With the gradual saturation of the mobile smart terminal market, the competition among major terminal companies in smart phones and other fields has become increasingly fierce. Therefore, in addition
With the gradual saturation of the mobile smart terminal market, the competition among major terminal companies in smart phones and other fields has become increasingly fierce. Therefore, in addition to smart phones, they are developing more portable and interactive terminal products to find broader profits. Space has become a new choice for mobile terminal manufacturers. Wearable terminal devices have received widespread attention in the industry due to their portability and the huge potential market in the Internet of Things application field. Several major domestic and foreign technology companies have begun to focus on wearable terminal devices. Internationally, in addition to Google’s ongoing research and development of smart glasses products, Apple, Microsoft, etc. have also made patent arrangements for smart glasses early; at the same time, giants such as Apple, Google, Sony, Samsung and startups Pebble have joined the research and development of smart watches. Competing; Nike, Jawbone, Fitbit and other companies have released smart wristband products, which have been sold in the United States; Google and Apple have also carried out demonstrations and patent applications on smart shoe products. Domestically, ZTE, Huawei, Shanda, Baidu, Yingqu Technology and other companies have also joined the wearable device research and development boom, covering smart wristbands, smart watches, smart glasses and other products. Wearable terminal devices are becoming a new development trend, and the industry quickly set off a wave of wearable devices.
1. Classification of wearable devices
Nowadays, most wearable devices can be connected to mobile phones or other terminal devices. According to their different shapes, they can be divided into the following five types: those with head and neck as support (for example: helmets, glasses, ties, headwear, earphones, etc.); Supported (for example: rings, watches, wristbands, etc.); supported by the waist (for example: belts, belts and slimming belts, etc.); supported by the feet (for example: socks, shoes, anklets, etc.); Various non-mainstream product forms supported by other parts. (For example: clothing, bandages, school bags, etc.). Wearable devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to the difficulty of technical realization:
1.1 Wearable devices for sensor applications
For example, smart wristbands, smart watches, smart shoes, etc., can realize sensor-based applications. This type of wearable devices can be divided into two sub-categories according to application functions, including human health and motion tracking and smart phone assistance.
(1) Human health and sports tracking categories: such as Fuelband smart wristband, Jaebone Up smart bracelet, Gudong bracelet, Fitbit Flex smart bracelet, etc. These wearable devices mainly use sensing devices to record and evaluate the user's movement and health status, and usually need to be connected to smart terminal devices for data analysis, management, and display applications.
(2) Smart phone auxiliary categories: such as Pebble, Galaxy Gear smart watches, etc. These wearable devices, as a supplement to the functions of other mobile devices, are equipped with an operating system. On the one hand, they are usually used in conjunction with smartphones and other devices; on the other hand, they can simplify the operation of smartphones and integrate smartphone communication, email, and short message functions. Expand on wearable devices.
1.2 Wearable devices supporting new human-computer interaction technology
For example, smart glasses, in addition to sensor-based applications, can also achieve applications that support new human-computer interaction technologies. Such wearable devices can be classified into comprehensive intelligent terminals based on application functions.
Comprehensive smart terminals: such as Google Glass smart glasses. Although these devices usually need to be connected to mobile phones, they are more powerful and have an operating system. By supporting a variety of new human-computer interaction technologies such as new display technologies (such as micro-projection), voice interaction technologies (such as voice control), and augmented reality technologies , Image recognition technology (such as gesture recognition, face recognition), etc., can achieve similar functions to smart phones.
2. Development status of wearable device technology
Compared with traditional mobile smart terminals, wearable devices have the characteristics of small size and real-time contact. The key technologies applied to wearable devices mainly involve hardware platform technology, operating system technology, sensing technology, human-computer interaction technology, etc.
2.1 Hardware platform technology
The research and development of wearable device hardware focuses on the balance of performance and power consumption, which can usually be divided into two basic architectures.
