Future of Wearable Technology

1 © KRONOS INCORPORATED November 24, 2014 © KRONOS INCORPORATED November 24, 2014

Wearable Technology in the Workplace Are you ready?

Joyce O’Donnell Maroney

Sr. Director Customer Experience & Services Marketing

2 © KRONOS INCORPORATED November 24, 2014

Nice to Meet You

• Tech Industry for over 30 years –

Control Data, Software AG, Wang,

Lotus/IBM, BrassRing, Kronos

• Leadership Positions in Sales, Services,

Operations, Marketing

• Kronos for 8 years

• Responsible for Services Marketing,

Voice of the Customer Program,

Reference Management and the

Workforce Institute at Kronos

• [email protected]

• Blog: www.workforceinstitute.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.workforceinstitute.org/


Agenda

• What is Wearable Technology?

• How is (or will) Wearable Technology Being Used at Work?

• How Do Workers Feel About Wearable Technology?

• Discussion


What Do We Mean by Wearable Technology?


There Are a Lot of Players


It’s Not New 1600’s - Abacus Ring

Qing Dynasty

1810 - Breguet Wrist Watch

Breguet created the first wrist

watch for the Queen of

Naples, Caroline Murat.

1972 -Keith Taft’s George Blackjack

Shoe Computer

World’s first microcomputer-powered

blackjack cheating device was

fitted around the waist, surrounded by

batteries and controlled by switches

attached to big toes inside custom

made shoes.


New Generation of Wearables

• Devices are increasingly smaller, more intelligent, and more wearable than in the past

• They can collect more information like:

– Location information through GPS or Access points

– Employee information like movement, heart rate, sleep patterns, fatigue

• Sensors can be embedded almost anywhere – such as on an employee’s uniform

• Employee data from wearable tech can be combined with data from other sources to provide real time visibility into worker productivity and availability


And Even Smaller

MC10, a company based in

Cambridge, Mass., is testing

attachable computers that look

like small rectangular stickers,

about the size of a piece of gum,

and can include wireless

antennas, temperature and

heart-rate sensors and a tiny

battery.

How would these gadgets work? Imagine being able to slap a few Band-Aid-

size sensors to your body when you go for a run, then seeing a micro-level

reading of your exercise on your phone.

Maybe you want to figure out which deodorant would be best for you. This

would be done with a sticker that tracks your sweat level, then emails you a

few brand recommendations. Or if you want to monitor your baby’s breathing,

you would stick a little sensor on the baby’s chest that will alert you to any

problems. – New York Times, October 8, 2014

http://www.mc10inc.com/


Why Does Kronos Care About Wearable Tech?

Wearable technologies

can expand the value of

Kronos capabilities

• Kronos technology already helps our customers manage critical employee data

• Adoption of mobile technology has been rapid

• Many Kronos customers are looking for ways to even more easily manage worker data – especially in real time


Benefits – Wellness

Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health found that 76 percent of employers surveyed are exploring the use of mobile health applications, fitness wearables and social media to encourage greater physical activity among their employees – Insurance Networking News, October 9, 2014


Benefits – Worker Safety

• Manufacturing employee could be injured when operating heavy machinery while working too much OT. A bio-sensor built into the uniform could notify management of a fatigue problem so they could reassign the employee before an incident takes place.

• Nurses could make critical errors or poor decisions when tired. A health monitor could detect heart rate to warn about fatigue during long shifts.


Benefits – Knowledge Sharing

I’m a field worker on an oil rig and am on a repair job where I need some help understanding how to fix a component that I don’t know very well. Imagine that I can connect to other workers who have the expertise I don’t, and who can guide me through what I need to do while watching me do it.


Benefits – Responding in Real Time

If workers were wearing GPS-enabled wearables, a manager in charge of a manufacturing assembly line that was running behind could identify available employees in another area who have slack time or are ahead of plan.


Benefits – Productivity

I’m a shipbuilder and at 9:00 we’re going to be welding the hull of the ship to the body of the ship. I need all 25 senior welders available at 8:45 so we start on time. It’s 8:50, we’re missing 5 of our best welders – where are they?

15 © KRONOS INCORPORATED November 24, 2014 © KRONOS INCORPORATED November 24, 2014

Attitudes Toward Wearable Technology

US Kronos Research – September 2014


Who is Using Wearable Technology Today

• Only 13% of all US respondents use wearable technology in their personal life, with Bluetooth devices and fitness monitors leading the way

• Perhaps not surprisingly, 18-34 year olds have the highest adoption at 19% with 65+ last at 9%

• 20% have used some type of wearable at work with ID badges and headsets most frequently mentioned

• U.S. lags behind! More than 80% of respondents in China, India, and Mexico use wearables at work; 56% in Germany; and more than 40% in France and Australia.

– U.K. has closest adoption rate to the U.S., but still 18% more


What Benefits Make It Likely You’d Wear Technology @Work?

61% of U.S. employed respondents would be more likely to accept a wearable device if:

Employer pays for the device (37%)

– Top 3 request in all regions

It increased safety for staff and customers (27%)

– #1 Worldwide potential benefit for company-wide adoption

Transparency about who has access to the data (26%)

Employees can provide feedback on the program before implementation (24%)

The technology improves customer satisfaction (24%)

It enables improved collaboration (23%)


Concerns About Wearable Technology

What % of U.S. respondents indicated they’d have NO concerns about wearable tech at work?

31%

Those with concerns cite:

• Privacy (44%)

• Data security (35%)

• Unreliability (31%)

• Increased stress (21%)

• Use for performance management (16%)


Beyond Safety, Attitudes Differ Around the World

• A whopping 87% of worldwide respondents see at least one potential personal work benefit (U.S. = 61%).

– Efficiency, work/life balance, and company-paid devices top 3

• Chinese, Indian, and Mexican respondents were more interested than others in using wearable technology to enable friendly workplace competition.

• Germany joined these countries as those to cite co-worker collaboration as a top three reason to use wearables at work.

• Improved customer satisfaction is a higher ranked benefit than data concerns in every region except the U.S. and Germany.


Discussion

• How is wearable technology being used in your workplace?

• Are there restrictions on employees’ use of wearable tech?

• What do you see as benefits? Risks?


Even Stranger Things to Come

On the 14th floor of the Prudential Center in

downtown Boston, a startup called Thync has

been quietly zapping the brains of more than

2,000 volunteers, refining a product that will

relax (or energize) you with low doses of

electricity applied to your head. – BetaBoston,

October 10, 2014

“This is an avenue for people to call up their best stuff on demand,” says

Isy Goldwasser, Thync’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “It’s a

way for us to overcome our basic limitation as people. It lets us call up

our focus, our calm, and creativity when we need it.” – Bloomberg

BusinessWeek, October 8, 2014


Contact Me:

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978-947-3031

www.workforceinstitute.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.workforceinstitute.org/