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The latest research note from analyst firm Gartner argues that wearables need to be more useful and dropout is a ‘serious problem’ for the industry.

The 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study showed that the abandonment rate of smartwatches is 29% and 30% for fitness trackers as people do not find them useful, they get bored of them or they break.

Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner said: “Dropout from device usage is a serious problem for the industry. The...

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A ‘significant’ number of biopharma companies are not actively incorporating wearable technology into their clinical trials, according to a new study from the Life Science Strategy Group, which argues there is a missed opportunity.

The report focuses on adoption of wearable technology in clinical trials and perceived preparedness of contract research organisations (CROs) to include wearable technology into clinical development services. Quantitative research with nearly...

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Mobile AR/VR smartglasses developer and manufacturer Osterhout Design Group (ODG) has closed a $58 million series A funding round with the participation of Shenzhen O-film Tech, Vanfund Urban Investment & Development and several individual investors participated, along with principal outside investor and strategic partner 21st Century Fox.

The money will be used to boost ODG’s production capabilities, complete its new products to be introduced at CES ’17 and expand its...

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Finland-based health technology company Ouraring, which claims to develop the world’s first ‘wellness ring’ alongside corresponding smartphone application ŌURA, has closed a €5 million series A funding round.

ŌURA is used in over 50 countries across the world out of which about two-thirds of the users are in the US alone. Apart from the individual users, many top universities, research organisations, sleep clinics, and companies also utilise rich data provided by...

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An international team of nanomaterials researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Korea University have developed a new, ultrathin, bendable and stretchable film that is both transparent and highly conductive to electricity. This film has potential applications in roll-up touchscreen displays, wearable electronics, flexible solar cells and electronic skin.

The transparent flexible film can be bent repeatedly and stretched to seven times its original length.

Senior...

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French sports wearables startup PIQ has unveiled GAIA, an autonomous system, and PIQ ROBOTTM, a ultra-high performance sensor, which enable athletes to identify their winning factors, highlighting the key strength they should concentrate on to succeed.

GAIA is claimed as being the first artificial intelligence system that can independently read and analyse sports movements. With the help of specific motion-capture algorithms, GAIA is capable of breaking down...

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Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and Northwestern University in Illinois, alongside the Eulji University College of Medicine in Korea, have developed a wearable acoustic sensor that can monitor heart health and recognise spoken words.

The sensor is a stretchable device that captures physiological sound signals from the body. It is well matched with human skin and can be mounted on nearly any surface of the body, says Jae-Woong Jeong, CU Boulder assistant...

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Digital security provider Gemalto has announced the launch of contactless EMV cards, alongside other wearable payment options, in the US.

Contactless cards are already available in the US and can be used anywhere via mobile payment options such as Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay. Gemalto – which is already a well-established firm dealing in digital security, smart cards and tokens – has delivered more than one billion contactless cards globally during the past five...

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This story is the opposite of ruff justice; a smart dog collar which aims to “secure and strengthen the bond between dog and owner” has been named a wearable technology awards honouree for the CES 2017 event in January.

The LINK AKC smart collar, which is expected to ship in early 2017, features a convex-shaped design that comfortably fits the natural shape of a dog's neck. The collar comes with a smartphone app that allows dog owners to stay fully connected with GPS...

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A three year research report from IDTechEx estimates that the global wearable technology market will be worth over $30 billion in 2016. The report says that the market will grow in three stages: 9% annually to over $40 billion in 2018, but then accelerating to 23% through to over $100 billion by 2023, before slowing to 10% to reach over $150 billion by 2026.

The report details IDTechEx's coverage of the wearable technology ecosystem, which looks at the industry from many different...

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TomTom has partnered with Amsterdam-based advertising agency Pool Worldwide to promote its new Get Going campaign, in order to further strengthen its Sports brand.

The campaign aims to span global markets with television, cinema, print, digital, and out-of-home ad placements.

TomTom has also added three new devices to its North American fitness wearables portfolio, namely TomTom Touch, TomTom Spark 3 and TomTom Adventurer. The TomTom Touch is claimed to be the first fitness tracker in...

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Planexta has introduced its Kickstarter campaign for the first emotion tracker for electrocardiography (ECG) technology, Sence. The technology helps users to understand their emotional state by measuring more than 64 emotions using heart rate variability (HRV), while simultaneously monitoring events that might trigger certain feelings.

HRV is as accurate as an ECG, which is 250 times better than traditional fitness trackers that use optical sensors that measure blood flow.

Users can track...

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A biomedical engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and his team of students are exploring a technique that will help improve the lives of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Along with his team, Kunal Mankodiya, director of URI’s Wearable Biosensing Laboratory, is researching how to transform gloves, socks, clothing and even shoes into high-tech items that will make people with Parkinson’s disease healthier.

The research focuses on...

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US-based wearable technology company Amazfit has introduced the new Amazfit Arc, a new heart rate, activity and sleep tracker that can follow a user’s progress in real-time. The Amazfit Arc features a scratch-resistant OLED touchscreen and a 20-day battery life for an introductory price of $49.99.

The Arc joins the recently announced, ceramic-based Moonbeam and Equator wearables by the company, which are the slimmest and most lightweight activity trackers on the market today. All...

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A list of top 10 best wearable app design companies has been prepared by San Francisco-based 10 Best Design, with Yudiz, Brick Simple, and Moyeo Apps the top three winners for October.

The list is prepared each month by using a complex algorithm process that weighs the pros and cons of each firm against other contenders.

Yudiz, according to the research, is argued to be one of the best app development agencies in India that can develop wearable applications for any hardware. The company...

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A newly published report from Scalar Market Research has predicted the global wearable technology market to grow at a CAGR of 18.9% from $29.92 billion in 2016 to hit $71.23 billion by 2021.

The report is entitled ‘Wearable Technology Market by Products, Application – Global Revenue, Trends, Growth, Share, Size and Forecast to 2021’, and focuses on the entire ecosystem, from smart clothing and glasses, to augmented reality headsets, to industry verticals from fitness...

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ABI Research has argued in its latest note that wearables in the manufacturing and field services verticals represent one quarter of devices shipped to end users in 2016, while video collaboration software developer Pristine says that more than half of its customers have moved from pilot programs to full-scale production deployments with its smart glasses range.

The forecast from ABI Research notes that shipments of enterprise wearable will increase threefold to top 35 million units in...

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BSX Technologies has announced that the Kickstarter campaign for its LVL wearable device has surpassed $1 million in funding with an original goal of $50,000, putting it in the top 0.06% of the crowd-funding site’s initiatives.

Integrated with smart sensor and patented red light technology, LVL can monitor the user’s present hydration levels and then recommends the exact volume needed to achieve optimal hydration. The device also tracks heart rate, sleep quality,...

Picture credit: Mio Global

Canada-based Mio Global, a company which provides wearable health technologies, has announced $15 million in funding led by Hydra Ventures with participation from private investors.

The company is seeking to impact the global health scenario with its new Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) personal health metric and Mio SLICE wrist-based fitness tracker.

PAI uses heart rate to track the body’s response to all types of physical activity while providing actionable and...

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A newly developed ‘artificial vision’ wearable technology device aims to help the almost 250 million people suffering from low vision globally achieve everday tasks with more ease than using traditional assistive reading devices, according to a study presented at the latest meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

The Orcam My Eye is a hands-free device that can be clipped to eyeglasses. It features a miniature camera that sees and recognises what the...