By Industry

By Industry

Peter Chai MD Google Glass in Toxicology

1 min read

By Industry

Common Information Model Combines Augmented Reality and EPRI Research For Utility Workers

EPRI is looking at new ways, such as wearable technologies, to make it faster and easier for power plant workers to collect important data and then use software, such as EPRI’s PM Basis Database (PMBD) and Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management Suite (FW-PHM), via a Common Information Model (CIM) to improve operations and maintenance. Helmet provided by Daqri, LLC.

1 min read

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5 Benefits to Using Wearable Patient Monitors

5 Benefits to Using Wearable Patient Monitors: Fostering Mobility in Elderly Patients to Prevent Pressure Ulcers and Improve Health Care Written by Special Guest Blogger Patrick Reinhard, Chief Nursing Officer, Desert Valley Hospital Pressure ulcers continue to be a common health problem, particularly among the physically limited or bedridden elderly patients. This health and safety issue persists, notwithstanding the imposition of recent Medicare penalties for hospital-acquired conditions like pressure ulcers. A recent study published the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that the 2008 Hospital-Acquired Conditions Initiative (HACI) has had little financial impact on pressure ulcer payment changes on Medicare, other payers, and hospitals. As a nation, we spend more on pressure ulcer prevention and treatment a year than influenza. The cost of pressure ulcers to our health system is more than $11 billion with one in 30 hospitalized patients getting a pressure ulcer during their stay. Yet despite all the resources and innovation applied to pressure ulcer prevention and treatments, compliance to patient turn protocols is shown in the literature to be only between 30 to 66 percent. To effectively reduce pressure ulcers, we need to focus on simple, cost-effective interventions that improve health outcomes. Manual patient turning […]

4 min read

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Wearable Tech and Your Next Vacation

While a newly released report says that consumer interest in wearable technology is declining fast, enterprise interest in the technology is not slowing down but rather rising (and spreading) fast across the industry spectrum. In this post, we will take a look at two examples of wearable tech in the hospitality industry that have recently come to light. Whistler Blackcomb This major ski resort near Vancouver, Canada recently launched a pilot program featuring wearable technology, with the end goals of increasing efficiency in the resort’s operations and improving the visitor experience. In order to realize the pilot project, WB partnered with Vandrico Solutions, a Vancouver-based software company. So how exactly is wearable tech being utilized in this case? Actually, in a few ways. First of all, some of WB’s lift staff or “lifties” are going to be using smart glasses in order to really customize service at the resort. The smart glass technology will enable staff to recognize an individual getting off the lift and to know such things as whether it is that person’s first day on the mountain. Because the devices show staff real-time data about guests, lifties will be able to engage in a highly personal manner […]

3 min read

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Future of Wearables in Medicine

Written by Special Guest Blogger Dr. Yauheni Solad, Yale New Haven Health System We live in an exciting time. Evolution of cloud computing coupled with new ways to access and interact with cloud data via Smart Devices has created unprecedented environments. This has ignited changes in the way we practice Medicine and provide care. In this post I’ll try to review future trends and directions where I feel wearable technologies can provide benefits in healthcare. 1) Point-of-care wearable devices Every healthcare provider needs quick and reliable access to patients’ medical records. If you add a transcription service and a reference source with current guidelines and recommendations, you’ll probably save every provider several hours a day. Google Glass gave us hope that a wearable point-of-care device that does not distract the practitioner from the patient is not remote science fiction. As mentioned in my previous posts, Google Glass unfortunately was not ready for primetime. The good news is that Google Glass re-ignited interest and facilitated a road to market of a whole breed of smart devices, from similar Smart Glasses to Smart Watches, Smart Lenses, etc. Therefore, maybe, a good and reliable point-of-care wearable device is not so far away after […]

7 min read

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Wearable Tech in the Recruiting Industry

I recently came across an article discussing the potential for professional recruiters to use wearables. (Really everyone is getting in on the wearable tech game: first lawyers, then farmers, now recruiters.) The author of the article states that wearables “open the door to a range of new testing techniques to assess candidates and offer additional information to supply to client businesses.” The concept is the following: In the near future, recruiters could provide candidates with wearable devices and then undertake mock interviews and competency tests to determine whether or not an applicant is right for the job. How? By analyzing the data, of course. In this scenario, wearable data (various biometric information) would “objectively” indicate how a candidate copes under pressure; and that info/analysis could then be relayed back to a potential employer, exploited to provide coaching to improve the candidate, or else used to rule him or her out of a job. Imagine being given a smart band or smart watch for a job interview. The concept is a bit unnerving, like employing wearable tech as a slightly less sinister lie detector. Don’t get me wrong, I’m clearly a big advocate for the potential of wearable technology to transform […]

2 min read

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How to Make Sense of Wearables in Healthcare

Written by Special Guest Blogger Milos Todorovic, Lux Research We are all witnessing the hype – the Apple Watch, Google Glass, FitBit, Samsung Gear — are just a few (almost) household names we are constantly bombarded with by both the mainstream media and technology-specific media outlets. How far can you walk? How fast can you run? Did your baby just turn in bed? How well do you sleep? Is the sunlight too intense today? How about estimating your calorie intake? There is a wearable (and an App) for all of that. And much more. While there are a few high-profile developers and devices, there are literally hundreds of companies developing wearable devices today. And new ones are springing up like mushrooms after the rain. Wearables are an area of increasing attention and interest in healthcare, too, but the value proposition, uses, and devices are still unclear. The first level of confusion arises at the very definition of the boundary between consumer and healthcare – with the increased focus on preventive approaches, this line is increasingly blurred and many argue that monitoring/assessing any human activity that can ultimately affect health and wellbeing should be considered a part of healthcare. Even if […]

