Wearables have been quite polarizing in the consumer market. While some have heralded the arrival of more seamless forms of technology into everyday life, others have balked at the potential privacy issues that such “invisible” technology can bring into everyday social interaction. Some early adopters of Google Glass in New York and San Francisco have faced mainstream backlash, and other attempts of integrating wearables into daily life have been met with a healthy dose of skepticism. MIT Technology Review said earlier this year that the mainstream success of Google Glass lies in the acceptance of the broader public. This acceptance may come as a result of a more focused use for Glass.
“In the technology sphere, the cutting edge is always on the advance and there are exciting solutions to problems, new and old, that emerge daily,” says President, Jason Jones. “At Vertical Motion, we believe that wearables can be powerful tools for business use. We should be looking at how to use Google Glass as a tool for work.”
While the practicality of Google Glass is still debatable for some, its usability in the business setting can open up a lot of possibilities for optimizing workflow. Having information readily available, within your line of sight, and being able to deliver commands hands-free are game changers for a lot of work processes. Some of the notable examples we have seen so far are:
- Doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center using Google Glass in the ER
- Virgin Atlantic’s crew employing Google Glass for customer service, confirming travel itinerary
- Caterpillar looking to use Google Glass as a way to improve interaction with their equipment
Businesses are always looking at ways to adopt technology and optimize their processes. Since 2006, we have been building solutions for businesses across the web and mobile, and we are excited to add wearable technology as a platform for our applications.
Vertical Motion is currently in the research and development stages of deploying wearable technology for a client. We are building a Google Glass app specifically for use in an enterprise setting. Technicians working in the field will be able to use Google Glass for a variety of tasks that can be connected to an ERP system. Through this app, technicians can perform a number of duties such as inventory management, repair reports and inspection reports. Remote workers can start reports either by vocal command, or pull up information simply by glancing at the equipment in question. They can also easily access user manuals for field equipment. This app is currently being developed for the oil and gas sector, but can be used in other industries such as manufacturing and anywhere workers are deployed in the field.
Stay tuned for future developments as we continue to work on wearable technology.
Google Glass image via Wikimedia Commons author Mikepanhu