Koru wearable trends now in the fifth year. Sharing our views for the year ahead. Koru merges design and technology and we love beautiful wearables and our mission is to power brands to deliver their experiences to their fans.

1. KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
2017
THE INDUSTRY
REGROUPS
AROUND ITS ROOTS:
SPORTS
GARMIN FENIX 3
@clindholm korulab.com

2. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
TREND SUMMARY
SPORTS & FITNESS ARE THE
FINANCIAL ENGINES
PLATFORM PARADOX:
DRIVING OUT
SEGMENTATION?
DIGITAL COMPLICATIONS:
AT HOME IN CLASSIC BODIES
HEARABLES: AUDIO & AI
MEET FOR AN INNOVATION
FEST
WEARABLES ON STYLE
STREET
WEARABLES DISAPPEAR
INTO THE FABRIC OF
FASHION
THE LONG JOURNEY TO
WEARABLE HEALTH
ELDORADO
KIDS’ WEARABLES BECOME
A HABIT
WEARABLE APPS - WHO
CAN FILL THE BLANKS WITH
USER VALUE?
WONDERFUL WATCHFACES:
RE-INVENTING THE CLOCK

3. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
FIVE YEARS AFTER THE FIRST
WEARABLES HYPE, WE ENTER AN
ERA OF CONSOLIDATION
We are seeing a unified
focus on sport, fashion and
fun. At the same time, early
pioneers like Pebble,
Jawbone and smaller
players are exiting the
market or struggling.
Fitbit is strong, with a cloud-
unified product line accross
fitness and sports.
Meanwhile, Apple needs to
show eco-system love, or
Samsung and LG will grasp
the opportunity to lead the
industry in new device
directions.
Garmin has quietly built a
wide product range, while
Google has ‘gone back to the
drawing board’ Google’s
strength, as ever, could be
having the courage to start
over.
Displays are still the main
technical hurdle, consuming
too much power to be on all
the time.
Numerous niches are set to
be uncovered through
emerging new app
platforms, such as Suunto
MoveSense and Garmin
Watchmaker. Full SW stack
and HW controls will enable
transformative innovation.
Hearables will become one
of the innovation hotbeds for
artificial intelligence, sensors,
form factors and style.

4. SPORTS & FITNESS
are the financial engines
Sports is where
wearables first
emerged in 1982
- and it is still the
locomotive that
powers wearables in
2017
Apple and Nike
collaborate: but can
users ‘just do it’ or are
they locked in two
data and experience
silos?
Garmin
could win big if it can
communicate benefits
and distribute its huge
product range.

5. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
MORE STYLE & ‘SMARTS’ EMERGE
IN SPORTS WEARABLES
It was surprising that Apple
moved into sports, rather
leading with new and
unknown. The player with the
biggest war chest should
charter new territory.
We expect Under Armour to
launch their own wearables,
hopefully with courage to
show the way.
Garmin added style and
leapt into new price band of
€1,500 in an attempt to make
sports wearables
aspirational, matching the
price of Tag Heuer Connect.
We expect several players to
exceed the €2,000 price
point by the end of 2017. This
will deliver exotic materials
like titanium, ceramics,
carbon and gems into
wearables, enabling further
segmentation.
We’ll also see growing
algorithmic support for
specific sports. Heart rate
monitoring will open up more
sophistication as well as a
route to mindfulness, stress
management and medical
uses. By the end of the year
we will see mindfulness
expanding sports products.
Virtual wearable fitness
coaches will improve rapidly
during 2017 and turn into
freemium services.
Despite all this, full
independence from the
mobile phone remains a
holy grail for sports
enthusiasts. The challenge
is how to keep it simple.

6. INDEPENDENCE FROM THE
PHONE IS WHERE
SAMSUNG SHOULD
EXPECT COMPETITION
FROM RIVAL LG
CAN GARMIN MANAGE
DISTRIBUTION
WITH SUCH A WIDE
PRODUCT RANGE?
SOUNDBITES2017
APPLE LOVES NIKE. BUT DOES THE APPLE EXPERIENCE
‘JUST DO IT’ FOR NIKE FANS?
ALSO THIS YEAR:
AMER GROUP DRIVES
SPORT DRIVEN
ECO-SYSTEMS USING
ITS SUUNTO BRAND
FITBIT IS IN A GOOD PLACE
BETWEEN FITNESS
AND FASHION
UNDER ARMOUR WILL
HIT THE MARKET WITH
SMART ARMOUR
IS THE JOURNEY TO
HEALTH TOO LONG?
JAWBONE MISSED
SPORTS AND MIGHT
DISAPPEAR IN 2017
MUSIC COULD BECOME
THE NEXT KILLER
APP WITH A SURGE IN
SMART HEARABLES:
BRIGHT DAYS FOR
SPOTIFY?

