worn properly,” states Dr. Jau Huang, CEO of CyberLink. “Powered by the world’s leading facial recognition technology, FaceMe Security is an all-inclusive solution that can completely overhaul existing IP surveillance infrastructures to deliver the latest security, access control, and health screening capabilities, for organizations of all sizes, across all industries.”

Tevano, a Vancouver-based startup, deployed Health Shield, which debuted commercially in December. The tablet-like device, mounted on a stand, can take someone’s temperature in less than a second and determine if they’re wearing a face covering. The Tevano Health Shield uses a cloud-based back end for centralized monitoring and can issue alerts, view email or text messages.

Read more COVID-19 Impact: Wearables Gaining Popularity During the Pandemic

CyberLink is a world leader in facial recognition and face attribute technologies. FaceMe® is a highly accurate AI engine – ranked one of the best in the NIST Face Recognition Vendor Test (VISA and WILD tests). Through constant innovation, we ensure our technology meets the highest accuracy and security standards, for deployments across a wide range of industries and use cases. For over 20 years, CyberLink has built a stellar reputation in the IT industry for its R&D leadership.

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As constantly evolving wearable technology is giving us innovative wearables like smart clothes and smart shoes. Myant, a Toronto-based smart textile company has come up with a new type of wearable – smart underwear. The award-winning company has been working on its Skiin Connected Health & Wellness System that embeds biometric monitors into everyday clothing, with a particular focus on undergarments.

Read more: Myant Partners with Osmotex to Integrate HYDRO_BOT Technology in Smart Clothes

“Connectedness between you, your body, your loved ones and your world is essential to a healthy life. The relationship between social connectedness and health outcomes is central to the reason Myant created the Skiin Connected Health & Wellness System. Continuous monitoring of ECG, stress level, sleep quality, activity, temperature, among other metrics, is one of the most efficient and reliable ways to potentially prevent health issues,” Myant said in a press release.

In 2018, Myant entered into a strategic collaboration with Mayo Clinic to bring the power of Mayo’s patented algorithms for heart monitoring and arrhythmia detection to Myant’s SKIIN Textile Computing platform.

The agreement gave Myant Inc. exclusive license to Mayo Clinic’s proprietary heart monitoring and arrhythmia detection technology for use in Textile Computing or smart clothing projects. Myant’s SKIIN smart underwear will be released in 2019 pending FDA clearance and Health Canada approval.

The system includes a variety of clothing options that can track your health including underwear, bras, shirts, and sleep masks, providing you with the option of 24/7 monitoring across your day. These garments connect to the Skiin App, running on the Myant Platform, which analyses your data and provides you with advice about lifestyle changes to improve your wellbeing.

Read more: Myant-FCAD Partnership to Develop Innovative Applications in Textile Computing

Currently, Myant underwear measures the regular smart wearable options, like heart rate, stress level, sleep quality, activity, temperature, stationary time, and feeds the information back to the linked Skiin app, reports Interesting Engineering.

The smart underwear can also detect slip and fall, track ovulation, and monitor driver fatigue. The company even envisions its smart underwear to be programmed to play soothing music when it picks up your stress levels, to lower the room's temperature if your workout is warming you up, according to Interesting Engineering.

Myant was selected as a CES 2020 Innovation Award Honoree for its Skiin Connected Health & Wellness System.

If you don’t know what your handicap is, then the new smartwatches from Garmin may not be for you. With the Approach S12 and S42, Garmin is bringing tailor-made wearables for golf to the market. But the features of the two smartwatches are of course not only suitable for golf. Other functions could ensure that the S12 and S42 are also a lot of fun away from the green.

Read more Garmin Enduro to the Test: This is Garmin’s Most Advanced Smartwatch

Of course, both watches have GPS onboard. This results in a first major advantage for golf. In fact, 42,000 golf courses worldwide are automatically preinstalled in Garmin's extensive database. This means that the watch not only recognizes which golf course you are currently on. On top of that, the location is so precise that it should even be recognized which hole you are currently playing. This is not only exciting for the subsequent evaluation of a round of golf. Thanks to GPS, you can see at any time how many meters you are from the next hole. This not only saves a lot of walking but certainly gives the game with ball and racket a new charm.

