Koru wearable trends 2016
- 1. KORU WEARABLE TRENDS 2016 A YEAR OF INTENSIFIED SEARCH FOR USER VALUE Edited by Christian Lindholm www.korulab.com
- 2. INTENSIFIED SEARCH FOR USER VALUE Pulse sensing is becoming a required feature in armbands, and GPS in sports watches. We will see better products for women and lower cost options from China. Banks will launch payment wearables, which will evolve into trust platforms. The wearables market is still fluid, in search of dominant designs and killer applications. The market is growing and products are improving rapidly. Users are not yet hooked on their wearables, and many churn after 3-6 months. The consumer electronics giants continue to play the platform game, facilitating the hunt for killer apps. Fitness wearable makers are improving design. Fashion brands have entered the market with the watch industry, and there are signs of payment emerging as the first killer app for wearables. New 2-second actions are becoming established: timely, context-relevant interaction.
- 3. KORU 2016 TRENDS: HEADLINES WEARABLES for women LUXURY? CONNECTED JEWELRY FOR BOYS HUNTING KILLER APPS WEARABLE PAYMENTS RINGS drive MINIATURIZATION PLATFORM JUNGLE: Confusing Developers AUDIO WEARABLES BECOME HEARABLES MEDALLIONS OF GREAT SOUND $20 or less DESIGNED IN CHINA Make it mine BESPOKE WEARABLES SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY Wearable Pill is the Smart Movement CLICK FOR ACTION WEARABLE SERVICES WITH SINGLE FUNCTIONS NEW PARADIGMS INTERACTION SMART TRADITIONS The Analog Digital
- 5. Misfit is now part of Fossil, could explode into a smart jewelry powerhouse. Necklaces could be a new form factor complementing smart watches. Bellabeat, with Leaf, demonstrates that shape with meaningful utility creates a compelling proposition. Huawei enjoyed success with a tiny smartwatch for women, selling 1.3 million in six days - certain to inspire follow-on products. WEARABLES AIMED SPECIFICALLY AT WOMEN Wearables are the first area of technology where the importance of style will eclipse technology. Accordingly, a big part of the future of the wearable tracker is ‘jewelryfication’, a space in which having the smallest tracker is a critical success factor. We believe consumer electronics giants will offer wearables targeted exclusively at women by the end of 2016. Misfit honed their style towards women with a Swarowski collaboration, now followed by Baublebar.
- 6. Apple’s first co- branding ever, with Hermes Balancing beauty and utility is a must & TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 8. We suspect Apple is determined to play the platform card across all price points, rather than creating unique timeless electronics. Will they dare to radically evolve the experience? Apple is creating value leveraging Hermes, while Fitbit leverages Tory Burch. We think brand partnerships will be one of the key trends of the year, offering great win-wins for fans. We expect deeper brand customization of software during 2016. LUXURY, CONNECTED JEWELRY FOR BOYS? Defining digital luxury is the great industry challenge. Classic sports watch brands will enter the smartwatch market through smart straps. Luxury does not age — instead, the strap ages, so this is a promising trend. TAG Heuer has input from Intel and Google, who are keen to see luxury brands invigorate the cost- driven Android Wear market. Niche brands like Suunto are using premium materials in their Kailash luxury GPS travel watch.
- 9. LUXURY, CONNECTED JEWELRY FOR BOYS Straps offer a promising real estate for innovation. Pebble could show the way with smart straps in 2016 Connectivity is a conservative first step to increased utility Tom Ford is having fun with Apple Watch luxury does not age TRENDSETTERS 2016 Watch brands enter the high-end market with strong design stories Suunto offers bespoke hardware builds, while TAG Heuer is getting help from Google and Intel.
- 10. 1 WEARABLE PILL IS THE SMART MOVEMENT
- 11. If they succeed, electronics giants will follow suit, with Sony likely to be among the first. However, the connection and reliability are still presenting major challenges. We now expect these bespoke devices to come with a bespoke set of user experiences and applications, simplifying user adoption. PILL IS THE WEARABLE ‘QUARTZ MOVEMENT’ Modularity in wearables presents a great opportunity. Suunto is pioneering a huge customization program around their Ambit 3 Peak and Sports watches. London-based startup Blocks is using the entire diameter around the wrist for sensors and interface elements, which opens up tantalizing possibilities. Pebble is turning smart straps into an innovation platform.