The first is a general-purpose platform born out of smart terminals, using the existing mobile application processor (AP) as the core hardware. For example, Google Glass uses Texas Instruments’ OMAP 4430, and Galaxy Gear uses Samsung’s own Exynos 4212, which are based on the ARM Cortex-A9 architecture and are typical application processors. Using this type of architecture can effectively use the existing platforms of smart terminals to accelerate development. There are terminal peripheral devices available on the market and powerful, and can complete a series of interactive functions based on multimedia content such as augmented reality. The disadvantage is higher power consumption and shorter standby time, ranging from several hours to 1 day.
The other is combined with a low-power microcontroller (MCU) active in the industrial control field, based on embedded technology, and usually uses a mature real-time operating system (RTOS) to complete a fixed single task in a single field. For example, the Nest thermostat, Pebble smart watch, and FitBit One health tracker all use MCU products based on the ARM Cortex-M structure. The use of this type of architecture has the advantages of low power consumption and fast response speed. Generally, it can achieve a standby time of more than 10 days, but the support for high-performance human-computer interaction technologies such as augmented reality is weak, and it can only complete monitoring, recording, and reminding And other simple functions.
Wearable device hardware is developing towards miniaturization and low-power. Intel and Freescale's deployment of wearable reference platforms will accelerate the maturity of wearable device hardware. Intel already has a layout in the wearable field. At the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it announced a series of prototype reference designs for wearable devices, especially the Edison ultra-micro computing platform based on Quark processors, which can effectively reduce new The development threshold of a startup enterprise. Freescale also launched the wearable reference platform WaRP platform at CES. The platform adopts an open source model and gathers developers by providing rigorous hardware design specifications and a complete development environment. It provides various equipment such as APs, gyroscopes, and wireless charging modules. Integration.
2.2 Operating system technology
In the process of wearable device innovation, operating systems and other software play a role in linking up and down, promoting the integration of the entire industrial ecological chain, and playing a core role in innovation. At present, wearable device operating systems usually have several different technical routes.
One is for wearable devices based on sensor applications with relatively simple functions, usually using embedded software technology or mature real-time operating system (RTOS) to complete a fixed single task in a single field, such as smart bracelets, smart wristbands, and Pebble smart watches and other products.
The other is tailoring based on existing smart phone operating systems. For example, Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watches, Google Google Glass smart glasses and other products are developed based on the Android operating system. Apple’s iWatch smart watches will be equipped with the iOS operating system. At the 2014 Mobile World Congress (MWC), two second-generation smart watches, Gear2 and Gear2 Neo, using Tizen, another open source mobile operating system developed by Samsung, were officially launched, which also means that Samsung’s TizenOS operating system is used in wearable devices. Start to test the water.
In addition, operating systems specifically for wearable devices have also begun to appear. Google has released an Android Wear system platform for wearable devices, providing rich sensing capabilities enhancements, and emphasizing human-computer interaction support such as voice services, except for LG and Motorola. , Google is seeking cooperation with electronic product manufacturers Asus, HTC and Samsung. In addition, chip manufacturers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, MediaTek, etc. will also join the camp, and the pattern of wearable device operating systems will usher in new changes.
2.3 Sensor technology
Sensors are the core components of wearable devices. According to their functions, sensors in wearable devices can be roughly divided into three categories: motion sensors, biosensors, and environmental sensors.
Motion sensors include acceleration sensors, gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (or electronic compass sensors), atmospheric pressure sensors and so on. The main functions of these sensors are motion detection, navigation, entertainment, human-computer interaction, etc. The electronic compass sensor can be used to measure the direction to achieve or assist navigation; the atmospheric pressure sensor can calculate the altitude by measuring the atmospheric pressure. It is of great value to measure, record and analyze the human body's activities anytime and anywhere through the motion sensor. Users can know the number of running steps, swimming laps, cycling distance, energy consumption and sleep time, and even analyze the quality of sleep.
Biosensors include blood glucose sensors, blood pressure sensors, ECG sensors, electromyography sensors, body temperature sensors, brain wave sensors, etc. The main functions of these sensors include health and medical monitoring, entertainment and so on. With the help of these sensors used in wearable technology, health warnings and disease monitoring can be realized. Doctors can use this to improve diagnosis and family members can communicate better with patients.
Environmental sensors include temperature and humidity sensors, gas sensors, ultraviolet sensors, ambient light sensors, particulate matter sensors (or dust sensors), air pressure sensors, microphones, etc. These sensors mainly implement functions such as environmental monitoring, weather forecast, and health reminders.
