Are wearable smart devices ultimately getting further and further away from the real consumer market?

The major changes that digital technology has brought to our lives have been most profound and long-lasting on smartphones. But over the past decade, some people have been thinking about whether physical objects can also become part of information interaction. For example, digital activities can be carried out without relying on screens, keyboards, mice, etc.

This concept has also led to the prosperity of smart hardware, especially wearable devices . However, after experiencing mixed industry competition and the test of the market, the smart wearable device industry has shown obvious changes.

Therefore, when Ivan Poupyrev, head of Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) department, once again tried to "promote" a smart jacket equipped with a computing chip at the TED conference not long ago, he was not praised but slapped in the face.

The collision between wearable devices and fashion, is the ending destined to be a waste?

Google's smart clothing "starts again" ,

What is the difference?

At the TED conference, Ivan Poupyrev, head of Google's advanced technology and planning department, wore a Commuter Trucker in collaboration with denim brand Levi's to showcase their latest smart clothing.

He put a Google Jacquard chip into the cuff of his jacket and switched to the next PPT by sliding his left hand outward on the cuff.

This was made possible by a breakthrough in chips. The Jacquard chip is very small, about the size of a finger joint, and can be bent and folded. It can connect physical objects with cloud computing and realize control functions such as gesture recognition. In terms of battery life, Google said that the device can be used for two weeks on a single charge.

The clothes are made of special fabric that is conductive and waterproof. You can complete a variety of related operations by double-clicking the sleeve, sliding inwards, and sliding outwards. Levi's also launched a matching application. By connecting the clothes to the mobile phone via Bluetooth, you can customize its functions, such as playing music by double-clicking the cuff. If the phone suddenly calls or plays music, you can press the cuff with your palm to start quick mute.

In fact, the market feedback for this product has been mediocre since the cooperation in 2017.

Because these things that a smart watch can do, after being added to clothes, the price is as high as 350 US dollars, about 2,300 yuan. And you can't just wear the same clothes every day just to enjoy the identity of a "geek", right?

The idea of ​​putting smart chips into clothing is not exclusive to Google. In fact, in 2014, "smart clothing" that can detect body functions appeared. For example, ATHOS training suits, Sensoria socks and sweatshirts, and even traditional fashion brand Ralph Lauren has launched similar cross-border items.

These clothes have a lot of sensors built into them, such as heart rate, breathing rate, muscle movement, etc., claiming that the test results are more accurate than smart bracelets. At that time, an analysis company published a report that by 2020, the annual sales of smart clothing could reach 10 million, far higher than the 140,000 pieces in 2013.

The result is obvious. With less than a few months to go until 2020, wearable smart clothing has still not "entered the homes of ordinary people", and the "140,000 pieces" that ignited this "fire" in 2013 were actually basically contracted by professional athletes.

"False demand", lack of practical value and low technological maturity are the biggest shortcomings of smart wearable devices. Can an alliance with fashion change these weaknesses? It seems difficult to draw a definite conclusion from the category of "smart clothing".

However, we can see some new ideas in the updated Google wearable devices. For example:

1. Miniaturization and foldability of electronic components .

Traditional "smart clothing" often needs to load a lot of electronic components if it wants to achieve certain functional management. For example, the ATHOS training suit integrates 32 sensors of 3 categories, making it difficult to provide a comfortable user experience. The Jacquard chip recommended by Ivan Poupyrev is based on Project Soli in 2015. Project Soli is a radar chip about the size of a fingernail, which detects the surrounding environment through radio wave reflection and is approved for use on aircraft. Therefore, the Jacquard chip has stronger application adaptability in terms of size and physical form.

2. Effective intelligence brought by cloud computing + AI.

Opponents of smart hardware hold the view that almost all wearable devices are built with a fixed pattern, that is, anything + sensor + chip + some kind of network connection method, Bluetooth, 2345G, WIFI, NFC, etc. This kind of "Internet of Everything" data collection and processing not only fails to generate added value, but also often becomes interference.

