Most of us have gone through a phase of aggressively chasing the insect with a snake. Left, right, up, and down keys pushed animatedly to beat scores amongst our small circle of friends. With every new phone release, we have all waited in anticipation of a new, more updated version of the games with ‘edgier’ graphics. This was the era of Nokia and the game ‘snake’ that consumed everyone’s attention. Our expectations and imaginations were contained in the few apps that were preloaded on the phone.

The world of phones has seen a rapid evolution in the last couple of years. Big players like Apple and Samsung, have revolutionised the way we interact with our phones. They have almost become an extension of our physical selves, making it almost impossible for most of us to live without them. With advancements in technology, they have made devices such as the camera and Tomtom GPS redundant. Compressing the functionality of these devices into one unit has simplified life and made content generation and navigation as simple as a click. All this and more has been made possible with the simple idea of opening up application development to the minds of a million creators. With more apps within the reach of your palm, we have become more and more dependent on this 5-inch device.

Technology is extending to devices beyond the phone to objects that people wear every day. The rapidly growing market of wearables has enabled devices such as the watch to take on new meanings. The humble watch that showed only time and date can now monitor heart rates and capture the number of steps walked every day. It has expanded into the fitness aspect beautifully, making people get up and take charge of their health.

But just like the phone, a few apps won’t be enough to engage the user who, unlike Darwin’s theory of evolution, has in a short space of time evolved and become attuned to having a plethora of apps to choose from and switch between to stay interested and engaged. Our behaviour patterns with the phone should dictate the usage pattern with new age devices and gadgets. Single or a few functionalities will pique the interest for a limited time, making these devices redundant even before they take-off.

The hands-free nature of wearables is a huge advantage and we should leverage this in every form as it has the potential of offering engaging use cases, whether in the games space, sports or healthcare & fitness. The smartphone industry has boomed due to this ecosystem and similarly the wearables market will have the potential to soar with an advent of a robust and thriving app solution ecosystem.

Author: Sakhee Mody, Senior Executive, R&D Projects