2009 The prototype
Sony Ericsson partners with the London College of Fashion on a competition to design an item of digital clothing . The winner , designed by student Georgie Davies , is a bluetooth cocktail dress that lights up when it receives an incoming phone call .
2015 The pioneer
South African insurance company Discovery , widely seen as a wearables pioneer , starts offering customers the newlyreleased Apple Watch for free – if they meet targeted health goals . They will have to pay for the device over a fixed period if they fail to keep active .
2017 The early mover
UnitedHealthcare , the largest healthcare insurer in the US , teams up with Fitbit to launch a customised device that customers can wear and earn back credits against the cost of their plan – an early example of an insurer factoring wearables directly into the cost of a plan .
2021 The hangover
Research from Deloitte finds that nearly 40 % of US consumers own a smartwatch or fitness tracker ; over 25 % of those subscribe to a service offering personalised health feedback ; and 60 % of people who subscribe to such a service are concerned about the privacy of their data .
20 ??
The future
As wearables become more popular , they can be applied to areas of insurance where they have never been used before – like life insurance . Can life insurers take historic data from applicants who already use wearables and provide a tailored life insurance quote , all without adding to anxiety around data ? Only the future will tell …
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