In April 2021 report, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing C., Ltd. (TSMC) pointed out that the 2020 shipping volume of IoT related products increased by 17%. Due to the pandemic, the demand for smart wearables, smart speakers, smart health devices, and Bluetooth earphones was expected to increase by 30% in 2021. This suggested that human dependency on IoT products has been increasing in both daily life and business.
Enhancing work efficiency with IoT products in business
How are IoT products used in business? Wistron has engaged in the R&D of IoT-related products and peripheral technologies to make life and work more efficient for years. Recently, Wistron has focused on the integrated research of 5G communication technology and product durability, such as rugged PCs (tablets/terminals/handhelds), payment devices, and smart eyewear.
For rugged PCs, such as tablets and the terminals required by other business scenarios (e.g., factories), rugged design is enhanced without affecting equipment sizes and for the convenience of handheld operations. Besides the resistance to dropping from 1.5m high, water-resistance over IPX7 or even IPX8 is also emphasized on equipment. Rugged designs enable the normal operation of equipment in extreme environments to significantly reduce operational delays because of equipment damage, suitable for use in such scenarios as warehousing, logistics, and airports.
We may be unfamiliar with the rugged PC mentioned above, but we must be familiar with payment devices in our daily life. In some shopping malls, we may use either credit cards or debit cards/credit cards added to mobile phones to achieve quick payment. Such an efficient payment method owes its credit to the payment system solutions integrating IoT applications and terminals. Integrating payment equipment to payment system linkages with secure transaction protocols for transactions has become increasingly popular in recent years.
IoT Application: Smart Eyewear
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the 2021Q1 shipping volume of a head-mounted display (HMD) based on AR/VR smart eyewear increased by 45%, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2025 global shipping volume is predicted at 138%. The developing future is thus promising.
The pandemic has significantly boosted the demand for teleworking and distance learning and the development of smart eyewear. Wistron’s smart eyewear is equipped with augmented reality (AR) technology, real-time image transfer and a precision eye gaze tracking system for onsite and offsite personnel to share the same view in real-time to clarify the actual problems. Such smart eyewear is suitable for use in rural medical consultations, ambulances, airports, and places with spatial limits requiring urgent solutions.
In the future, the continual improvement of 5G technology will make information receiving more efficient and everything smarter. Although 2021 is the dark post-pandemic era, it is also the dawn of rapid technological advancements. In the future, the growing IoT application, hardware detection technology, and more mature AR/VR, AI, 5G communication networks will activate the flywheel effect to create a giant leap for the new-generation technology.