7. Tag Heuer has
two clicks of
differentiation.
What do users want in
a brand experience?
Nixon likes
Google’s differentiated
standard: unique
experiences on top of
the common apps
Going back to the drawing
board is a bold, brave decision
by Google.
PLATFORM PARADOX
drives out segmentation
GOOGLE
Going back to the drawing
board is a bold, brave decision
by Google.

8. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
GOOGLE WILL RETHINK WEAR
Shrinking the phone
experience and the app
model did not deliver for
Android Wear.
The wearable context is a
tough nut: ergonomics,
multi-modal challenges, size,
and power consumption
require new types of user
experience thinking. On top
of this, fashion and design
are even more important
than anticipated.
Integrating the contextual
smarts of Google Now with
relevant glanceable content
is completely new territory in
interaction design: blending
this with gestures will yield
something special.
Smaller manufacturers like
Nixon appreciate lower
barriers to entry, and
creating specific apps for
their community enables
them to play in the wearable
field.
But is it enough to entice
consumers?
Moto decided it could not
differentiate without service,
and postponed its Android
Wear devices.

9. CLOCK FACES, APPS AND
WIDGETS MERGE INTO
CONTEXTUAL, SOCIAL
AND NEW
GLANCEABLE
EXPERIENCES
ANDROID SHOULD
ENABLE
SMALL FORM
FACTORS
ASIAN MANUFACTURERS FLOOD THE MARKET WITH
ANDROID DEVICES
ALSO THIS YEAR:
CONVERSATIONAL
INTERFACES
COULD BECOME A
CENTRAL THEME FOR
THE RE-INVENTED
ANDROID WEAR
CONTEXTUAL
TASKS
COULD REDEFINE THE
IDEA OF APPS
WHO WILL KICK
START SERVICES?
NO BUSINESS MODELS
IN SIGHT
BOLD DESIGNERS WILL
START ELIMINATING
BUTTONS IN
INTERFACES, TO TURN
CONTENT INTO TOUCH
ACTIONS
SOUNDBITES2017

10. DIGITAL
COMPLICATIONS
in classic bodies
Withings Steel HR was our
favourite new product in 2016.
We expect it to be a major
trendsetter for the Swiss and
classic watch industry.
HP is charging
forward as a shaper
of the digital
movement powering
brands
Withings
Shows the power of
pixel-based
complications. We
expect to see others
follow their lead
WITHINGS STEEL HR

11. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
FUSION WATCHES
Small, touch-based digital
widgets are taking
complications into the 21st
century. These will act as a
bridge to always-on digital
displays with invisible pixels
and universally accepted
wearable use cases.
With Nokia, Withings has a
bright future: Nokia is
re-inventing itself and uniting
digital health and wellness
through a smart 5G and IoT
network.
HP is active with dozens of
projects to transform classic
watches with their connected
movements. Their smart
watch group is led by Bill
Geiser, a pioneer in the field.
But who is going to make
the digital Swatch - a
smartwatch designed
purely around fun and
style?

12. HEARABLES:
where audio and AI meet
for an innovation fest
Mersiv - creating an
interactive language
learning tool? Could
inspire to make
headset experience
fusions.
Vinci is showed the
way and giants follow
in their offering.
Hearables will become
fashion experiences.
AIRPODS BY APPLE
Virtual assistants
will emerge within
headsets and by 2018
all innovative brands
will be voice assistant
enhanced.

13. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
HEARABLES RUSH TO MEET
SAMANTHA
Spike Jones’ sci-fi movie
Her featured audio/AI
interfaces, or ‘hearables’ -
which are highly relevant
today. We think hearables
will become the next
platform bet for Google.
Due to the highly segmented,
fashion-dominated market in
headphones, they could
become the next mass
market of smart wearables.
There are interesting
interface challenges around
assistant behaviour - when to
engage, listen or provide
advice. And for these
assistants to truly work, they
need to integrate the utility
of hearing aids which can
adapt to ambient sound.
Jabra is a big player in
hearing aids; if they dare to
invest they could lead. Beats,
now part of Apple, could
finally show the rationale for
its acquisition. Screens will
bring new angles to fashion
headsets.
Having a virtual coach
helping you push harder, or
your own virtual assistant is
here now - and getting us
closer to the world of Her.