But golfers can also look forward to further help from the two smartwatches. Garmin installed the "GreenView" function here. This should be able to show the wearer the shape of the green. This should allow strokes to be planned much better. Speaking of which are the mandatory strokes. Garmin itself also advertises its racket sensors in connection with the S12 and S42. The Approach CT10 club sensors are specially designed to detect hits. So you can evaluate statistics afterward and work on your technology. The tailor-made set for golfers is rounded off by the Garmin Golf app.

Golf with style

The lightweight Approach S42 offers an easy-to-read 1.2-inch color touchscreen display with a sleek design that easily transitions from a daily timepiece to a comprehensive golf watch. Once on the course, golfers can rely on a loaded feature set that includes the AutoShot round analyzer to track and auto-record shot distances. Golfers can wear the smartwatch in and out of the golf course and peruse smart notifications3 and activity-tracking features4 that include steps, sleep, calories, vibration alerts, move bar, and built-in sport profiles. Whether golfers are looking for style points or sportiness, switching bands is easy with the Approach S42’s quick release bands. Enjoy more time on the links thanks to the Approach S42’s versatile battery life that lasts up to 15 hours in GPS mode, and up to 10 days in smartwatch mode, reports BusinessWire.

Ready to tee off

Easy-to-use and practical for beginners and seasoned players alike, the Approach S12 includes interchangeable quick release bands and introduces a unique round watch design with a 1.3-inch sunlight-readable high-resolution display. Thanks to the new Big Numbers display mode, Approach S12 makes it easier than ever to read yardage numbers during play. When paired with the Garmin Golf app on a compatible smartphone, the Approach S12 wirelessly updates a player’s most frequently played golf courses for up-to-date course information. Golfers can confidently play round after round thanks to the Approach S12’s internal, rechargeable battery that lasts up to 30 hours in GPS mode.

Approach G12 GPS Rangefinder

Golfers can fine-tune their game with the Approach G12 GPS rangefinder featuring a thin, compact design with a 1.3-inch high-resolution sunlight-readable display that lasts up to 30 hours on a single battery charge. Offering all the benefits included in the Approach S12, the versatile Approach G12 GPS rangefinder adds a built-in clip and a lanyard loop to securely attach the device to pockets or golf bags.

Read more Garmin Announces Tactix Delta, a Multisport GPS Smartwatch Built to Military Standards

Price and Availability

Available now, the Approach S42 GPS golf smartwatch has a suggested retail price of $299.99; the Approach S12 GPS golf watch has a suggested retail price of $199.99; the Approach G12 GPS golf rangefinder has a suggested retail price of $149.99.

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With the Galaxy Wearable App, Samsung has a central solution for all of the manufacturer's wearables. The Galaxy Wearable app is a bridge between Samsung’s wearables and phones. And that means that every time a new device is released, Samsung has to add support for it within that app.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Leaks, Release Date, Specs, and More

Sometimes, if we look really closely, we end up lucky enough to spot the changes Samsung makes in anticipation of a still-unannounced device. Sure enough, it has now received an update again, which prompted the colleagues from Android Police to sniff the code. Why not, because if an update is published for such an app, information about new functions or devices could appear.

In the teardown of the most recent Galaxy Wearable APK, Android Police found references to Galaxy Buds2.

The teardown also shows that the earbuds are codenamed “berry” and that they’ll be able to connect to multiple devices, reports Android Authority. The Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Buds Plus, and Galaxy Buds Pro are also mentioned in the APK file, suggesting that the Buds 2 are indeed a new pair and not related to any older models.

Talking about Galaxy Buds Plus, the wearable device got Auto Switch feature for compatible Samsung handsets as a part of a firmware update.

Furthermore, the code lines also suggest that the Galaxy Buds 2 will be able to connect to non-Samsung devices.

Read more: Apple AirPods Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds Live: Which earbuds are Better?

Unfortunately, there is currently no further information about it, it is clear that these Buds2 will replace the previous Galaxy Buds. Let's see when we will find the first leaks because as of now, we have no idea when the Galaxy Buds 2 will launch. The Galaxy Buds Pro are fairly new, but Samsung has a bunch of things left to unpack this year, so we may see them in the coming months.

