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Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Tag Archives: wearables

Transparent technology, but can I opt-out?

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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NFC, ocean, wearables

A news article on wearable tech peaked my curiosity this afternoon with the first day of CES in Las Vegas.  Cruise ships that personalize your experience with a wearable medallion that share information on you to create ease of use and facilitates door opening, etc. This object can be worn as a necklace, clip or keychain – or carried in a passenger’s pocket. It will connect to onboard facilities, tracking meal orders or automatically unlocking guests’ cabins as they approach the door, as well as aid crew members by providing information on the guest to personalize the service.

But wait a minute — ease of use is great, but do I want all crew members to know things about me?  Is there an opt-out function?   What about guest privacy, can these be hacked? What if I do not want to be included in the ‘find the location of friends and family onboard the ship’ aspect, but I like the rest?

I have to say I liked the idea of the RFID band at the Disney parks for your hotel key, mobile wallet, etc as it is around your wrist and you control where you use it.    But when the object is disseminating info in a near field communications (NFC) manner, then I have to wonder if I can shut it off when I am in the public toilets, for example, vs. announcing my presences there if I am a celebrity onboard.

So I’d like to see a great user introductory set-up interface where you can customize what you opt-in and opt-out for in terms of services and information submission.  It would add even more value to the high end user who would be wearing it so they can control what is provided and how it is provided.

I have to say I am a bit sensitive to broadcasting data about myself in the public (or near public) spaces.   I just bought a new smart phone, and fairly stunned at the some of the permission requests of the new apps.    Only taking on board the minimum at present, cannot believe what they ask for!

But physical tokens for ease of service provisioning is becoming a hotter trend, so please to see a more sophisticated object vs a rubber wristband.

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Wearables in the Enterprise – more than watches and glasses

05 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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enterprise, recognition, role, smart office, wearables, workplace

When you hear the term “wearables”, you think of smart watches, fitbits and other consumer oriented devices. But the real market for wearables will be in the enterprise, such as on the shop floor, warehouses and in the conference rooms. This is the research I am working on right now.

Initial deployments should be industrial applications that have use cases that are specific with clear efficiency metrics and goals. Although some believe the “killer app” is the ability to work hands-free, the real level of personalization is the ability for the environment to recognize the user and his/her needs via their role in the organization. Entry/physical access, two factor authentication, personal preferences for heating and lighting, all of these can come from user recognition.

Another aspect of wearables is worker protection. For example, integrating intelligent textiles into clothing provides the possibility of changing color when exposed to damaging chemicals and/or radiation, warning the user of exposure in a way more immediately noticed than gauges or readings. Shape memory fabrics/garments can potentially be manufactured as novel fabrics which respond to the temperature stimulation, protecting workers by telling them when they might be in danger of cold or heat. And shear thickening fluid can be used for use in protective clothing as liquid body armour as it behaves as a liquid until it is exposed to mechanical stress. At that point, within a matter of milliseconds, it hardens into a solid. So when there is no threat to the wearer’s safety, he or she experiences little impairment in flexibility or range of motion, which is excellent for a warehouse or dock worker.

The eventual use of wearables among knowledge workers will be more of a generalized phenomenon, particularly when the devices become as multifunctional as their smart phones are. As many wear company badges for access to facilities, these could be become not only more fashionable but multifunctional as RFID and other technologies could be added to adapt the functionality to the role of the wearer.

Interested?  Get in touch with me.

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