Overview of the hottest wearable trends in 2014 by the Wearable software makers Koru. For the decision makers by the makers. Understand what will matter in wearables in 2014.

1. WEARABLES: TRENDS FOR 2014
‘In 2014 Samsung is !
the market locomotive.’
Compiled by Christian Lindholm

2. WEARABLE STYLING INTO LIFE
LIFE
UNLEASHED
SILVER & SOFT
SEAMLESS!
GIANTS GALORE
SMART RINGS
GOLD!
KILLER APP?

3. THE WEARABLES STAND-OFF
We’ll experience a flood of wearables in 2014, and consumers will start to discover great
experiences in both the €70-€150 and the €200-€500 segments. Right now Samsung is
aiming at this market, but start-ups are entering at breathtaking speed with a dizzying
range of concepts. "
"
The most hotly anticipated entries will be by Apple and LG, based on curved displays.
Expect to see these for Christmas 2014. Curved displays could be the objects that
transform the market: doing for wearables what the touch interface did for phones."
"
Cheap, fun wearables driven by fashion will be a exciting market. Most will still be built
around rectangular displays that link with smartphones."
"
"
"
"
Google should provide a wearables-specific platform or it may experience "
unprecedented fragmentation as players rush to market with their designs. "
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Consumer electronics
companies led by Samsung
build market awareness.
Wearables get transformed
through curved displays. Apple
enters with a big bang.
Lots of hype, modest sales and
initial consumer disappointment.
Massive fragmentation as
makers drive for proprietary
platforms.

4. SMARTWATCH GOES UPMARKET
The biggest and most profitable segment for watches is between €500-€2500, and it
will also be the holy grail for wearable makers. "
"
Most incumbents in the watch industry will keep their thinking in the mechanical era,
relying on the long-term value of mechanical movements, leaving new entrants to focus
on critical electronics, materials and branding."
"
We will see the first attempts by emerging brands to enter at this pricepoint with
innovative offerings. This bodes well for a long term disruption, but we think existing
watchmakers unlikely to be threatened in 2014 by smartwatch innovators. "
"
Millennials will drive the new smartwatch brands using sophisticated social media
unfamiliar to the mechanical makers. Meta Watch, who got star designer Frank Nuovo
to design their next generation of devices, is heading upmarket."
"
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Titanium and finer materials enter.
Fusion of mechanics and
electronics.
New brands enter with exclusive
niche offerings.
Leading mechanical incumbents
provide innovative offerings.

5. YEAR OF THE CONNECTED SPORTS WATCH
After the frenetic race to integrate GPS, the sports watch vendors will now turn their
attention to Bluetooth LE. This turns the smartphone into a sports hub - a user’s primary
focus point for performance and training analysis. "
"
By opening up sports watches to web services, the dynamic could be altered from silo
services to a platform-based ecosystem."
"
But complexity, leading to poor usability, is still a major obstacle for many players. This
could be a disruption opportunity for generic smartwatch providers who can start with
casual services and then add specialist applications."
"
Omegawave’s adaptive training plan based on pre-exercise measurements will be a
trendsetter in changing training habits."
"
But some old problems will remain: touch screens, rain and water are still a bad
combination. "
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Round vs rectangle is a major
design question for next
generation sports wearables.
Wearables transformed through
curved displays.
PANs (Presonal Area Networks)
emerge in the sports sector.

6. BIRTH OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS WEARABLES
A new segment of low cost, high performance wearables will emerge, leveraging
microcontrollers like Coretex M4 - the Sony Smart Watch 2, for example."
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
"
These relatively low cost (€99 - €149) wearables will be driven by fashion and style, and
will create a new segment Koru calls ‘Health and Happiness’."
Fun, affordable wearables built "
on top of microcontrollers.
"
Rich lifestyle segmentation
emerges; the digital Swatch "
is born.
H&H devices will mix fun and utility. Their experiences are gamified, vivid in colour and
loud in style - doing for wearables what Swatch did to the watch industry. "
They’ll require new types of software platforms."
"
Who ever moves first and boldly into this segment will score big. It’s not likely to be
Apple or Samsung; we predict that this is where new brands will emerge, true fusions of
technology and fashion. "
"
The size of this trend depends on how much the Millennials become bored with their
smartphones and tablets. We think they are yearning for something new. H&H
wearables could be the surprise in 2014."
This is the segment where the
teenagers make a worn item part
of their identity, like their parents
and grandparents before them.
Self-centricity & social will be the
killer apps.

