Sabre Corporation’s TripCase will be the first travel app to integrate with wearable technology to provide travellers with real-time flight alerts, gate changes and other travel information on their wrists, specifically the Samsung Gear S smartwatch launched earlier this week.
The integration will allow travelers to click the notification on the watch to open the TripCase app to the relevant place on their mobile device, which will in the near future include a click-to-call feature.
Consumers choosing Android Wear devices can also receive TripCase travel notifications directly to their wearable devices. TripCase is on pace to manage more than 25 million trips in 2014, Sabre said.
The move is part of Sabre’s overhaul of its technology to interact with wearable technology including Google Glass and the “dramatic impact wearbales will have on the way consumers shop for and experience travel”, the GDS said.
Citing researchers, Sabre said they show a large proportion of the population will embrace wearable computing in the near future “as evidenced by the adoption trajectory of other technology advances like the smart phone and tablets”.
“Juniper Research forecasts that worldwide spending on wearable technology will hit US$1.4 billion this year and will reach US$19 billion by 2018.”
The research firm estimates that more than 19 million wearable computing devices will be sold in 2014, and forecasts the global market to reach 111.9 million units in 2018.
“As the adoption of wearable technology grows, we want to ensure that the travel industry is ready to leverage this technology and serve travellers on the device they prefer,” Sabre Pacific md Jeremy van de Klundert.
“Wearable technology is fast becoming a prominent means of customer notification and communication. We’re looking to take it even further – from a one-way means of communications to an interactive, on-the-go service experience,” van de Klundert said.
Sabre recently showcased its Google Glass prototype travel app at the World Travel Market last week.
“Wearable technologies – such as smartwatches and heads-up devices like Google Glass – will forever change the way consumers experience travel – from shopping via virtual reality to voice command recommendation,” van de Klundert.
“Creating these full service experiences require not just smart devices but also more precise location services and smart recommendation services.”