But the situation is changing. With breakthroughs in microcomputer chips and cloud computing, current microchips can already process large amounts of data in real time. For example, the chip developed by MIT can process real-time camera images at a speed of 171 frames per second. Google's Jacquard chip can handle complex problems by connecting to cloud computing. Currently, Google is planning to enhance clothing's recognition of different gestures, such as holding one's head with both hands and interlocking one's fingers, as well as visualize the feedback of plants when they are touched.

Ivan Poupyrev said: "When you put this chip into different objects, it will recognize the area you inserted it into and reconfigure itself to enable specific functions for those specific objects." It can be said that the sinking of cloud computing and AI capabilities is making wearable devices truly "smart."

3. Benign transformation of commercial implementation.

Let me tell you a ghost story - "ecology". The business model represented by these two words now seems to be either a technology game that only giants can play, or a capital game that draws pie in the sky to fill hunger and collect IQ tax. But a few years ago, almost all smart wearable devices played this business model. Use hardware to enter a certain market segment, combine (very small) big data to build a community, and realize the "ecological platform" that combines software and hardware through content + services (such as medical care, courses, etc.).

After the market was opened up, these highly similar "ghost stories" could not continue and were broken one after another. Where are the new business prospects? Google's traditional path of combining fashion items with smart hardware may bring new inspiration. Using the volume of physical goods such as clothing to achieve large-scale production of smart clothing and shoes, and turning technical prototypes into low-cost, practical and usable ones, is undoubtedly a new opportunity for wearable devices.

Wearable devices in progress,

Still unable to escape the cooling-off period

Of course, these new changes do not mean that the market will recover and flourish quickly. In fact, promoting this new type of smart wearable device is still a very difficult task.

First of all, the intelligence of wearable devices is different from that of mobile phones. There are too many alternatives, and it is difficult for consumers to truly perceive their updates and technological added value. At least so far, the functions we have seen on Google's smart jacket are still very limited. Scratching a PPT and playing music are obviously not attractive enough selling points for consumers. On this basis, if the price is much higher than other similar products, it is obviously impossible to attract a large number of users.

In addition, intelligent behavior often requires a lot of data as support. Google's smart jacket has been constantly upgraded. Last year, it launched features such as collection of locations and reminders when Uber and Lyft drivers accept orders, but this has also become a concern for users. Ivan Poupyrev said that Google currently saves the information collected by the Jacquard chip, but how to process and apply it is also a key factor that hinders users from trying.

What's more, since the type and scale of data that a single hardware can collect are very limited, true intelligence must rely on the collection and data sharing of multiple smart hardware devices. Even companies of the size of Apple and Google need to choose a decentralized approach to "band together."

As for how user data and privacy will flow in the "ecosystem" of multiple hardware linkages, as long as there are no effective constraints from third-party organizations and open standards, I am afraid consumers will remain on the sidelines.

Wearable devices and fashion are allied,

Is it a good idea?

When wearable devices begin to pursue their own use value, they will fall into an unsolvable proposition: they do not exist based on "urgent need".

If we want to define these smart hardware, it must not be "just needed products", but help people live more comfortably and conveniently. Therefore, it can never become an indispensable part of life like ordinary clothing and shoes, but through special functions, appearance, and cultural symbols, it becomes the identity of a group or circle.

Just as Steve Jobs positioned Apple, Apple has indeed continued to move its smartphones, watches, headphones and other products, which were originally targeted at technology enthusiasts and athletes, towards a broader consumer market.

As a result, a large number of smart hardware manufacturers have also begun to look for their own trend icons and muses, trying to use "fashion" as a content tool to create market penetration.

An interesting phenomenon is that the smart running shoes that Nike and Adidas abandoned one after another are now being relaunched on the market by Li Ning and Xiaomi designers; health management hardware that was declared unpopular because it could not reach medical standards is also "resurrecting" in the form of jewelry. For example, gemstone necklaces that can send sedentary reminders and detect ultraviolet rays, Ringly smart rings that can connect to smartphones, Belty smart belts that integrate power motors and can adjust the tightness by themselves, etc.