7. A JUNGLE OF WEARABLE APP "
PLATFORMS
Wearable apps will become a mess for users and a headache for developers. Which
platforms to build for, what to build, and how to make money? The sports apps platform will
be a real land grab. "
"
But there are some positive signs. Pebble is seeing a growing community of app
developers and will launch an app store. Suunto has pioneered applications and has more
that 10,000 available apps, of which half are public and the rest are built by fans for
themselves. "
"
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Unique deep segmentation takes
hold in sports wearable segment.
Fragmentation and confusion
emerge in the marketplace.
Developers sit on the fence to
await sales numbers.
Sony has opened up their Smart Watch to developers and the first paid apps have
emerged. Samsung has an invite-only programme, but is likely to open up for developers
soon."
Pebble builds a cult following.
"
With app personalization and suitable functionality, the running watch can start
understanding Zumba, kickboxing and every other sport. We expect every smartwatch
provider to build their own app store, and consumers to experience a lawless jungle by
2015. "

8. DESIGNING FOR A 24/7 DIGITAL LIFE
Form factor, choice of materials, and size will play a crucial role in persuading users to
sleep with their devices and wear them 24/7."
"
Starting with the alarm clock, the smart use of vibration will become a killer asset,
beginning a shift from visual interfaces to haptic experiences. In 2014 we’ll take the
first steps to these kinds of notifications, and perhaps see the first generation of haptic
messaging."
"
Jawbone is a pioneer in 24/7 wearables, and their newly designed offering now
provides better software management for 24/7 digital life. They are busy shrinking the
acceptable size for 24/7 wearables, and could make a big leap. "
"
Constant pulse sensing will enter the market as Basis shrinks and players like PulseOn
get their products to market. We also expect to see wearable integrations with solutions
like the Beddit sleep sensor."
"
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
New soft materials emerge"
to increase comfort.
Constant 24/7 pulse sensing
becomes a reality.
Vibration becomes a haptic
interface for notifications.

9. DRESSING UP SIRI: A MORE INTIMATE VOICE?
Apple has been actively recruiting staff from the fashion industry and sourcing
components from the luxury industry. Will these new recruits help dress up Siri, who is
currently invisible? "
"
Do we really still need glowing rectangles for personal intimate experiences? "
"
Moviemaker Spike Jonze made the female voice invisible in his film ‘Her’, while
wearables from Misfit have made the traditional user interface disappear. Google and
Samsung have demonstrated that voice will become a critical input method for
wearables. "
"
Nuance voice biometrics, meaning that a user’s voice can be detected in the clutter of
sound, combined with contextual understanding could be first steps to make the
interface finally dissolve, and let style take over technology. "
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Screen-free user interfaces.
Context experiences centered
on the Now.
Nuance as industry enabler.

10. MAKING SENSE FROM STEPS:
AN INDUSTRY METRIC
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
The first wearables were connected pedometers. Now, counting a user’s daily steps
and aggregating them will become more valuable. "
Steps take on extra value as
data.
"
Innovations follow in making
sense of steps.
Its value is logical: we can start to measure market shares of engaged users. This will
spawn a flurry of innovation in making sense of steps. "
"
Mobile solutions like Moves provide inspiration and will challenge the makers of
wearables. Nike’s vision of turning Fuel into a currency will start to take shape.
Members of the ‘Million Fuel point club’ could start to get discount coupons, as Nike
extends Nike+ into a loyalty programme, leapfrogging competition. "
"
The industry is rushing towards the human motion graph, as footstep data becomes a
killer asset in the ‘Age of Context’."
First moves towards the human
motion graph become reality.