- 12. & TRENDSETTERS 2016 ‘quartz movement’ of the wearable
- 13. MAKE IT MINE– BESPOKE WEARABLES SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY
- 14. Relentless miniaturization and the addition of payment could deliver a killer package. The small size/long battery life and LED- based experience resulting from the ‘wearable pill’ form factor will enable rich customization, as it can be dropped into different form factors and covers. By the end of the year the fitness monitor will become invisible in jewelry. MAKE IT MINE — BESPOKE WEARABLES SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY The wearable pill, as defined by Misfit, perhaps represents the ‘quartz movement’ of the wearable business. The smaller the engine, the more room for aspirational design. It is perhaps surprising that Misfit has been allowed to exploit this category alone so far. Suunto setting the trend with significant mass customisation of their Ambit 3 family of products resulting in thousands of permutations.
- 15. I am unique. Respect my body & tastes. TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 16. $20 OR LESS - DESIGNED IN CHINA
- 17. We expect Google to enter the low cost bands market with Android Wear light, to ensure rich data collection. Many Chinese manufacturers will continue to flood the market with low cost low quality products, but these are doomed when compared to devices from Xiaomi. We expect to see rich screen experiences on many bands by summer. $20 OR LESS — DESIGNED IN CHINA Chinese firms have hired western designers to help cater to western tastes. Combined with low cost production, we will see a transformation in the wearables market. Xiaomi has driven wearables to marginal cost and might deploy a strategy of completely subsidized wearables for user acquisition. This would require significant investment in wellness and fitness services. Coupled with a strategy to integrate wallets, this may turn Xiaomi into trendsetters in 2016.
- 18. Huawei design leadership with Scandinavian simplicity New focus on packaging at sub-€100 price point Experience is still the biggest afterthought Lots of terrible clones Xiaomi is the market driver marginal cost & might deploy TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 20. Distribution and branding are major obstacles, we think web based distribution is the best approach forward until use cases are proven. Oura ring is setting the bar high and is the company to follow in 2016. RINGS DRIVE MINIATURIZATION Rings are becoming the next frontier in wearables. 2015 saw several new entrants into this market, creating opportunity for market learning. The extreme need for miniaturization forces hard prioritisation, rings are the most focused wearables. Screens, optical heart sensors, touch pads, galvanic skin response, Bluetooth and vibration are trade-off building blocks.
- 23. Spotify could emerge as a music medallion, thus liberating music from the phone and uniting wearable remote control with music consumption. This ‘Spotify Inside’ could power numerous brands. Apple could enter using the Beats brand, and Amazon could use this path into wearables. This category is a very straightforward value proposition for users, so we expect to see the first audio medallions by the end of 2016. AUDIO WEARABLES BECOME HEARABLES MEDALLIONS OF GREAT SOUND Headphones that merge audio and fitness are building momentum fast. This seems a natural way to expand the functionality of headphones, and can be either sports or casual driven. Coupled with wearable medallions, they can become true multi-part focused wearables. They can turn music services into appliances.
- 24. Spotify inside + Audio service amulets beg to be built Balanced beauty and utility is a must Cable management solved Audio is art, and art means premium natural way to expand the functionality TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 26. Samsung has made great hardware, which should be an interesting platform, provided consumer uptake follows. We also expect sports brands to platformize their offers in 2016. We even think an opportunity for smaller armband-based platforms emerge. The platform jungle is a much needed opportunity for innovation. PLATFORM JUNGLE – CONFUSING DEVELOPERS Device volume is the traditional wayfinder for developers. Currently, developers are experimenting with limited budgets. Wearable design is demanding due to small sizes and new contexts, and only the persistent and diligent are rewarded. There are five major wearable platforms: Apple Watch, Android Wear, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS and Pebble. We think Apple Watch will be the platform of choice.
