Time Is on Your Side: Wearables Spell Opportunity for Speech Interface Designers

Smart Watches Have Strings Attached

Smart watches are supposed to be the ultimate in convenience and portability, but as users quickly find out, they still require another device for operation—the smartphone, as well as a Bluetooth.

"Smart watches do facilitate convenience somewhat for a lot of the most common activities with electronic wearable devices … [making and receiving] calls, [sending and receiving] email messages and text, and voice," Scholz says. They also make it easy to check your device without having to rummage through your pocket or bag, he says.

Llamas maintains that not all applications will require a smartphone. He says that there are some smart watches that have built-in GPS antennae that track user location, for example. Potentially, that information can be fed to the cloud. "If you're on a running application, all that information can go right to the cloud; it doesn’t have to go through a smartphone," he says. "Don't you want that information in real time?"

Wearables: They’re Not Just for Consumers Anymore

The consumer side of the wearables market might seem like the only place where smart watches have any appeal, but enterprises have begun to realize their value too. But "applications and use cases are probably better understood in the consumer area at this point," Miller says.

Llamas agrees, but expects a shift. "If you break … down [the number of applications for wearables] between consumer versus business applications, enterprises have been occupying the minority. Less than two percent of all applications out there are for businesses, but in 2019, we expect businesses to have twenty percent of all applications.”

In fact, the term "BYOW," or bring your own wearable, has been a buzzword among enterprises for at least a year. Recent technology has facilitated that. Concurrent with Apple's smart watch launch, Salesforce unveiled three applications developed specifically for the watch: Salesforce Analytics Cloud for Apple Watch and Salesforce1 for Apple Watch. The company also rolled out the open-source Salesforce Wear developer pack for Apple Watch, which enables more than 2 million Salesforce developers to create enterprise apps for Apple Watch that offer a direct connection to the Salesforce1 platform.

"As consumers grow more comfortable with voice recognition technology for everyday tasks, we're seeing developers apply speech technology to a variety of wearable devices," wrote Lindsey Irvine, global director of business development and strategic partnerships at Salesforce, in an email. "We see enterprise use cases leading the charge, and driving wearable adoption. The Apple Watch is a great example of this. With the Salesforce Analytics Cloud for the Apple Watch, you will be able to query via voice search to surface a report, view a dashboard, or find other information."

For example, Irvine stated that with the use of Salesforce Analytics Cloud for the Apple Watch, sales managers can receive a discount approval request and take action from a smart watch. Customer service executives can receive alerts if a critical case is escalated or if call wait times are about to exceed thresholds. Digital marketers can be alerted when a marketing campaign surpasses a goal. And employees can receive updates on key topics they follow in their community, "all from the wrist and in real time."

"It's still early, but we've already seen strong customer interest and adoption," Irvine wrote. "[Companies] want to test and learn because they know wearable technology has the potential to drive enormous value for their business."

Llamas points to the projected growth of the entire applications market: Last year IDC estimated that there were 2,500 applications; this year that number is expected to climb to 10,000 and, by 2019, there will be an estimated 355,000 applications across technology, including wearable devices.

"Wearables are going to be a gold rush opportunity for developers going forward," Llamas says. "There's going to be a lot of wearables out there, and now is the time to jump in, if you're not there already. It's going to be a fun ride."

Senior Editor Michele Masterson can be reached at mmasterson@infotoday.com.