Employee Incentives & Health & Wellbeing News: Will these wearables soon be part of your business? We love the idea of a Jetsons future and we are creeping closer as wearable sensors are something we have adapted to. From tracking our steps on our iPhone or our dog walk, to our health data, there is an increasing amount of applications of wearable sensors in smart devices such as smart watches, shoes and medical devices which can track patients’ physical activity. This is just the tip of the iceberg – wearable image sensors market are expected to exhibit fast growth due to rising demand for intelligent smart devices such as smart watches and smart glasses. If you’re interested in how sensors might change what you do and what wearables could mean for your business – read on! (Don’t be mistaken that it’s a fad – research titled, “Wearable Sensors Market by Type and Application – Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025,” published by Crystal Market Research, states that the wearable sensors market is projected to be around $4 billion by 2025!) Where are we now? In the past, the size of front-end electronics and sensors made it difficult to use them in wearable tech to gather movement and physiological data, but now, with the advent of miniature circuits, front-end amplification and microcontroller functions, wearable sensors are being largely deployed in digital health monitoring systems. Sensors and wearables together allow continuous physiological monitoring with minimal manual intervention and at a significantly low cost. Such sensors can be easily integrated into a wide range of accessories such as hats, garments, wrist bands, shoes, socks, eyeglasses and other devices such as wristwatches, smartphones and headphones. Here are a few examples. Help anxious or depressed employees with Thync Thync is a device working with your phone that uses safe, low-level electrical stimulation to activate specific nerve pathways on the head and neck. According to Thync “these pathways communicate with areas in the brain that help control stress levels, mood and sleep quality.” With the stats already showing that 4 out of 5 users report lower stress and anxiety levels, this could be a wearable you give out straight away! Check alcohol levels and set alcohol limits The world’s first wearable alcohol tracker, BACtrack SKYN helps you make better decisions while drinking. It measures the alcohol coming from your skin and gives you an estimate of your alcohol level in real-time. It is designed so you can set alerts on your phone or Apple Watch to be notified when you’ve reached a specified BAC level or if you’re drinking too fast. Could the future office party see you setting a BAC level limit for safer drinking? Could the future office party see you setting a BAC level limit for safer drinking? Perk up tired employees with the smart cap According to their site, The SmartCap system is a fatigue monitoring tool that provides real-time measurements of fatigue, based on direct physiological measurement rather than estimation via measures of related symptoms. The SmartCap can be worn as a cap, hat, beanie, headband or another headwear variant that is fitted with a sophisticated removable sensor. The SmartCap is capable of reading electrical brain activity (EEG) and processing that information to determine an individual’s fatigue (alertness/drowsiness) level. The system uses a Bluetooth wireless connection to transmit data from the SmartCap to a display. A wristband guided presentation Myo lets you take control of your digital world from a distance: browse the web with the flick of a wrist. It can also have applications at work – namely – the ability to control a digital pointer or zoom in on your slides all with a snazzy looking bracelet. Myo reads gestures and motion to let you seamlessly control presentation software, for a better experience. Will your future pitches all have far more eye contact? Watch over remote work with ReMoTe ReMoTe (Remote Mobile Tele-assistance) is hands free, wearable, technology that connects remote experts with on site operators to provide real-time assistance when problems arise. Designed to operate in various environmental conditions, ReMoTe consists of a helper station and an operator station, with both the helper and the operator using a wearable computer that includes a helmet-mounted camera and a near-eye display. The display provides a shared visual space between the offsite helper and the onsite operator, allowing the helper to point at objects and show the operator how to perform actions. The operator can see the pointing and gestures from the helper’s virtual hands. Monitor long term employee illness anytime Philips Wearable Sensing Technologies (WeST) activities began at the end of 2007, when Philips spotted the future opportunities of wearables as enablers of value add services and they are already developing a range of applications for wellness, health and exercise. Safer commuting Way back in 2015, FEELythm was released – a wearable sensor device that detects when drivers are drowsy based on their pulse. The product, which uses a proprietary algorithm developed by Fujitsu Laboratories, monitors the driver’s pulse via a sensor attached to the earlobe, gauges drowsiness based on that, and notifies the driver What else? Plenty of new developments are ahead – from the glucose-sensing contact lens that Google currently has put on hold, to a so-called artificial pancreas that is really a series of linked devices that monitor blood sugar and deliver insulin as needed for diabetes patients What are your thoughts? Will you be using wearables in your workplace? More Incentive and Motivation News: Take a look at other categories across our site to find out more about employee engagement, rewards and benefits. Employee Engagement | Employee Benefits | Employee Reward and Recognition | New Launches | Interviews and Case Studies | Marketing and Loyalty Don’t forget we’re social too! 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