Is 2015 going to be the year of Wearables in industry? What is your strategy towards wearable devices across your “industrial operational team”?

I started writing this blog post 2 weeks ago, as I was seeing the potential for a huge increase in the empowerment of the mobile worker in industry, not just in the plant, but in all roles in the “flexible operational team” freeing the worker up from been tied to a computer.

I started ask “could 2015 be the real year where we see the explosion in industry of wearable devices to empower actionable decisions of all workers?”  All this became supported in a number events, publications in this two week period.

Last week I was delivering a session on the “re Imaging” of our world, and one of guys in audience had a watch with industrial alerts and alarms on it.

His workflow was:

·         that he received an alert/notification of event needing his attention, (he had set up his own alerts “my alerts” in our Smart Glance application)   

·         He was then able to take out his tablet, or smart phone and investigate the more detail on the event with the increased real estate experience a tablet or smart phone provides

Why does this appeal? Is that I am notified, but I can have the tablet in my backpack and based on the type of notification I am able to make a decision to investigate Now or defer to a better time, combine this with information on the tablet I can take an action.

Gartner then released this:

Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2867917

The top one was:

“Computing Everywhere

As mobile devices continue to proliferate, Gartner predicts an increased emphasis on serving the needs of the mobile user in diverse contexts and environments, as opposed to focusing on devices alone.

"Phones and wearable devices are now part of an expanded computing environment that includes such things as consumer electronics and connected screens in the workplace and public space," said David Cearley, vice president & Gartner Fellow. "Increasingly, it's the overall environment that will need to adapt to the requirements of the mobile user. This will continue to raise significant management challenges for IT organizations as they lose control of user endpoint devices. It will also require increased attention to user experience design."

The diagram below came out with commercial market on different wearable devices that we would expect to have and interact with. Again this points to different expectations, but even with the acceptance (takeup ) of devices like "fitbit" and now smart watches, we can only expect empowerment of our other sensors.

Adding to this in the last couple of weeks I was reviewing research about enabling the mobile person in the manufacturing/ industrial space. :

The concept of eye piece that can support HMI or reduce screens. In our case screen built in Wonderware InTouch can be seen in this eye piece through streaming HTML5, and actions taken. Yes is it practical that is depending on how you define the experience, certainly just taking a traditional HMI screen to an eye experience the size of postage stamp does not work. But again notifications, awareness of certain controls, and alarms, safety in that area is key. Due to magnification of eye and proximity you can see a significant amount of information

Contextualized Industrial Companion reality on the Tablet then provides nearly a full control, awareness experience, with location, and direction of vision awareness. So as a worker finds himself in a location or situation that they have to make a decision, take and action , on a situation, devices, process that was not planned. They can see the current situation, access information, access people/experts, share all in the cause of “making an actionable decision in the NOW” without having to go back to office or location.

Initially people think of the roaming worker on a plant, remote site, but the key changes are:

·         IT is allowing “bring your devices” on plants in the IT infrastructure and increasingly users are expecting to use the same or similar devices they have in their private life as in working life. The concept is simple why do need two different experiences. If I can be connected and empowered in my private life increasing efficiency why not in my working life with same experience but now for working decisions/actions.

·      

        Actionable Decisions are key in a timely manner, causing working outside the standard working hours, and always connected. Perfect example was when a end user came back to be realizing their internal connection was changing. They had asked for concurrent licenses for information clients, expecting a certain amount license to shared by those on duty. What they are now finding is that workers are not logging off, they stay connected maybe only with a smart phone but still connected. So now they rapidly approaching a point where they need the same number of licenses as users / workers and concept of concurrency does not apply.   

So the shift is from roles to “activities”, where the information can be delivered across different devices. With different applications with different information in context for the “activity/ decision” needing to be taken. The leading companies are all trying to empower the total operational team, all roles and all “activities” and this means unharnessing people from the computer console.   

So where are you on approach to introducing/ accepting these new end point devices in your industrial operational experience? Certainly from our stables, we will continue to increase enabling information and actions in all situations for the worker. Expect the adoption on wearables devices as the primary way the operational empowerment, notification and awareness to workers shifts in 2015/16.