Intel: Wearables Will Play Role in Enterprise

Wearable technology such as health and fitness mobile technology won’t be confined to the consumer market but will have a significant play in the enterprise, Intel’s (INTC) new devices group vice president Steve Holmes, told attendees at last week’s VentureBeat’s Mobile Summit.

That means, of course, that Intel’s blueprint for the wearables segment will include both consumer and enterprise applications.

Holmes pointed to examples of wearable technology that could find useful roles in the enterprise such as the Pro Glove, a technology-enabled glove for use in professional settings that competed in Intel’s Make It Wearable contest (ultimately won by Nixie, which makes flying, wearable camera).

And, and another is OpenBionics, an open-source initiative for the development of affordable, light-weight, modular robot hands and myoelectric prosthetic devices, he said. There are many other similar innovations on the horizon, he said.

“I think our imagination has been captured by consumer wearables, but there are huge opportunities for wearables in the enterprise,” Holmes told VentureBeat.

“There are just a handful of companies making smartphones, but I think there will be thousands of companies making wearables, and that is what we are trying to enable,” Holmes said.

Last December, Intel struck a multi-year research and development collaboration with Italian eyeglass giant Luxottica, which owns Oakley, to deliver a range of smart, fashion-conscious eyewear. The deal could elevate the smart wearables stature of both companies with Intel positioning itself as a fashion-aware technology provider and Luxottica as an eyewear giant in step with technology.

Last May, Intel snapped up Basis, a wearables health and heart rate monitor maker, for a reported $150 million, gaining access to the smartwatch developer’s designs. Holmes said Intel’s interest in Basis peaked when it proved to be the only band that could tell he wasn’t running 75 miles an hour when he wore it in a car, VentureBeat reported.

Health-related wearables could dominate the market in the coming years, Holmes said. “At some point I think it will be seen as irresponsible to not wear a health wearable,” he said, “as irresponsible as it is not wearing a bicycle helmet when you’re out biking.”

Holmes, whose background includes working on the mechanical design for Apple’s (AAPL) G4Cube computer and helping to launch Nike’s Fuel band and GPS watch, said Intel’s interest in the consumer market hasn’t ebbed but it also sees opportunities in the enterprise.