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Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, a nursing student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, created a wearable nightlight to help clinicians avoid disturbing patients at night.

During his day shift at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Scarpone-Lambert steps into a patient’s room. The lights are off, but he knows he has to change the IV without disturbing the patient.

Read more Texas A&M Researchers Develop New Device That Improves Lighting During Surgery

He has two choices: turn on the overhead lights or attempt to use some sort of hand-held light to navigate in the darkness.

It’s this dilemma that he sought to fix by inventing the uNight Light, a wearable light-emitting diode, or LED, that allows nurses to illuminate their workspace without interrupting a patient’s sleep, reports New York Times.

Scarpone-Lambert, 21, a first-generation college student, developed the $20 uNight Light with Jennifferre Mancillas, BSN, RN, a nurse at Madera, Calif.-based Valley Children's Hospital.

uNight Light is a wearable LED light made for nurses It is attachable to scrubs and completely hands-free, allowing frontline healthcare workers to illuminate their workspace while decreasing patient sleep disturbances on average by 70%.

“As nurses, we created uNight Light because we were tired of waking up our patients when we needed to turn on the intrusive overhead patient room lights to see. We are sick of using penlights, iPhone lights, and runners’ lights to try and see, so we created uNight Light,” the duo says.

Mr. Scarpone-Lambert and Jennifferre Mancillas, are calling the light a breakthrough for frontline health care workers.

“We really pride ourselves on being very specifically designed for the clinical setting,” said Mr. Scarpone-Lambert, 21, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing who met Ms. Mancillas, 36, in 2019 at a hackathon sponsored by Johnson & Johnson that encouraged nurses to collaborate on solutions to health care problems.

Scarpone-Lambert is set to graduate nursing school at the University of Pennsylvania this year.

They also point out the light can be easily disinfected, which of course is very important for healthcare workers.

More than 400 nurses have tested the uNight Light, and more than 90 percent said it was helpful, the inventors said. They have received 1,500 orders and will start shipments next month, the New York Times report said.

Read more Thinklabs One Electronic Stethoscope Keeping Healthcare Professionals Safe During COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic, which has overwhelmed hospitals, underscores the need for the device, Mr. Scarpone-Lambert said, and further motivated him and Ms. Mancillas to bring it to market.

“I would say it’s been through Covid that this kind of innovation came to life,” he said. “It highlights the really important message that frontline health care workers and patients really deserve more support now more than ever.”

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The Amazfit T-Rex Pro looks like a perfect companion for everyone who likes to be outdoors: a bulky, robust watch with all the features you need to explore the outdoors.

With the Amazfit T-Rex Pro, Huami, a close partner of Xiaomi, has launched a model that is said to score with its resilience. For around 170 euros you can get a wearable that also has GPS on board. This allows outdoor workouts to be tracked without the smartphone has to be in your luggage.

Read more: Amazfit Plans to Launch Smartwatches with ECG and Blood Pressure Monitoring in the U.S.

What’s New in the Pro Version?

Externally, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro looks like the basic version. The subtle differences lie in the sensors: The Pro version comes with a barometric altitude sensor that shows the air pressure and altitude. A SpO2 sensor estimates the oxygen saturation in the blood - a function that many current wearables have on board, but which offers little added value because the measurement is not medically accurate.

The watch recognizes workouts automatically. However, this function is deactivated at the factory because it consumes electricity. It can be switched on via the settings on the watch. Unlike the basic version, the watch also records the physiological activity (PAI), a measure devised by the manufacturer for sporting activities in which the heart rate increases. It also calculates training values: the training load, the recovery and the endurance value VO 2 max (maximum oxygen uptake).

Fitness functions in a practical test

The Pro version of the T-Rex has plenty of sensors for recording training, reports Computer Bild. In the practical test, the heart rate was correct even when the arms moved a lot. The route of a bicycle tour they recorded correctly, the results showed in the app as a map, and took into account the distance covered in altitude. The watch recognizes according to the manufacturer, if you are walking, running, cycling, swimming or exercising on the elliptical or rowing machine. The setting of the detection can be adjusted to three levels of sensitivity. If the watch has noticed a training session, it indicates this and automatically records the training session. In the practical test, the watch, for example, recognized a walk after only two minutes with the most sensitive setting and also noticed when it was over. Then a countdown to the end of the training starts, which you can stop at the push of a button if the training should continue. The sleeping hours’ notice automatically recorded in the practice test sleep duration and phases reliably.

