Bringing Wearable Technology to the Workplace

Should your doctor be wearing Google Glass? Wearable Intelligence says yes.

The San Francisco-based startup recently raised $8 million to expand its research and development efforts. Wearable Intelligence is focused on creating workplace software applications for use with wearable tech gadgets like Google Glass.

“The bulk of the global workforce doesn’t work next to a computer or next to a phone or a tablet at a desk. They’re out in the field, on the floor, working with their hands, often wearing gloves or in sanitized areas, as in health-care workers,” Wearable Intelligence CEO Yan-David Erlich told FBN’s Maria Bartiromo. “So historically they haven’t been able to use digital knowledge delivered via traditional platforms, and we believe that through wearable technologies such as Google Glass, we can finally deliver to them the digital knowledge and communication tools that they need.”

For example, Wearable Intelligence’s software can help emergency room physicians access data in electronic health records as they visit with patients—with a hands-free delivery.

“The access to digital information has historically been hampered because the workers they’ve been trying to access need their hands for work,” said Erlich. “They can’t be typing on a laptop; they can’t be holding a phone or a tablet. So historically they’ve relied on paper, but paper has a ton of problems.”

While it might be challenging getting trained workers up to speed on using unfamiliar technology, Erlich said the usefulness of Wearable Intelligence’s software incentivizes workers to learn new tricks.

“The adoption of this technology is smoothed by the needs it solves,” he said.