Sensors in wearable devices are an extension of human senses. With the development of miniaturization and intelligentization of sensors, wearable devices will accelerate the integration of diverse sensing capabilities.
2.4 Human-computer interaction technology
Human-computer interaction technology has become a hot spot for competition among wearable device manufacturers such as smart glasses. New human-computer interaction technologies such as voice control, face recognition, gesture control, augmented reality, and eye tracking have begun to be applied in wearable devices, such as Google Glass Smart The core technology of glasses involves voice control, gesture control, micro-projection, bone conduction, augmented reality and many other aspects. The application of voice control technology is relatively extensive, and the application of products such as smart glasses has gradually extended to the application of smart watches, smart wristbands and other products. The series of smart watches released by Samsung and the latest smart bracelets have begun to support voice Control function, Google released the Android Wear system platform for wearable devices, and emphasized the better porting of Google Now voice services to the wearable field. Gesture control technology has made breakthroughs. In addition to the personalized control technologies such as touch, gesture recognition and glove control involved in the Google Glass invention patents, traditional gesture recognition technology companies have begun to cooperate with wearable device companies, which is expected to promote the gesture recognition function. Promotion and use in the field of wear. At MWC 2014, Lumus's smart glasses demonstrated the ability to carry EyeSight's gesture recognition software. Users can extend a finger, click on the icon in the virtual view, or slide to remove notifications. In addition, bone conduction technology is different from the interaction technology of traditional smart terminals. It has a broad application prospect in wearable devices. Google smart glasses, Baidu smart glasses, and Shanda smart watches are all equipped with bone conduction headphones, which have low interference and high degree of freedom. Conductive earphones will bring users a brand new listening experience. Wearable human-computer interaction technology is constantly upgrading and evolving, but it also brings new and interesting control experience. More and more intuitive, simple and natural human-computer interaction technology will still be an important breakthrough direction for wearable devices in the future.
Third, the development status of wearable devices
As a landmark product of wearable devices, Google Glass was released in April 2012, but it was not officially released for the first time in the United States until April 2014. The release was only 24 hours away. The release of Google Glass did not arouse strong reactions. One of the reasons was that it did not go on sale. More importantly, the testers of the product believed that Google Glass lacks dazzling features, and its essence is only an extension of smart mobile phones. At the same time, there are issues involving privacy and high prices. Similar to Google Glass, most of the wearable devices on the market are regarded as "chicken ribs" and there are some design drawbacks. In addition to the function of monitoring the body health index, the wearable devices on the market currently have other functions, such as Cameras, positioning, search, etc., can be replaced by smart phones. At the same time, the function of monitoring body health index can also be completed by household equipment such as blood pressure meters and clinical thermometers. It can be said that wearable devices still have some shortcomings in meeting the rigid needs of consumers and integrating resources. Although compared with other electronic devices such as PCs and mobile phones, they have the advantages of body contact and convenience, but it seems that wearable devices do not To fully play its role, it does not have strong core competitiveness.
3.1 The wearable device market is still open and has not yet formed a situation similar to an oligopoly in the smartphone field
The wearable device market is still open, and more corporate brands are beginning to make efforts. Since 2013, the wearable product market has gradually heated up, and many manufacturers have begun to enter this field. International companies have launched innovative products, including Google, Apple, Sony, Samsung, Pepper, Nike, Jawbone, Shanda and other domestic and foreign companies, and have launched smart products. Glasses, smart watches, smart bracelets, smart shoes and other products. At CES and MWC in 2014, wearable devices once again became a hot spot for technology products, and many manufacturers around the world showed and launched new products. On the one hand, the original manufacturers continue to make efforts. In addition to the original smart watch products, Samsung and Sony have launched new products such as smart bracelets and a new generation of smart watches; on the other hand, major ICT manufacturers have followed up, and Intel released a variety of models. Products, including smart watches, smart earplugs, smart headsets, etc. Epson, Lumus, etc. have launched smart glasses products, and domestic smart terminal manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE have also begun to follow up on smart watches, smart bracelets and other product areas, and more corporate brands have begun Force wearable devices.
Wearable devices have not yet formed a situation similar to the oligopoly in the field of smartphones, and the competitive landscape is uncertain. In the field of mobile smart terminals, Samsung and Apple maintain the leading global smart terminal sales, becoming the current global smart phone sales champion and runner-up. In the field of wearable devices, so far, no single manufacturer is dominant. Even Samsung has launched the Galaxy Gear smart watch and tried to promote it as a smart watch pioneer in the market. However, due to the product’s own power consumption and functions Insufficient innovation and other aspects are still difficult to gain widespread recognition from users. It is still very difficult for technology giants to unify the market in a short period of time.
3.2 Health and medical management products and equipment have become mainstream, and products of more forms continue to innovate
From the current product form of wearable devices, health and medical management products have become the focus of development. At present, various fitness bracelets, wristbands and other products have become the most popular wearable devices, and this phenomenon will continue. According to Juniper’s forecast, these products will account for more than 80% of wearable devices in 2017 Market. First of all, because modern people are gradually paying attention to their health status, such products can easily monitor their daily exercise and sleep status; another reason is that they are simple and easy to use, and with the emergence of new sensors, fitness equipment is still More advanced equipment is expected, such as non-invasive blood glucose monitoring equipment.
In addition to glasses and watches, more forms of products continue to innovate. Intel showed a connected baby jumpsuit at CES in 2014. The jumpsuit has a built-in breathing sensor. At the same time, the jumpsuit is equipped with a detachable turtle-shaped clip. The turtle-shaped clip has a built-in sensor that can be used to monitor the baby. Parents can view all the data monitored by the jumpsuit through the application in the iOS/Android smartphone. The start-up technology company Cuff also exhibited corresponding smart jewelry, necklaces, key chains and other jewelry series to the outside world in 2014, which can be connected to mobile phones via Bluetooth to send alarms and receive notifications. In addition, other innovative products such as clothing that can change the color of the fabric through smart buttons and wearable devices that can measure ultraviolet rays have also begun to emerge, and wearable devices have shown more diversified new ideas for research and development.
3.3 Internationally well-known companies have carried out patent layouts for wearable devices, occupying first-mover advantages in technology and patents
Patent litigation is regarded as a conventional weapon for enterprises to seek benefits and deter opponents in the field of mobile smart terminals. At present, well-known international companies have laid out patents for wearable device technology. In terms of smart glasses products, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have made patent arrangements early. Google announced its product plan for Google Glass in 2012. The core technology involves voice control, gesture recognition, micro-projection, bone conduction, augmented reality, and many other aspects. The related patent application for Google Glass was first submitted in October 2011, and Google received a total of 3 patents related to Google Glass; a patent approved by Apple in July 2012 shows that the “immersion” smart glasses iGlass uses two LCD screens to project images directly into the wearer’s eyes, and The difference between Google Glass is that the iGlass projector is installed on the side of the lens instead of directly in front of the wearer's eyes. The two LCD screens can expand the user's field of view, increase the number of pixels and the definition of the image, and avoid dizziness. Sense; Microsoft’s layout in the field of smart glasses is also relatively early. Its patent filed in May 2011 describes a partially transparent helmet-mounted glasses. Users can not only see the real scene, but also accept the user’s vision. For information about things within people, patented products are very similar to the current Google Glass principle. In terms of smart watch products, Google obtained a smart watch patent in 2012. According to the patent document description, the smart watch is equipped with a micro processor with wireless transmission function, which can provide functions such as sending and receiving information, navigation, and email reminders. And with its own camera, you can shoot video. In terms of smart shoe products, Apple is applying for a patent related to wearable computing technology in smart shoes. The smart shoe system integrates multiple sensors to track the usage of shoes in time and notify users when they need to be replaced. .
Fourth, the development dilemma of wearable devices
One is expensive. Samsung Galaxy gear and Jaw-bone smart bracelets are priced above 1,000 yuan, and Google Glass is priced at 1,500 US dollars, which is a high price for the general public. If we want to expand the market share and make it affordable for ordinary people, we should carry out quantitative production and reduce costs. It is also possible to develop multi-level products and implement differentiated pricing. It is not only necessary to manufacture high-priced and high-configuration products for electronic product enthusiasts and high-income groups, but also to design lower-priced products for civilians to fully meet the various needs of different groups of people. demand.
Second, the chip is not small enough and the battery life is short. Wearable devices have the advantages of small size, convenience, and interconnection with other devices. They have a high degree of stickiness with consumers and have a long use time. Therefore, their size, shape, and weight have strict requirements. However, the current wearable devices have poor battery life and require charging for several hours of continuous use, which causes inconvenience to users and affects consumer experience. Secondly, the chip size is too large, which leads to a larger size of the entire device and a decrease in flexibility. Affected by the chip, the support points of the components inside the wearable device are also subject to certain restrictions, which affects the way the wearable device is used as a small accessory and clothing.
The third is data privacy and security protection. Wearable devices can record and perceive user behavior and body data, so privacy protection and data security issues are extremely important. The user's behavior habits and physical information will be recorded, and some information of the user's contacts will also be recorded. The more these data, the more likely it is that security issues will occur, and there will be greater security risks. Once this information is mastered by lawbreakers, it will bring great harm to individuals and society.
4G technology provides a stable bandwidth of 150MB for wireless devices such as mobile phones, while 5G technology may provide a stable bandwidth of 1~10G for these devices. This can theoretically ensure the smooth interaction of wearable devices, but it must be considered. Yes, theoretically stable and wide bandwidth is not all of wearable technology. We must also ensure wireless security docking with personal data centers. Wearable devices cannot be a breakthrough point for personal information leakage, so a more smooth and secure wireless network Technology is also an insurmountable threshold for the development of wearable devices.
5. Design direction and development trend of wearable devices
5.1 Low restraint
At present, most of the wearable devices are auxiliary devices of computers, mobile phones and other terminals, and there are still many values that have not been developed. Therefore, the industry chain must be further integrated. The industry chain of wearable devices involves not only software platforms, but also hardware manufacturers. Google launched the A n d r o i d w e a r smart platform in March 2014. Both Android and Android Wear are open platforms that allow third parties to join the platform for the production of Android Wear compatible devices. It has powerful data analysis and discovery capabilities and back-end support, and has the "free and open source" Android ecosystem. For hardware merchants, this is an excellent opportunity. The application of wireless, Bluetooth and other technologies to connect wearable devices to various platforms and make wearable devices more portable and miniaturized is a very feasible development direction.
5.2 Highlight user experience
Wearable devices need to be worn on people, so they need to adapt to the needs of users and achieve beautiful results. Therefore, the design process should pay attention to beauty. At the same time, most people are reluctant to live with cold machines all day, so a friendly appearance is very important, which can prevent users from resisting electronic products when they touch the body. Thirdly, the exposed parts of the wearable device should be coordinated with the overall image of the user, so as to be "all-match" so as not to appear abrupt after wearing. Therefore, in the design process, designers must fully consider the characteristics and needs of the user group, while considering fashion, and carry out novel and unique appearance designs.
5.3 Information integration processing
At present, wearable devices can collect more and more data, achieving long-term tracking effects. This requires units that provide wearable devices to strengthen the analysis, research and processing of these data, and carry out various data analysis work closely around human health. In the future, combined with the monitoring results of the human body, wearable devices will be realized from the initial simple information collection to the realization of service grafting products. For example, using wearable devices, the medical system can analyze people's physical conditions, start automatic rescue services when emergencies occur, and predict the health status in the future for a period of time to prevent certain diseases. All in all, providing systematic health services will become an inevitable development trend of wearable devices.
Secondly, wearable devices are attractive and attractive because the results presented by these devices are attractive. Therefore, how to turn boring and huge data into human-recognizable and intuitive results is a must for wearable devices. Continuously evolving technology. In the era of big data, causation is no longer important, and correlation becomes the focus. The premise and foundation of correlation is the function of big data modeling. Some simple data modeling can be automatically generated by machines, and have deeper correlations. The data modeling function of the company requires continuous and in-depth exploration of human wisdom.
5.4 Diversified wearing and operation methods
At present, the attachment methods of wearable devices are still mainly traditional glasses, clothes, jewelry, watches, etc. In the future, wearable devices will develop in the direction of semi-implantation such as nails and dentures. In the future, when people extract their teeth, perhaps the dentist will consider installing a denture, which can monitor the function of the mouth or the whole body. With the development of wearable devices, the functions of voice recognition, somatosensory capture, eye trackers and other devices have also been continuously improved, and operations can also be completed in a non-contact manner, thereby greatly improving the user experience. However, in order to ensure operational safety and prevent failures due to non-contact operation, physical operation methods are still used in key operations, such as turning on, calling for help, and turning off.
5.5 Design for special industries
Wearable devices can provide professional services for some special groups and users in special industries. As long as some minor changes are made to the device, specific functions can be realized. For example, wearable devices can be applied to different fields through modular replacement systems. Another example is GooglGlass. When the school installs wearable devices in a dedicated teaching system, Google Glass will not connect to search engines and social networking sites, and will not operate in a network environment outside the school’s wireless network. Teachers will be on the way to the classroom. Can browse the information of all students in this grade, which can greatly save the teacher's time to look up materials in front of the computer; when answering student questions, the system will promptly push the student's relevant information to the teacher, including grades, majors, weaknesses, and strengths Subjects, etc., teachers can carry out targeted teaching. In addition, personalized special group needs design also includes taking care of children, the elderly, pets, etc. For example, for pets, people’s living standards have improved and the number of pets raised has increased. Although there are pet anti-lost devices on the market, pet owners are still willing to use wearable anti-lost devices for their pets. This anti-lost device not only has Positioning and anti-lost function, and can measure and control the various indicators of the pet body at any time, as long as the appearance of the simple modification can make this pet wearable device.
5.6 Excavate the rigid needs of customers
Exquisite appearance is important, but to truly ensure product sales and promote product development, it is still necessary to dig deeply into the needs of users. At present, one important reason why wearable devices have not been widely used is that their functions are only extensions to smart phones, and their true existence is not highlighted. They are just used as a functional platform of smart phones and are in an awkward situation. Compared with other devices, wearable devices can directly contact the body and can perform health care functions. This is a natural advantage and initial design direction. Current wearable devices can only be used as sphygmomanometers, thermometers, etc. to detect basic human health indexes, or add exercise index detection functions and positioning functions to achieve fitness tracking and health detection functions. In the future, personalized products can be made according to different groups of people. For example, for diabetic consumers, they can formulate personalized recipes based on their blood glucose values; combined with physiological indicators to prompt users whether they should apply moisturizer or sunscreen, etc., to provide users with personalized services. In addition to fitness and medical care, it can also be developed towards entertainment. Because wearable products support multimedia file playback and video recording, they can be combined with innovative technologies such as situational awareness to provide users with a better multimedia experience.
6. Technical Summary of Wearable Device Solution
Wearable devices are more capable of collecting personal data than other smart devices. Wearable products usually have a variety of sensors and interactive technologies built in, so that personal location, behavior, physical state, and health data can be recorded and recorded in real time. The analyzed data resources are synchronized to mobile devices such as smart phones for management. On the one hand, with the development of wearable devices, the collection and analysis of personal data by terminals will be faster and more comprehensive. Technology companies can use the massive sensing information of wearable devices to mine and release users' data information, which can be applied to personal health. Fields, medical fields, apparel fields, sports fields, identification, transportation, life services and other aspects; on the other hand, the information and data generated by all behaviors of wearable device users are closely related to the users themselves, and the risk of personal privacy leakage is greatly increased. , The more personal data that can be obtained, the greater the amount of private information in it. The security risks and problems that may be introduced by wearable devices need to be studied and prevented as soon as possible.
All in all, wearable devices have achieved a certain degree of development, but they have not yet reached their heyday. In a big way, wearable devices are the inevitable result of the development of human science and technology, but not the final form. In the future, with the rapid development of technology With development, human beings will gradually enter an intelligent society, and wearable devices will inevitably become popular on a large scale. With the development of wearable devices, its various functions will become more and more complete. There will be brand-new changes in the aesthetic experience, operation form, and human-computer interaction of wearable devices, which will surely further promote the long-term development of wearable devices. , Rapid development.