Technical data of the Amazfit T-Rex Pro

• Display:3 inches, AMOLED, 360 x 360 pixels, touchscreen with anti-fingerprint coating, always-on function
• Operating systems: RTOS
• Companion app: Zepp
• Sensors: heart rate monitor, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, barometer, ambient light sensor, geomagnetic sensor, SpO2 sensor
• Sport modes: Over 100 pieces: running (indoor/outdoor), cycling, swimming, skateboarding, rowing, volleyball, soccer, and much more.
• GPS: GPS + GLONASS, GPS + BeiDou, GPS + Galilelo
• Bluetooth0 BLE
• Battery: 390 mAh
• Charging time: about 1.5 hours
• Waterproof: 10 ATM waterproof
• Material: Polycarbonate (case) / silicone (bracelet)
• Dimensions/Weight:7 x 47.7 x 13.5 mm / 59.4 g (with bracelet)
• Other special features: step and calorie counter, customizable watch face, sleep tracking, weather display, display of notifications, control of music playback, accepting/rejecting calls, PAI evaluation, automatic recording of eight workouts
• Compatible with mobile devices from Android 5.0 or Apple iOS 10.0

Amazfit T-Rex Pro battery

The battery of the T-Rex Pro is the same size as the battery of the basic version and lasts for 390 mAh. In the practical test, the watch lasted five days with a permanent time display and heart rate measurement. The manufacturer is a bit more optimistic and promises nine days of runtime with heavy use and 40 hours with activated GPS tracking.

Price, colors, and availability

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is now on sale at the official price of 169.90 euros. For comparison: the T-Rex has a recommended retail price of 139.90 euros, but is available from retailers from 90 euros. The manufacturer sells the "Pro" through its in-house shop and through dealers. The watch comes in black with a black-gray strap ("Meteorite Black"), in beige-gray ("Desert Gray") and petrol ("Steel Blue"). A smartphone from Android 5 or iOS 10 with the Zepp app is required for setup and use.

Read more: Huami Launches Amazfit Zenbuds With Sleep Monitoring

Conclusion

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is a good wearable in and of itself. What’s lacking is the ability to track workouts and control music playback at the same time. There is tough competition in the form of the Honor Watch GS Pro, which (apart from offers) is a bit more expensive, but also has a microphone and loudspeaker and can control the aforementioned control of the music in parallel with tracking. Especially since their battery life is a little longer.

Mace Group, a global consultancy and construction firm headquartered in London, has deployed RealWear’s assisted reality wearable computers running voice-enabled Microsoft Teams, paving the way forward for the global construction industry. For the first time, the voice-activated RealWear HMT-1 wearable device has enabled hundreds of its workers and clients to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its carbon footprint via using the device for remote inspections during construction process.  The wearable deployment marks a first for the construction industry.

Read more: Exclusive Networks To Distribute RealWear’s Wearable Computer Across India, Southeast Asia, Australia and NZ

Mace works on a number of construction projects both in the UK and across the globe. When the pandemic hit and travel restrictions came into effect, Mace envisioned an entirely new and safer way to inspect building façades. To operate as effectively and as safely as possible under seemingly indefinite social distancing restrictions, it needed a solution that would enable inspection work to still be carried out but with minimal people onsite than normally permitted.

The RealWear headsets met Mace’s requirements for no compromises on safety, for hands-free operation, and the ability to clip to the side of hard hats. Its other requirements included durability and functionality at the right price point; two other areas where RealWear excelled, reports RealWear.

RealWear’s assisted reality head-mounted wearable computers require only a single site inspector to be physically present, while multiple others ‘view’ the site clearly and remotely from their own location, via a feed that streams from the innovative headset directly to the viewer’s handheld or laptop computer. The technology negates the need to physically travel to a site, while also delivering on Mace’s requirement for its workforce to be fully connected through remote collaboration. Furthermore, the deployment has banished the logistical and planning complexities of trying to coordinate the diaries of several site inspectors to be present at the same time on the same day. Since the completion of the deployment this month Mace has been able to reduce in-person site visits, and its Façade team has seen a 75% reduction in travel; not only has this resulted in a reduction in carbon emissions, but the time saved has freed up staff to be more productive during the course of their day.

