Where Big Data And Wearables Intersect

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Wearables and big data: these two major growth industries within technology intersect in a sector that has Apple, Samsung and Google investing. That sector is fitness – an area that normally might not touch enterprises – but with the commercialization of IT, it is important to keep abreast of anything big tech companies consider the future.

The health and fitness industry has always been driven by the desire to track progress and improvement, but with emerging technologies around data analytics and wearable technology tools are developing to better track and predict trends in the long term.

Connected devices also allow for competition among fitness participants, better motivating them to be consistent in workouts and reaching health goals.

’It’s hard to maintain consistency,’ said Knowledgent big data expert Gerard Dwan. ’Because you’re really only competing with yourself, the only thing to keep you motivated is you.’

’The idea is you can start to compete, you can start to collect information, you can start to do long-term trends. These apps also buzz at you and beep at you when you haven’t taken a step or stood up in a couple of hours,’ he said.

Dwan said the real point of fitness tracking, however, is collecting data on a large scale and utilizing it to take better care of entire populations of people.

’It’s about the general health of everybody, and being able to predict diseases and health issues in advance,’ he said.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 24, 2015