4 min read

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Wearable Technology by Industry: Construction

According to APX Labs, there are approximately 40 million deskless workers in the U.S. alone. Construction workers certainly count among this group, which stands to greatly benefit from wearable technology; but although construction is considered one of the major emerging markets for wearable tech, this sector has only just begun to dabble in the possibilities of wearables to increase safety and efficiency. Considering that construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, the case for wearables in the industry should be an easy one to make, right? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that construction jobsite accidents account for nearly 20% of all U.S. work-related fatalities & injuries. OSHA has categorized the causes of these accidents into “The Fatal Four”—falls, struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/between (none of which sound pretty). Eliminating the fatal four would save close to 500 lives in America each year, and save the construction industry billions of dollars in workers’ comp and related costs. Wearable technology may be able to greatly reduce the risks faced by construction workers everyday on the job. In an industry where mobility and precision are everything, what can wearable tech achieve? First, a little on the […]

9 min read

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Wearable Technology by Industry: First Responders

When a building is on fire, every second counts for the first responders rushing to the scene. Technology that could potentially save time and limit distractions could save lives in this scenario. For example, smartglasses could feed important real-time, lifesaving information directly to the eyeline of a firefighter, without his having to take his attention off the critical task at hand to reach for a radio, smartphone, tablet or computer. For those entrusted with our safety & security, having both hands free – a well-known advantage of using wearable tech as opposed to handheld devices or computers – is not just convenient; it’s crucial. There is great potential for wearable technology in the public sector. When it comes to police officers, firefighters, and paramedics, wearables are currently being tested to provide remote communication support & feedback; reliable visual & audio documentation in the field; increased safety & better training; and, as mentioned, the ability to access information hands-free while carrying out essential tasks. Wearable devices can assist in field communications and improve situational awareness, allowing for more informed decision making in the field, while keeping first responders’ hands free to deal with multiple issues at once. Imagine a paramedic tending […]

6 min read

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Wearable Technology by Industry: Healthcare and Medical

According to ABI Research, medical applications are one of the main drivers of wearables in the enterprise space. The way we see it, wearable tech comes into play in this field in three ways: 1) There are wearable devices worn by healthcare providers. For example, MedEx paramedics in Chicago and doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston wear Google Glass to communicate and check patient information. 2) Then, there are wearable medical devices for managing chronic diseases and for monitoring patients post-hospitalization, including wearable glucose monitors, ECG monitors, pulse oximeters, and blood pressure monitors. These can be used, of course, in hospitals but are also worn by patients – either purchased by them through their insurance or provided by a doctor – with the doctor having access to the data via a smartphone or tablet. 3) The last category comprises wearable devices for health-related uses, such as sports and fitness trackers. These can affect health insurance rates and users or wearers can also grant their health providers with access to the aggregate data. While smartglasses such as Google Glass and Epson Moverio and also smart badges like Hygreen’s and Biovigil’s hand hygiene monitoring systems for hospitals are used […]

3 min read

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Wearable Technology by Industry: Oil and Gas

The energy industry is fraught with challenges today, including declining production rates coupled with increasing production costs; a lack of knowledge and expertise among young workers due to a retiring skilled workforce; and, of course, a host of complications associated with increasingly remote and dangerous mega projects, not to mention the fall in crude oil prices. Is there potential for wearable technology to address some or all of these industry issues? Can wearables improve operational efficiencies; lead to significant cost savings; and/or make the dangerous, messy, and exceedingly complicated jobs in this sector safer and easier? What enhancements can wearable tech deliver in the oilfield? When we talk about wearable technology in oil & gas, we are referring to wearable devices that can both collect and deliver data in the field, including Google Glass but especially more ruggedized smart glasses, such as those by Vuzix and Epson, and also VR (virtual reality) headsets like the Oculus Rift. Other devices include smartwatches and other smart wrist- and armbands, smart helmets, and sensors embedded in clothing designed to detect such things as radiation and/or chemicals. Most promising, however, is the smartglasses + AR (augmented reality) combo, along with the data analytics afforded […]

7 min read

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Wearable Technology by Industry: Retail

Many analysts predict that the main beneficiaries of wearable tech will be those businesses that routinely involve deskless workers performing task-based activities. Retail is a great example—large store environments as well as wholesale warehouses are very mobile and task-driven, and could greatly benefit from wearables to increase efficiency in a range of activities, from receiving inbound deliveries and restocking shelves behind the scenes to creating an enhanced, seamless shopping experience on the consumer front. Some of the proposed applications for wearables in retail bank on shoppers owning their own wearable tech devices, whether Google Glass or smartwatches like the Samsung Gear or Apple Watch. Retailers could then create wearable apps, and send special, targeted offers to connected consumer devices while in the store. Other discussed “applications” focus on how retailers will need to carry wearable tech products for consumers to buy. Seeing as wearable technology is expected to grow to be a $19 billion industry by 2018, it is no wonder Amazon opened its Wearable Technology Store or that much of the discussion of wearables in the retail space centers around the consumer’s POV. But we see even more immediate potential in back-end applications when it comes to WT in […]

4 min read