The Future of Wearables for Business Travel - Concur

MILLION

ESTIMATED

NUMBER OF

WEARABLE

DEVICES

SHIPPED INMILLION

Source: CCS Insight, August 2014. http://bit.ly/15LKUVC

Soon your wearable device will

serve as ID at each stage of the

airport check-in process.

In 2014, Virgin Atlantic equipped flight

attendants with Google Glass. They offered

guests flight info, destination weather and in-

flight nutrition facts. Virgin is looking to roll

out widespread use of Google Glass.

PERCENT

PROPORTION

OF TRAVELERS

WHO WOULD

BE

COMFORTABLE

WITH AIRPORT

STAFF USING

WEARABLE

TECHNOLOGY

PERCENT

Source: SITA, Passenger IT Trends Survey 2014. http://bit.ly/1yRgX23

It’s no secret that the most popular

wearable devices are fitness

trackers. The newest devices go

beyond just tracking steps. Track

sleep. Nutrition. Heart rate. Blood

pressure. Wear your wellness on

your sleeve.

How much do you love to skip lines?

Starwood recently released the Aloft Smart

Check-in app, allowing guests to unlock hotel

rooms with a message sent to their smart

watch or phone. Guests walk pass check-in,

tap their mobile device on their room door

and enter. Bonus: no hotel key to lose.

Business travel can be tough with a language

barrier. Makers of the Sigmo App have built a

wearable device that translates for you in

real-time.

While visiting a sunny locale, you

could be exposed to too much sun.

Wearable devices, like SunFriend,

monitors your sun exposure and

warns you if you’re approaching a

high level of UVA+B rays, placing

yourself at risk of sunburn.

If you have to submit mileage reports, you

know what a pain it can be. The CarAssistant,

a prototype app and winner of the 2014

TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in the Concur

category, proposes the use of the Pebble

Smartwatch, Mojio AP and the Concur app to

simplify documenting mileage. Instead of

logging it manually, your watch would auto-

matically upload mileage and details about

your trip, including destination addresses and

travel times, to your expense report.

Fabrics are being developed that warm you

up when it’s cold and cool you down when it’s

warm. Packing becomes simpler when you

don’t have to prepare for all weather. Smart

textiles are defined as material that can

sense and react to environmental conditions.

Rich Adams, Manager of Concur’s Traveler

Services, is optimistic about how wearables

will enable the Perfect Trip. “Imagine being

able to simultaneously enjoy a cup of coffee,

carry your luggage through the airport and

stay informed of changes,” he said about the

TripIt app for Google Glass. This is the hands-

free future Adams thinks wearables will help

to realize.

What do you think about wearables? Please

share your comments below or on Facebook,

Twitter or Google Plus.