 "Digital advertising 2.0: Wearable tech to lead the way")
At his presentation last week at the Goafest annual advertising festival, Google India Managing Director Rajan Anandan said the market for these devices in the country could touch 200 million in four years, about a fifth of the current mobile subscriber base (850 million), estimated to cross a billion by then.
At present, the country's wearable tech market is negligible.
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However, technology experts such as Mahesh Murthy, founder of Mumbai-based digital and brand consultancy Pinstorm, said apart from Apple and Google, local players such as Micromax and Karbonn might launch these devices in India in a year.
The Google Glass, a pair of glasses that works like a smartphone, became available to the public a fortnight ago. But at $1,500 (or Rs 87,000 at the current exchange rate), it is expensive by Indian standards.
A boom, say experts, is, therefore, linked to cost. But there is no denying that wearable tech would open up a new frontier in digital advertising.
As Anandan hinted, "In itself, the category (wearable tech) could be a major disruptor to the way we communicate and also be an addendum to the number of devices we already carry."
According to Accenture's digital consumer tech survey for 2014, Indians are most interested in buying fitness monitors (80 per cent), smartwatches (76 per cent) and internet-enabled glasses (74 per cent).
"In the past year, wearable technologies have emerged as the next big consumer electronics market category, particularly for health and wellness," said Mattias Lewren, global managing director of Accenture's electronics and high-tech industry group.
"And, India is clearly a major growth market for consumer electronics. Craving more personalised digital experiences, the country's consumers rank among the world's most willing to pay for and use consumer electronics devices - including wearable technologies," he added.
And, these new devices are expected to spur growth of digital advertising, estimated to cross 10 per cent from seven per cent now in three years.
"While wearable tech has the potential to grow digital advertising, I see it linked to subscription. That is, consumers wanting a certain kind of information, either health-, business- or trade-related and advertising bundled appropriately," said Jehil Thakkar, partner & head, media & entertainment, KPMG.
The evolution of wearable tech will mean digital advertising itself will move to the next level, with technology at the heart of advertising.
As Anupriya Acharya, group chief executive officer, ZenithOptimedia, said, "Digital advertising will no longer be about banner ads or scrolls or pre-rolls as we understand it today. Expect far greater complexity, which means you have to have a thorough understanding of technology."