14. THE WEARABLE UX
STARTS TO SPLIT:
COMBINING
GLANCEABLES AND
HEARABLES MAKES
SENSE
AUDIO NECKLACES
WILL BECOME FASHION
ITEMS
AUDIO COULD GIVE BIRTH TO CLIPPABLE SMART
MEDALLIONS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
THE FIRST
NOISE CANCELLING
AUDIO MEDALLIONS
HIT THE MARKET
BEATS WILL MAKE
HEARABLES COOL AND
SMART,
OTHERS WILL
FOLLOW
WEARABLES GET
CACHED MUSIC: A
MASSIVE GROWTH
OPPORTUNITY
FOR STREAMING
PLATFORM
PROVIDERS?
SOUNDBITES2017

15. Wearables on
STYLE STREET
Fossil Q brings
timeless style and the
giant design machine
of Fossil into the
connected digital age
Kalevala Koru
Entered the smart
wearable space with a
line of focused devices
around security, activity
and social location done
in partnership with
BiiSafe

16. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
WEARABLES MOVE TOWARDS
FASHION
Fossil will lead the
wearable industry towards
fashion, with its own
platform, services - and
hopefully, flair.
Now Fossil’s acquisition of
Misfit marks a transition in its
strategy, opening up a
‘tracking movement’ that can
be integrated into a broad
range of products.
Miniaturising this movement
is a priority and we expect
Fossil to bring out a
micro-sized tracking engine
during 2017, and also pioneer
smart movements with
flexible interfaces.
We expect Swarovski to
launch a range of smart
jewelry ranging from
trackers to smartwatches.
Jewelry opens up more
focused offerings, and
opportunities for activity,
security and reminder
type-wearables.
The market has seen rings,
earrings and clip-on
wearables specifically aimed
at women. Oura can start to
assess flu symptoms and
menstrual cycles from the
finger providing a whole new
level of utility.
We expect style driven
wearables to be one of the
biggest themes of 2017.

17. Into the fabric of
FASHION
Fitbit Flex II is the
benchmark for motion
movements
Amazfit Equator
Takes trackers to new
level of style and a
brand we will hear
more about. And puts
‘Designed in China’ in
new light
FITBIT FLEX II
We expect to see
further developments
in tiny tracker devices,
which will pave the
way to rich
partnerships with
fashion brands

18. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
INVISIBLE WEARABLES
Fitbit leaped ahead with its
tiny Flex II tracker: small
enough to disappear into
objects that do not look and
feel like wearables.
These tiny objects represent
state-of-the-art in
miniaturisation.
The key question is how
small is small enough?
Will freezing size be essential
to enable increases in
functionality to take place?
We expect Misfit to launch a
much smaller tracker engine
in 2017 and provide both
bangles and smart strap
integrations, helping classic
watch lovers go hybrid.
Huami is the design leader
in the field.
This market will initially be a
market of three: Fitbit,
Huami/Amazfit and Misfit.
We do not expect Apple to
follow as their brand value
alone does not enable
aspirational value to be
captured. Hence we think
they will focus on hearables.

19. The long journey to
WEARABLE HEALTH
ELDORADO
Philips is well on the
way to adding flair,
while keeping the
medical rigour which
will lead them to
success
Withings and Nokia
support each other
into a healthy future
centered on everyday
beauty and utility
PHILIPS HEALTHSUITE

20. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
PROACTIVE HEALTH:
A WEARABLE HOLY GRAIL
Will doctors start
prescribing wearables in
2017? Unlikely.
But we think sensor-based
and cloud services will move
closer to providing predicting
tools in diabetes, or cardio.
Philips launched their
health-certified product suite
with a stylish cardio watch.
Fitbit expects to grow into a
health company, and
Jawbone sees it as its pivot.
But as a pivot, this could be
painful: taking up to year to
get answers to regulatory
questions.
In the wellness market, we
are seeing interesting niches:
wearables for the elderly,
menstruation trackers,
breathing and emotion
trackers are all now
available. In-ear biometrics
still remains in research in
2017, but is the holy grail for
non-invasive monitoring.

21. PHILIPS IS IN A GREAT
SPOT TO LEARN WITH
ONE FOOT IN MEDICAL
AND ONE FOOT IN
WELLNESS.
STYLE, DISTRIBUTION,
PRICING AND MESSAGING
ARE ALL BIG QUESTIONS
YEARNING FOR ANSWERS
DIABETES MANAGEMENT BENEFITS FROM
CONTEXTUAL & PREDICTION ALGORITHMS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
HEART RATE-VARIABLE
AND
DEEPER CARDIO
UNDERSTANDING
WILL HELP MANAGE RISK.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY
STARTING TO SEE DAWN
NOKIA’S VISION IS TO
UNITE PREDICTIVE
AND REACTIVE
HEALTH USING
WEARABLES, SMART
OBJECTS AND A HEALTH
PLATFORM
ENIGMA’S LASER BASED
SENSOR OFFERS A DEEPER
NON INVASIVE
UNDERSTANDING
OF GLUCOSE AND
LACTATE THRESHOLD
LEVELS
EMPATICA IS SHIPPING ITS
CERTIFIED EPILEPSY
MONITOR
SOUNDBITES2017

22. MAGIC BAND BY WALT DISNEY WORLD
BBK is the number
one kids’ watch in
China, with 875k
shipped in 2016 Q2
alone
Spero
Innovates past the
Star Wars franchise -
adding a screen and
experience could
liberate the force
KIDS’ WEARABLES
creating habit

23. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
KIDS’ WEARABLES
Wearables for kids is
emerging as one of the
hottest categories, where
next generation messaging
could be invented.
Messaging was the first killer
app of mobile after voice
and has shown stickiness
and transformation over the
years. We think messaging is
the biggest killer app
opportunity in wearables,
and kids watches could be
the birthplace.
Huawei has partnered with
Disney to leverage popular
characters in clock faces. The
Disney Magic Band could
become a platform.
Reima has created a tracker
to motivate kids to move
more. And parents are
looking for tracking piece of
mind, as GPS is now actually
reliable enough for this use
case. Kids are naturally
looking for fun, games and
social.
Activity, heart rate, breathing
and UV light all have
dedicated kids tracker
products - but it’s debatable
whether these are scaring
parents or reassuring them.
The experiences are
currently primitive or overkill.
Vendors are squeezed
between experience
expectations and cost
expectations, but we expect
to see developments in 2017.

24. DISNEY TURNS THE MAGIC
BAND INTO AN
INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE
WEARABLE GAMING
COULD EMERGE IN KIDS
WEARABLES - WHAT IS
POKEMON GO FOR
WEARABLES?
LEGO COULD MAKE WATCHES FUN FOR KIDS
ALSO THIS YEAR:
THE CHINESE WILL
EXPERIMENT UNTIL
THEY
DISCOVER A
WEARABLE
TAMAGOTCHI
WE EXPECT SPERO
TO ADD A SCREEN
TO ITS STAR
WARS FORCE
BAND
FOR A RICHER
EXPERIENCE
SOUNDBITES2017

25. APPLE WATCH LAUNCHER
FINDING KILLER APPS
requires more nurturing from
Apple
Viber launched an app for Apple
Watch, and messaging is ripe for
innovation with a surge in emojis,
asynchronous voice, the addition of
alpha input context sensitivity and
gestures
Apple’s dilemma: AI
and voice is a killer
app, so should it
leverage the control
point, or invite Google,
Alexa and Watson for
an innovation party?

26. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
WEARABLE APPS ARE SET
TO BE DISCOVERED
We expect 2017 to bring
us killer app contenders in
messaging, identity and
glanceable utility widgets
(which we prefer to call
‘faces’).
The most popular wearable
apps are variants of popular
phone apps, scaled down, or
simple utilities such as lights,
reminders. Apple may want
to provide leadership to
unlock this market, helping
support developers or even
investing in them.
Unique wearable services
need discovery, iteration and
nurturing to become viable
businesses.
Watch face complications,
and the boundary of apps,
widgets and clock faces will
become blurred.
Glanceability, swipe, and tap
interaction where no more
than a few seconds of user
interaction is needed will
dominate, and turn into
‘faces,’ a new wearable killer
app.
These gestures will be
combined with context, habit
and AI, to focus the most
relevant information into the
wearable.
Security is an obvious place
for innovation leveraging
different types of bio data.
Messaging and music are
likely leaders. Spotify will
make wearable moves in
2017.

27. Faces will become
functional, connected
and essential in daily
life. (Design George
Kvasnikov)
Pujie
Faces will become a
public window into the
souls of the users.
Shaped by digital
artists: the small
canvas magnifies
creativity
RE-INVENTING
THE CLOCK
one face at a time
GOOGLE

28. 2017 KORU WEARABLE TRENDS
WONDERFUL WATCH FACES
Watch faces, or simply
‘faces,’ will be an innovation
canvas for wearables.
Digital complications
with rich interaction,
transformations and
connected service
functionality will transform
how we think about the
object we call a watch.
We expect Apple to merge
their widgets and watch
faces into a single unified
experience in 2017.
Major manufacturers are
set to offer app platforms
around faces. Once the
watch face has been
transformed to users’ tastes,
the static analogue
watchface will seem archaic.
Garmin launched a watch
builder for their range,
Samsung offers rich tools,
and there are numerous
platforms for Android Wear:
we particularly like Pujie and
Watchmaker for watch
building.

29. ABOUT KORU
Koru’s vision is to bring
touch experiences to all
screens. Our mission is
empowering brands to
bring these experiences
to their fans.
Our SDK enables rich
customization to match any
style and taste. We deliver
the fastest, most energy
efficient and complete set
of widgets to build from.
We run smoothly on a
Cortex M4 microcontroller.
We implement your vision
or consult on design for
your next-generation
wearable experiences.
Our team of seasoned
professionals has more
than 250 man years of
experience in embedded
design, having earlier
helped to make mobile
phones ubiquitous and
mobile services friendly
to use.
POWERING BRANDS
www.korulab.com
christian@korulab.com
+358 400 459 040
jan.luukkonen@korulab.com
+358 40 771 30 80