Wearable Display Innovations: Enhancing User Experience in Healthcare and Fitness

Wearable devices are a type of electronic technology, which is integrated with multiple new technologies, like display units, sensors, and connectivity among others, which can be worn on the body by the user. Wearable devices offer a wide range of applications, for instance, they help in tracking the fitness level, like heart rate, calories, and body temperature of the human body, whereas it can also help in offering seamless connectivity to the users, through calling and internet features. There are various types of wearable technologies or devices available across the global market, which include smart watches, smart jewelry (rings), fitness tracker bands, and smart clothes. The display technologies, in the wearable devices market, witnessed a major growth in innovations and integration of new technologies. For instance, multiple companies, like Meta, introduced smart glasses, which are integrated with large holographic display technologies, that offer the capability to integrate the physical world with the 2D and 3D content. Use Case: Wearable devices can be used for multiple applications, across several markets like consumer electronics, sports utility, and healthcare. The consumer electronics sector is among the leading markets for the global demand for wearable technologies, especially for wearable displays. Healthcare- In the healthcare sector, there are multiple types of wearable devices, offering multiple applications. Some of these devices include blood pressure monitors, fitness trackers, glucose meters, ECG monitors, and biosensors among others. In the healthcare setting, the wearable devices help to monitor the physical condition of the patients. In such wearable devices, displays play a key role, as they offer easy monitoring of the different components. Consumer Electronics- In consumer electronics, smartwatches, fitness trackers, VR headsets, smart jewelry (rings), and smart glasses are among the most common and most-demand wearable technologies, across the globe. In the consumer electronics sector, wearable devices, embedded with display units help to offer the key functions of a smartphone, like calling and browsing, on smaller devices. The consumer electronics sector witnessed key development in innovations of the display units in these devices. Various new products like smart glasses, VR headsets, and smart watches are being launched with innovative display units embedded in them. In the global wearable devices market, display units play a critical role in enhancing the capability and experience of the devices. With the increasing global demand for wearable devices across the globe, the display technologies of wearable devices are sure to witness massive growth.

1. Rising demand for wearable devices

The increasing global demand for wearable devices, especially in the consumer electronics sector is forecasted to increase the innovation drive of wearable display technologies, across the globe. The global wearable device market witnessed massive growth over the past few years. Apple, the global leader in the consumer electronics industry, in its quarterly report, stated that the total revenue from the wearable segment of the company increased significantly over the past few quarters. The company stated that in the third quarter ending on July 1, the company recorded a total sales of about US$8,084 million from its Wearable, Home, and Accessories segment in 2022, which increased to US$8,284 million during the same period in 2023. Figure 1:  Apple Revenue From Wearable, Home, and Accessories Segment, US$ Million, Third Quarter of 2022 and 2023 Source: Apple Inc.

2. Increasing application of wearable technologies in the healthcare sector

The growing demand for wearable technologies in the healthcare sector is forecasted to boost the market share of wearable display technology during the forecasted timeline. In the healthcare sector, wearable technologies offer a critical application, in monitoring the status of patients. There are various types of wearable technologies used in the healthcare sector, which include devices like wearable ECG monitors, wearable fitness trackers, biosensors, and other health condition monitors. The integration of display units in such devices helps in better understanding and faster reading of the health levels of the patients. For instance, the demand or usage of wearable ECG monitoring devices has witnessed a significant increase over the past few years. Wearable ECG monitoring devices are used to receive and monitor the electrical signals to track the user's heart activity and condition. It offers multiple benefits, as it has the capability to record data on the heart condition over a longer period, and also enables the doctors to easily identify and detect any anomalies. The demand for the wearable ECG monitor increased majorly with the rising global cases of cardiovascular diseases, or heart diseases. The global cases of cardiovascular diseases witnessed a significant surge. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the US government in its report related to cardiovascular diseases stated that, in the USA, about one death in every five deaths is caused by cardiovascular diseases. The department stated that in 2022, about 702,880 individuals in the nation died of the disease.

3. Innovation in the global display technologies

Similarly, the increasing innovations in global display technologies are also expected to increase the usage of display units in wearable devices.  The global display technology market observed the introduction of various new technologies, which offer multiple benefits to the devices, like higher picture quality output, and efficient usage of battery. New technologies like OLED, MicroLED, Quantum Dots, and ferroelectric liquid crystal displays are some of the latest and advanced display technologies used across various consumer and industrial devices. Various companies, like Samsung Electronics, and Global Display Systems Pvt. Ltd., (GDS) have introduced key investment schemes to increase the research and development output to develop newer technologies, which offer higher picture quality, with consumption of lower energy, which can be optimum for the applications in the wearable and smaller devices. Key Developments

• In January 2024, Apple Inc., one of the biggest consumer electronics producers, and technological leaders, announced the launch of its latest technology, Vision Pro, a VR headset device. The Vision Pro integrates with advanced and state-of-the-art display units, which allows the users to integrate the virtual world with the real physical world. The Vision Pro by Apple features ultra-high-resolution displays and a 180-degree viewing angle.

In conclusion, the growing global demand for wearable devices, across multiple industries, is forecasted to increase the innovations in the display technologies of these devices. Similarly, with introduction of new technologies like AI, into the display units will also boost the global wearable display market share. Find some of our related studies:

• Embedded Display Market

• Flexible Display Market

• Wearable Sensors Market