- 27. Confused developers lean towards Apple for experimentation For Tizen to pull they need users to buy the devices and much more active community engagement. Pebble is grinding at good pace with its loyal following. May there be more exploration in Wear to find the soul.
- 29. Multi-touch has barely been explored so far, and Force Touch is still in its infancy. Touch bezels; gyro-based interaction, social haptic, radar and one hand operated wrist wearables will emerge. Text input is critical. We expect new interactions to be introduced in 2016 by Huawei, LG and Google as well as Apple, but a dominant design for wearable interaction hardware is unlikely to emerge yet. NEW INTERACTION PARADIGMS There are significant design efforts being made in interaction hardware and interaction structures, in wearables. Apple’s digital crown was followed by Samsung’s digital bezel. We expect solutions that combine new styles of physical motion and touch selection to emerge, helping users navigate more efficiently and facilitating richer application interaction.
- 30. Kinetic, multi-touch, spatial, force and more are needed to solve wearable usability. Powering contextual assistants, timelines, content circles, glanceable widgets, deep layers - all candidates for usable interaction styles. HW is the raw material for experiences TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 32. We also expect services to emerge like the Olio or Lark intelligent assistants. We expect Apple’s Siri to get a new visual ‘inter’face. Google Now will leap forward in 2016. Leveraging rich sensor and spatial context combined with a simple direct action is one route to a wearable killer app. CLICK FOR ACTION — WEARABLE SERVICES WITH SINGLE FUNCTIONS Application developers are looking to identify new services that deliver instant gratification, for instance with one-click ordering for Über. We will start to see new types of wearable applications during 2016, including focused one-click experiences that will emerge for popular services. These applications are more like action widgets than wearable services.
- 33. Watch complications can strike a balance between glanceability and experience access. “Yes, No, Tell Me More.” – Olio Assistant focused contextual tasks are an experience must TRENDSETTERS 2016
- 35. Withings is the pioneer, integrating an analogue stepcounter: beautiful, but limited. Another promising approach is ‘smartification’ of the analogue watch. Hewlett-Packard has partnered with Movado, while Chronos is bringing classic watches into the 21st century. Guess has integrated the Martian engine to turn a traditional watch into a basic smartwatch, and it is refreshingly minimalist. These devices point to new types of interfaces where vibration and light create a focused communication language. SMART TRADITIONS AND THE RISE OF ANALOGUE DIGITAL Watches are firmly back in fashion for millennials. But migrating these users to smart devices, rather than retro LCD watches or similar, requires strong focus on fashion and style. We think this should be visible in the experience, making the software match the hardware and brand experience.
- 36. Is this incremental utility enough to seduce consumers? light & vibrating a new UI vocabulary
- 38. Apple is actively creating and educating the market. They’ll make payments easy to use, but they may leave an enormous opportunity to make payments affordable and mass- market. Barclays’ bPay solution is being adopted by brands like Topshop offering six different payment wearables at launch. Clothing brand Lyle & Scott has integrated bPay in a jacket. HUNTING KILLER APPS — START WITH WEARABLE PAYMENT Wearable payments are emerging as one of the most promising wearable apps. Combined with varied and flexible form factors from stickers to bands or necklaces, payments are a consumer- friendly proposition, easy to integrate into everyday life. It’s a golden opportunity for banks to enter the wearable business via payments first, then evolving them into trust platforms.
- 39. We expect Xiaomi to enter with payment wearables in the second half of the year, and the Bellamy from fashion watchmaker Swatch will add payments and re-invent their classics for the digital millennials. We also expect Fossil, through its acquisition of Misfit, to enter in the payments arena in 2016. Pebble is working with Fitpay to bring out solutions in summer 2016. opportunity for banks to enter the wearable business
- 40. KORU WEARABLE TRENDS ARCHIVE ON SLIDESHAREwww.slideshare.net/KoruLab 2013 - 2016
- 41. POWERING ASPIRATION Koru platform powers scalable graphics and beautifully designed experiences on limited hardware for full design freedom.For more info: www.korulab.com [email protected] +358 400 459 040 @korulab @clindholm