Mobile Apps for Intel Wearables

Step back into 2015, the era before the days of the Apple Watch and Fitbit.

Background

A platform's success is measured not only by its functionality and scale. Developers' experience and ease of onboarding are equally important. In 2015 Intel launched the Curie system-on-a-chip module to power wrist-, head- and body-worn wearable devices. Curie Platform SDK had to serve two types of customers -- the immediate end-users of the wearable devices, and the developers of mobile applications to help end-users pair, configure, monitor, and utilize their wearables. With wearable technology being new then, developer onboarding took over 24-hours and required expensive and time-consuming support.

The Approach

To solve this challenge, I conceived a suite of OS- and Android-native applications that provide a foundation for managing the wearable and accelerating developer onboarding. These out-of-the-box applications for Body, Social, Sleep, and Payments IQs deliver intuitive functionality to pair the wearable with a mobile phone, customize settings, monitor data and derive actionable insights towards improving the customer's health and lifestyle. These mobile apps have also served as the basis for managing high-end wearables such as Fossil Q, Oakley Radar Pace, and Tag Heuer smartwatches. 

The Result

With Intel's commitment to showcase Radar Pace during the 2016 Brazil Olympics, development had to complete on an aggressive and condensed schedule. Tech and sports industry alike anticipated the product to deliver viability, usability, and accessibility for regular consumers and world-class athletes. By assembling and leading a high-performing global team of designers and developers, the mobile apps launched on time to support 2016 Olympics runners and cyclists. The commercial aspect of Curie-powered head-worn and wrist-worn devices continued well beyond the Olympics and has been featured at the NY Fashion week and supported by successful adoption in the consumer market. The mobile app for monitoring body activity evolved into a suite of apps for connected patient devices to monitor health and wellness.