And You Thought Wearables Were Just for ConsumersAnd You Thought Wearables Were Just for Consumers

IoT and wearables are impacting business, from field technicians to healthcare personnel, warehouse workers, and beyond.

Wearables -- something we often associate with health and fitness. This is a correct, but limited view. Wearables are part of the business world as well. Since they are part of the business world, enterprises and most other organizations will have to contend with wearables as part of the support for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Wearables are technology or devices that can be worn most commonly as clothing or accessories that incorporate computer and advanced electronic technologies.

Wearables are portable. They are usually connected over wireless networks, cellular/mobile, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Low Power Wireless Access Networks (LPWAN), and possibly other technologies. A wearable may be constantly connected, connect when an event occurs, send a few data packets, or continuously stream.

Wearables can produce big data. They also can include video and virtual reality. Wearable-produced traffic can be one way or bidirectional, interactive or passive. Understanding when and how wearables will be deployed is necessary to ensuring effective network access to the data processing site, whether it is on premises or in the cloud.

Accelerating wearables adoption and utilization is about discovering ways that they improve business processes. This means leveraging other technologies such as the cloud and analytics in concert with wearable devices.

Technicians can be anyone who needs to perform a function at a distance, in fields from IT technology, to plumbing or electrical work. I want to see what the technician is doing to diagnose, install, or repair something. By being able to view what the technician sees, I can guide that person to perform functions that they have not been trained on, or help them work with a new unexpected problem. An Internet-connected eyewear application could reduce training costs because the technician could be taught in real time while at the remote location. This is one use of video streaming eyewear.

Technicians could be provided with a video feed that sends pertinent information to the eyewear such as diagrams, pictures, instructions, and records that would be useful at the remote location. The IoT device could be embedded into a pair of glasses or a helmet for utility workers. Testing devices could also be connected for more complex measurement analysis. The network connection could be local wireless or cell network connected.

Doctors, nurses, EMS, and fire personnel would also benefit from a streaming video connection. They could perform more complex tasks in situations when the patient is remotely located in a rural clinic or at an accident scene. The remote healthcare worker could work hands free and perform tasks that could be lifesaving.

Healthcare personnel could be at an enterprise when an employee has a problem. An employee could be on a job site and is injured or sick. This employee could be wearing sensing technology like a watch that could notify help when the vital signs of the employee are abnormal. This use of IoT could reduce insurance costs as well as the employer's liabilities. Further, the actions of the healthcare worker can be stored and useful when there is situation in which healthcare personnel are accused of improper treatment.

Wearables with video can be used to support and improve the productivity of warehouse and fulfillment workers. They can also reduce picking errors while improving productivity. Scanning eyewear could not only help with input product codes, it could verify the product by returning information that determines it is the correct product. Pictures of the product and its packaging could be sent to the picker in real time. Besides picking the right product, the pickers could be provided with the fastest route to a product based on real-time warehouse traffic information, not just a map.

Watch wearables; they will be part of your network. The applications for wearables for business will expand exponentially in the coming years. Wearable use, when properly employed, could go a long way to increasing productivity and profitability.

I have written on IoT and Big Data previously: IoT: More Than Just Technology, Are You New to IoT?, Successfully Managing IoT, IoT Security: An Avalanche of Problems, The Network Impact of Big Data, Getting Responsible with Big Data, Securing IoT -- Better Now Than Later, IoT Standards: Many, Not One, and How IoT Endpoints Measure an Environment.