Flow chart - (A) Study on the Perception and Acceptance of Wrist- Worn Wearable Fitness Tracker

The study organisation follows the flow chart as shown below

Literature Review Hypotheses

Research Motivation

Aim

Research Questions Research Gap

Survey Objectives

Research Instrument Methodology

Data Collection

Exploratory Factor Analysis Questionnaire Design

Structural Equation Modelling Data Analysis

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Data Interpretation

Design Interventions Factors and Possibilities

Thesis Outline

Chapter 1: Introduction

Health and fitness are very significant areas of interest concerning Healthy Ageing. With the growth in the older population, there is an expressed need for better healthcare facilities. This chapter contains an overview of the Ageing process and its associated areas. Exploring various studies could lead to finding the research gap and the motivation. Furthermore, it holds the study design conceptualised to structure the proper methodology for the research.

Chapter 2: Wearable Fitness Technology – a local perception assessment on a select population

Technology plays a significant role in developing healthcare services, and mobile devices have become smarter with time and an essential tool in the field of Technology. one such Technology is wearable fitness technology. This chapter holds a comprehensive study of the wrist-worn Wearable Fitness Trackers and the Experiments carried out to get insight into the perception and acceptance of the devices.

Chapter 3: Design Considerations and Intervention Models

This chapter comprehends the various factors and micro-determinants that are essentially responsible for determining the use behaviour of a product.

Furthermore, it aims to relocate the void in the design models for the presently existing wearable fitness trackers, thereby finding solutions and designing Interventions. It discusses the structural equation models and design interventions designed to ensure positive Behavioural Intention towards WFT

and the enhancement in the sustainable usage of such devices. In addition, it contains the various test conducted that validates the formulated hypotheses.

Chapter 4: Discussions

This chapter gives an overview of the study that has been carried out in the research. It also discusses the obtained results and their impact. Furthermore, it also elaborately discusses the issues faced in the acceptance of WFT.

Substantially, to achieve solutions toward the sustainable usage of these devices, the chapter provides various insights and interventions.

References

Appendices

The thesis approach has taken a qualitative assessment of the contemporary thoughts and practices in tune with the perception of the target users to motivate them to use the healthcare wearable devices.

Chapter 2 Wearable Fitness Technology – a local perception assessment on a select population

Introduction

An increase in social needs and industry-induced competitive pressures have somehow forced the healthcare providers to change the mode of delivery and the composition of the healthcare facilities (Chen, et al., 2018). Furthermore, there is an exponential increase in the interest in smart wearables among the general public. Also, analysis of google trends has recently reflected the tremendous growth in the searches related to fitness trackers and smart wearables. It is estimated that the fitness bands, smartwatches, smart wearables will account for nearly half of the overall wearable unit sales worldwide (Pal, et al., 2019). A study suggests that the global wearable device market will significantly be expected to grow by 78% each year. The users of complex accessories, e.g., Nike+, Fuel Band, Jawbone UP, and Fitbit devices, continue to embrace its simplicity and low-price points. The most striking feature of these devices is the ability to be operated partially independent of any other instruments but fully operational when connected with IP cable devices like smartphones and tablets (IDC, 2014). During the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q18), the worldwide market for wearable devices grew 31.4 per cent, making it reach a new high of 59.3 million units (IDC, 2019). Statistics and data reveal the expansion of the Wearable Fitness Market and how it has influenced people its inclusion in their daily lives. The consequent sections elaborate this fitness area with more profundity.

Wearable Devices

A wearable device is a very new technology that comes in the form of very miniaturised hardware capable of tracking and monitoring fitness metrics, e.g., distance walked or run, calories consumed, heart rate tracking, sleep tracking (Kaewkannate & Kim, 2016). These are basically worn externally, either attached to the body as an accessory or embedded in clothes. Its functionality is diverse, equipped with sensors, processors, operating systems, internet connections, and user-friendly HCI systems (Yang, et al., 2015) (Wang, et al., 2014). These are broadly classified under three categories: "notifiers,"

"glasses," and "trackers", as shown in Figure 2-1.

The notifiers are responsible for providing information about the world around us (e.g., smartwatches). The glasses create augmented virtual reality with eyeglasses' help (3-D glasses, 3-D games). Furthermore, the third category, i.e., the trackers, uses the sensors to track and record data (e.g., heart rate monitor) (Lunney, et al., 2016).

The various types of wearable devices available are Smartwatches, Sport watches, Head-mounted Displays, Fitness Tracker, Smart Jewelry, Smart Clothing, and Implantable. Smartwatches provide the user's notification for calls, messages, emails. Sport watches are built-in with a GPS tracker and

Figure 2-1. Wearable Technology (Happiest Minds)

record the user's heart rate and pace, specially designed for athletes and swimmers. Head-mounted Display provides virtual information sensed by the eyes and takes the user to virtual reality. Fitness Tracker enables the user to track the number of steps taken daily and calculate the number of calories burned. It also calculates the amount of exercise the user does in a day. Smart Jewelry is attributed mainly to women, the improvised and beautified versions of the smartwatches. Like smartwatches, these jewellery pieces can provide notifications of calls, messages, and emails and track users' fitness and health status in real-time (Yang, et al., 2015) (Wearable Technology, 2019). Smart Clothing incorporates electronic devices into wearable clothing to track various parameters while providing a fashionable look. Moreover, Implantable devices are surgically inserted or implanted under the skin. These are merely used for medical purposes like tracking the insulin level (Wearable Technology, 2019) and many other vital physiological signals, as shown in a schematic representation in Figure 2-2.

Measurement of physiological parameters like arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature reflects an individual's physical health status.

Furthermore, a deviation from a standard range pattern can predict severe health issues; for instance, heart rate can predict cardiovascular fitness.

Likewise, daily movement data can provide a general view of the physical level of an individual. Capturing day-to-day health conditions is quite impossible for

Figure 2-2. Vitals monitoring using Wearable Technology Devices

healthcare providers. These fitness devices can collect near-continuous real- time data, provide complementary information to existing monitoring devices, and view a patient's health's complete status. These can store and generate the data, assisting healthcare providers (Beh, et al., 2019). More medical-grade smartwatches are expected to be released to the consumer market in the near future, such as Omron’s blood pressure smartwatch (Omron 2018), which will benefit large numbers of hypertension patients.

Wearable Fitness Trackers

There is a directional shift of the focus of the information system, from the mindset of instrumentality and efficiency to facilitating human life in various ways through entertainment (e.g., games) and social connections (e.g., social networking applications) (Hassan, et al., 2019) and wearability (e.g., wearable fitness trackers). WFT can track physical activity in real-time and enable users to track their performance to optimize long-term health benefits. These capabilities have gained significant attention in academics, theory and practice (Windasari, et al., 2021). WFT can track the day-to-day activities and suggest any required behavioural changes to provide a healthy lifestyle. The following sections give a detailed understanding of the benefits and advantages of fitness trackers.

In document (A) Study on the Perception and Acceptance of Wrist- Worn Wearable Fitness Tracker and Development of Intervention Models for Enhancing the Acceptance and Prolonged Use of the Devices, Ensuring a Healthy Ageing (Page 73-80)