11. UNDERSTANDING LIFE 24/7 WAKES UP FACEBOOK
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
For the first time, ‘wearing Facebook’ makes the social network ubiquitous. Facebook
may finally start to leverage its promise of the social graph and true contextuality. "
Facebook must adapt to
wearables.
"
These ‘24/7 Lifelines’ will become a standard user experience for wellness wearables
and could be a first killer app for wearables. But how will Facebook deal with this 24/7
life?"
"
Koru doubts that just putting a silo Facebook app into a wearable will be compelling
enough, but if Facebook is not innovating around these moments, they will probably
soon find another Instagram-sized company to acquire. "
"
"
Others will fight vigorously to be the Lifeline of Choice. Once you are committed,
changing services may feel difficult, as the data is deep sensory information from your
body. "
24/7 Lifelines become part of
social networking experience.
Deep sensory information is
collected by innovators.

12. THE BIRTH
OF SOCIAL WEARABLES
We believe social media will drive wearables in the long term. 2014 will see many of these
kind of wearable concepts being tested through crowdfunding efforts."
"
But creating a wearable of this type means creating a new habit or modifying an existing
one, and it’s not a simple matter."
"
The well designed social wearable Bond is an example, devising a system of ‘tickles’ for
users, but could not attract funds through its campaign. Persistent innovators will
succeed and one day we ask how could we live without wearable emotional messaging."
"
Koru suspects that the target audience and crowd founders are simply not connecting."
"
Some of the concepts should never have seen the light of in the first place. Big company
R&D labs are full of similar projects… they could be lying in the drawer waiting for better
times."
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Finding the right value proposition
for social media wearables.
We’ll see real innovators: the
internet is about communication,
and so wearables will be about
communication.

13. SMART RINGS MAKE A DEBUT
Small is beautiful, and humans have enjoyed wearing rings on their fingers for millennia. "
"
Smart rings will offer two unique wearable benefits: one hand operation, and near
instant access. We are now at a point where Smart rings will be technically possible,
and set to be a new segment in 2014. "
"
Will they be a substitute for a smart watch or armband, or a complement? Long term,
Koru think they will become complements, but short term they will attract the curiosity of
early adopters."
"
"
Since they cannot have traditional user interfaces, they will need to become powerful
platforms for gestural interactions. Rings are thus a real innovation opportunity for
important interaction IPR. "
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR"
Innovation in interaction design.
Novel ways to conserve energy
and manage charging.
Fusion of jewelry and luxury.
Still rooted in jewelry: ‘diamonds
are a girl’s best friend’.

14. For more info:
www.korulab.com
christian@korulab.com
@korulab
@clindholm
© KORULAB, 2013 | Company Confidential

15. KORU VISION
FUNCTIONAL
JEWELRY FOR
EVERYONE
WHEN ELECTRONICS ARE
WORN 24/7, EVERYTHING
WILL BE REDEFINED:
THE WRIST BECOMES
THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
- SOCIAL NETWORKING
- PERSONAL AWARENESS
- MONEY
- ACCESS
- PRIVACY
© KORULAB, 2013 | Company Confidential

16. KORU MISSION
THE KORU MISSION IS TO BUILD THE VERY FINEST WEARABLE
SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE TO EMPOWER MAKERS OF NEXT
GENERATION WEARABLES.
EVERY LIFESTYLE :
ONE SW PLATFORM

17. TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES OFFER
Technology
• Koru SW Platform is small, fast and modern in architecture. It will enable
creation of the smallest, fastest and most customization-friendly wearables.
Koru UI Design
• Our UI design is geared towards a chrome-free look and unique style for
different lifestyles.
Koru Service Design
• Our design-by-prototyping approach ensures that same platform can be
used from concepting to final product, saving time and ensuring quality.