Designing wearables for use in the workplace: The role of solution developers

Arbeitspapier

Wearables (such as data glasses and smartwatches) are a particularly visible element of Industrie 4.0 applications. They aim at providing situation-specific information to workers, but at the same time they can also be used for surveillance and control because they generate data on the work process and sometimes even on movement patterns and vital data of the employees. Wearables technology is at an early stage of development, in which the interests and perspectives of relevant stakeholders, especially technology developers and the management, are of particular importance. This article explores the role of solution developers and their understanding of work processes in which wearables are to be used. It is based on expert interviews with solution developers, academic and company experts. The analysis shows an ambivalent understanding of work: On the one hand, it is characterized by the perception of workers as potential sources of error. It focuses on the optimization of individual workplaces and their ergonomics, while broader questions of work design and work organization are ignored. On the other hand, the technology developers see and discuss the potentials and dangers of wearables technologies with regard to individualization, data protection and control in a differentiated manner.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WZB Discussion Paper ; No. SP III 2018-301

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence ; Personnel Economics: Labor Management ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• Subject: industrie 4.0 ; technology ; developers ; labor process ; optimization ; Industrie 4.0 ; Technologie ; Technologieentwicklung ; Arbeitsprozess ; Optimierung

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Evers, Maren ; Krzywdzinski, Martin ; Pfeiffer, Sabine
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/183604
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET