A report from Juniper Research has today revealed the true value of IoT for the healthcare and fitness sectors, which is set to soar by over 560% from today’s £214 million to £1.2 billion by 2019.
Connected healthcare devices and the data generated by the devices will potentially improve preventive healthcare, the ‘Smart Wireless Devices: CE, Enterprise, Fitness, Healthcare, Payments 2015-2019’ study revealed.
Technology capable of predicting heart attacks, telling people when and how to exercise in order to live a healthier live will become a reality in the years to come.
Juniper’s study also warned of a containment to the use of such data due to inconsistent regulation, alongside continued privacy concerns surrounding the sharing and security of personal data.
The use of someone’s data by a professional or concerned party (like a parent) to provide meaning and/or advice has been referred to as ‘Quantified Others’ – said to be key to the new technology.
At the moment, companies like GOQii and Filip Technologies are using this to provide services beyond mere data provision.
The study also said that such a thing has the potential to be undermined by unreliable data. Giving the example of medical devices which have validation standards against fitness devices which don’t.
As a conclusion, the paper suggests the development of standards to lay to rest consumer and medical concerns, leading to a faster and smoother adoption of such technology.
The study did not only look into the healthcare industry, but also into IoT and M2M as a whole.
The study predicted that smart wireless devices will penetrate the enterprise sector, giving special attention to smart glasses. Smart watches have been found to be the next big consumer choice in electronics, overtaking wearable cameras.
With the world of technology very much based on developed countries, the next four years will see the industry making giant steps towards a true global market, with big names looking to reach Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions.
James Moar, author of the paper said: "Connected fitness and health devices provide a way to collect biometric data, not interaction platforms.
"People want to interact with the devices at the app level – the draw is the information. Because of this, and the omnipresence of sensors, the importance of the hardware will diminish at a much faster rate than other CE market segments."
