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brent_cohler
Explorer

Did you receive the gift of Goggle Glass (or another brand of smart glasses) this holiday season? Probably not. It’s much more likely you got a Fitbit, Jawbone UP, or one of the other activity trackers that has flooded the market?

Whether or not you received one of these innovative gifts, it’s highly likely you were one of the 76% of smartphone owners (according to the 2013 Google/Ipsos Holiday Shopping intent survey) who used the latest mobile innovations to enhance your own shopping adventures - researching products and prices, reaching out to your social network for recommendations, and perhaps even completing the purchase. Or, if you're really lucky, in an extraordinary moment of serendipity, you had a meaningful interaction with Siri where she 1) actually understood your request and 2) then helped you locate that one bakery which sells edible fruitcakes (if such a product exists).

In a recent webinar, “Beyond the hype | How augmented reality, wearables, and other mobile innovations are driving busines...” we explored how many of these technological advancements are impacting both the consumer and corporate worlds. Throughout the session, we surveyed the audience – technology and business representatives from a number of leading brands -  to gauge what innovations their companies are looking to implement, when they’re likely do so, and what are the key drivers when making these decisions. Below are the results along with my reactions.

  • The top choice is no surprise – everyone knows it’s all about location, location, location.
  • We’ve been hearing about augmented reality (AR) for years, but have you ever used it in your personal or professional life? Perhaps the advent of smart glasses in the next 2-3 years will provide the spark that makes AR a reality.
  • Although wearables fall in the middle of the pack, they probably wouldn’t have even been on this list 1 or 2 years ago. Now, BI Intelligence projects this to be a $12 billion market. Look for explosive growth out of this category.
  • Siri jokes aside, there is still tremendous potential for voiced based commands, particularly when the responses become contextually relevant, taking into account information such as day/time, the requestors past behavior, current location, traveling speed, etc.  Since Apple hasn’t raised the bar since introducing Siri 2 years ago, and Google Now is starting to put on the pressure, there should be many exciting developments in the near term. Don’t take my word for it – check out this article.

  • It’s no surprise that companies still seem to be on the fence, especially when it comes to Google Glass. After all, today’s population of owners is still quite limited – only a small community of about 10,000 innovators or developers who were lucky enough to be hand selected by Google.
  • With wearables, there’s the potential “chicken and egg” scenario. Consumer demand will suffer until there is a robust marketplace of apps, yet most developers won’t invest their time and effort until they know the audience exists.
  • Look for initial smart glass demand to come from corporations that want to use them within the enterprise. They can afford the technology, and there are numerous use cases where it could help drive operational efficiencies throughout the business. For example, watch this video to see how smart glasses can transform the warehouse.

  • With many of these innovations, there will be a small window of opportunity to capitalize on a competitive advantage. The ecosystem is moving evolving so rapidly that yesterday’s competitive advantage will rapidly become table stakes functionality.
  • Don’t underestimate consumer demand, particularly with mobile. With 900,000 apps to choose from, consumers now have incredibly high expectations. If you fail to deliver a superior user experience, you risk losing customers to your closest competitor, or even worse, to 2 guys in a garage who are scheming to disrupt your entire industry.
  • Don’t ignore employee demand, especially if you want to improve operational efficiency. Being in the trenches on a day-to-day basis often makes your employees the most valuable source of ideas on how your organization can get things done more efficiently, at a higher quality.

Is your company planning to incorporate any of these innovations into its mobile strategy? Check out the webinar recording – it’s an informative session that covers:

  • What’s real and what’s hype when it comes to some of the latest mobile innovations
  • How to hone in on use cases that will wow users and drive business results – today
  • Five steps you must take to incorporate these innovations into your mobile strategy