Wearable computing has undoubtedly been one of the hottest topics in the tech industry - and increasingly in the mainstream - for the last few months. Ever since Google Glass was announced earlier this year, many of us at F5 have been hankering to get our hands on a pair.
The benefits that Google Glass and other wearable technology (like watches which monitor your movements and even food intake) can offer business are starting to emerge. And Google's patenting of an 'eye gaze' system, allowing the glasses to track what wearers are looking at, suggests Google itself sees the technology to be a business tool rather than a consumer product.
Some are terming the rise of wearable devices as the next generation BYOD, but there is potential for it to have an even bigger impact on the way we work and interact.
Much like the first phase of BYOD, Google Glass could allow us all to work more flexibly and remotely than ever before. We'll be able to read emails while walking to work, browse the internet when making breakfast and run apps when on the bus, all with the flick of a finger. Think of a salesman on the road - he'll be able to bring up info about his customers or prospects right in front of his eyes.
But, of course, wearable tech is set to amplify the security and connectivity issues that its first phase raised.
App developers are racing to create new apps for Google Glass and tweak existing ones to fit the new infrastructure. But to truly maximise the opportunity presented by Google glass, context is vital.
The reason we all want to try out Google Glass is for the user experience it offers. There's no point swiping the side of your Google Glasses 20 times to get to the bottom of a web page that's been designed for a PC.
Failure to appreciate the need to get this right every single time will costs businesses money and customers...and even tiny factors can have a massive impact.
This is where context comes in. When it comes to accessing data through wearable technology, there must be a level of intelligence that allows the delivery of the right data to the right user at the right time, quickly and securely. If users receive an iPad version of an app on their Google Glass, the user experience is ruined and the point of wearable tech is undermined. Understanding what kind of data it is, who is accessing it, from which network, and from which device is key to its secure delivery.
Wearable tech is about serving up the right application every time, without exception. It's up to Google to make glasses cool but it's up to us to deliver the intelligence that creates the perfect user experience; that's the really cool bit.