Koru Wearable Trends 2016, now its 4th year. Providing a overview of key trends covering Apple Watch, Android Wear, Samsung, LG, Misfit, Fitbit, Suunto and other movers and shakers.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
christian@korulab.com
+358 400 459 040
@korulab @clindholm