Wearable sensing conjures up the idea of different products for different people. Sometimes, it is easy to become so focused on a specific type of wearable innovation that appreciating where it fits within the wider landscape of global technology meta-trends and sensor market shifts is neglected. Drawing on research from the IDTechEx report, “Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts“, this article brings together some of the major industries shaping the future of the wearable sensors market long term, and as such, some unifying features to expect across the next generation of sensing solutions
Digital Health
The healthcare sector is facing an array of issues. The global population is growing and aging, lifestyles are more sedentary, and chronic diseases are impacting millions worldwide. Existing healthcare systems are being pushed to their limits, but solutions in digital health are hoping to overcome many of the industry’s challenges.
Within the eco-system of emerging digital health solutions are medical wearables. This includes devices that can be used for remote patient monitoring or virtual wards to free up bed space in hospitals, typically offering some form of vital sign monitoring. It also includes products like continuous glucose monitors (CMS), which have improved diabetes management, making it easier for users to spot spikes or troughs in their blood sugar, which a sporadic finger prick test may have missed.
The trend towards digital health is creating an opportunity for new generations of wearable sensors to offer more advanced biomarker analysis, collect new streams of diagnostic data and ultimately improve patient care. This is in tandem with the increased focus on healthcare applications from consumer wearables such as smart-watches and smart rings, which are also of interest to aid early interventions and lifestyle management.
Extended Reality
How consumers engage with the digital world is primed for an overhaul. New extended reality (XR) product lines are seeking to offer more immersive and exciting new experiences instead of traditional smartphones or gaming consoles. Virtual reality headsets have already made a splash in the market, with their slimmer and more seamless smart-glass cousins hoping to follow suit.
The XR universe creates many opportunities for wearable sensors. These devices depend not only on methods of measuring and interpreting the world seen by the wearer, but also the input coming back for control whether it be movements of the eyes and hands – or even the brain.
Yet utilizing human inputs without compromising on the immersive nature offered by XR eye-wear isn’t easy. Often, what is required is an accurate measure of small signals generated by the body, but in a discrete and user-friendly form factor. Already we see the likes of Meta developing prototype neural interface wristbands for this purpose. Behind the scenes, material developers for sensor components such as dry-electrodes recognize that, in the long term, this could be a mass-market opportunity not to be missed.
A roadmap of sensors and applications with wearable sensor market impacts highlighted.
Industrial IoT
The concept of the ‘Internet of Things’ or IoT is now pretty old. In some respects, it’s past its hype peak, with the promise of sensors everywhere digitizing everything not quite having the impact expected.
This is perhaps true in areas like the smart home – where users still find setting systems up convoluted. On the other hand, Industrial IoT is seeing a resurgence in interest. The use of IIoT to improve efficiency and safety creates fresh opportunities for wearable sensor-enabled devices. This includes skin patches for hydration monitoring, smart helmets, and even gas safety. Some of the drivers for this are ultimately edge compute capabilities, health and safety regulations, and rising temperatures for laborers due to climate change. New wearable sensors able to leverage these new opportunities or pose solutions to these global challenges will seek success in the IIoT market in the next ten years.
Future Mobility
Future mobility, electrification, autonomy, V2X (vehicle to everything) and driver monitoring trends are all driving sensor innovations. As cars increasingly integrate more and more sensor data sources, this could also include insights from wearables.
There are already initiatives to integrate smart-watch activity tracking information into safety systems. This could be as an indicator of driver stress or alertness. Moreover, there is also a possibility that wearables could provide driver alcohol levels.
Whilst it isn’t likely that future mobility will depend on wearables in the near term, it certainly represents a growing market for which some wearable developers may find opportunity. Even within areas that seem initially unrelated, such as software-defined vehicles, there is a need for functions such as driver authentication, for which wearable biometric data could prove high value.
General trends in sensor technology innovation, and typical value propositions of wearable sensors seeking opportunities in emerging markets including digital health, extended reality, industrial IoT and future mobility.
Market Outlook
To summarize, many mega-trends create a range of opportunities for wearable sensors. This ranges from improving healthcare with digital health tools, mass-market consumer solutions for XR control, health and safety within industrial IoT, and even future mobility.
Despite the wide range of industries and applications, there is a core set of sensor characteristics which are expected to be of high demand as a result. The next generations of wearable sensors will be some combination of smaller, lower in power, able to measure new metrics, offer improved performance or can be integrated into new form factors.
For more information about any of the technology trends featured in this article, see the IDTechEx report “Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts“. This report provides insight into how wearable sensors could be integrated into society long term and forecasts the market to reach US$7.2B by 2035. Downloadable sample pages are available for this report.
For the full portfolio of wearable technology market research available from IDTechEx, please see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/WT.
Dr. Tess Skyrme
Principal Technology Analyst, IDTechEx
About IDTechEx
IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com.