“With its willingness to embrace the future, it’s appropriate that Mace is at the head of the curve within the construction industry with respect to deploying wearable technology,” commented Phil Sedge, Head of Facade, Mace Group. “Since the deployment, we have seen improvements in the decision-making process, and we’re able to share real-time information instantaneously. The technology has enabled us to reduce the number of staff traveling to the site, without any compromises to the quality of our work. The time saving and environmental benefits deliver further advantages.” He added: “RealWear’s reinvestment back into product development has also impressed us, which means that the foundations of this technology are future-proofed. We only wish we had deployed it sooner.”

Ross Riley, Head of Immersive, SystemActive commented:

“From a health and safety, durability, and price perspective, RealWear’s device ticked a lot of boxes. We worked with the senior teams at Mace to ensure the device was as easy as possible for everyone to use and that the bespoke operating system met Mace’s needs. We’re thrilled with the positive feedback from Mace on the deployment and look forward to working with the team in a continued rollout.”

“RealWear’s HMT-1 is purpose-built for productivity, even in extreme environments due to its ruggedness, durability, and functionality,” said Jon Arnold, VP of Sales, RealWear Inc. “With software updates to come in March that will further improve the user experience, the HMT-1 is set to be a central part of Mace’s workflow, both now and in the future,” he added.

Read more: Italgas Deploys RealWear’s HMT-1Z1 Wearable Solution Running OverIT Field Services Management Software

Based on this level of success, Mace plans to surpass the 150-unit mark over the next few months as it ramps up deployment of RealWear’s HMT-1 globally. The company has recently procured more units to go out to one of its sectors in Peru to help with monitoring of a project and its various phases, including safety inspections. It has also increased awareness through its supply chain who has started to adopt the technology.

InteliCare, a Perth, Australia-based at-home aged care tech company, has launched real-time reporting and insights of personal health metrics for elderly Australians.

Read more Remote Monitoring and Wearables are Enhancing Patient Care

Wearable smart health devices can now be integrated with InteliCare’s app, InteliLiving, to provide personal biometrics in real-time.

Those living independently can now have their health data uploaded to a cloud-based dashboard that tracks the activity and wellbeing of residents through integration with wearable devices, such as FitBit. Information captured to the dashboard will include heart rate, weight and BMI, respiration, temperature, blood oxygenation, blood glucose, and activity (steps). Additional alerts can then be set if pre-set levels are exceeded or fall below a key threshold.

Using the company’s trademarked InteliLiving app, members of a care team can view and track multiple health metrics on daily, weekly, monthly, or longer time frames. The most recent information is displayed on a dedicated page on the InteliLiving app or via the InteliCare Pro Dashboard. Users can preconfigure thresholds to easily visualize when a metric is abnormal. For example, if the weight drops below a pre-set threshold, the health metrics dashboard indicator turns amber along with the weight graph on the health metrics details page. When paired with InteliLiving passive sensors, daily routine data, and proactive analytics, InteliLiving’s health metrics provide an additional dimension to detect emerging health and wellness issues, enabling the care team to take a proactive approach to improve health journey of the client.

InteliLiving smart home-enabled analytics product already provides the elderly or health compromised and their care teams with insights and alerts based on individuals’ daily activities and routines. The Health Metrics analytics now capture and record health data by both manual and automated methods via integrated smart health tracking devices like Fitbit.

Read more Hillrom Buys Continuous Remote Monitoring Technology from EarlySense for $30 million

“InteliLivin health metrics is meeting an immediate customer need with a free offering. It is a clear example of how we are able to leverage our open architecture IoT platform to build and incorporate new products to meet a rapidly evolving market and remain ahead of the market, said Jason Waller, CEO, and Managing Director InteliCare. “It is the first step in a much deeper strategy to exploit our competitive advantage and gain deeper insights from AI to drive more efficient, better care.”

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