Getting real about consumer demand for wearables: Accenture slows us down

Are you Feelin’ Groovy about wearables? Well slow down, you move too fast…

…at least, according to Accenture’s latest survey into consumers’ perspectives on new technologies, published this week in conjunction with the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the largest annual convention in the U.S. featuring technology for people.

At #CES2015, we’re seeing a rich trove of blinged-out, multi-sensor, shiny new wearable things at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show. Swarovski crystals are paired with Misfit Wearables, called the Swarovski Shine, shown here as a shiny new thing, indeed. Withings launched its Activite fitness tracking watch in new colors. There’s an abundance of new-and-improved health wearables from brands we’ve known, and new entrants exhibiting this year, as well, to add to the Battle for the (Wrist)Bands and other parts of the human body.

That’s the supply side. But to us economists, and especially the health economists among us (like me), examining the demand side — that is, users, consumers, patients, caregivers, and mainstream well-folk – gives us a snapshot of some of the challenges people face when opening up the pretty package containing that health-focused wearable device.