How smartwatches and Google Glass are revolutionising the way we travel
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Whether they are acting as a tour guide or providing up-to-the-second flight information, smartwatches and other gadgets are poised to revolutionise the way we travel.
Wearable technology is increasingly seen as the wave of the future when it comes to speeding up the check-in process, taking the stress out of travel and providing the best possible experience for the traveller.
Google Glass and smartwatches are being trialled by airports and airlines as the world of travel seeks to embrace new technology and find ways to use it to its advantage.
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Virgin Atlantic has already been impressed with the results of its Google Glass testing
Hotel chains are developing apps that allow smartwatches to act as room keys
Researchers expect a large proportion of people to embrace wearable technology in the near future and they say it may follow the same trajectory as the smartphone and tablets.
Juniper Research expects worldwide spending on wearable technology to hit £870m this year and £12bn by 2018.
As the technology becomes more mainstream, more than 19 million wearable devices are expected to be sold in 2014 and the global market is expected to reach 111.9 million units in 2018, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), a research firm.
Virgin Atlantic have already announced plans to extend its trial of Google Glass for check-ins after a positive test run in a lounge at London Heathrow Airport, and Edinburgh Airport gave its staff the headsets to help with customer questions and monitor flight times.
Iberia and Samsung have developed a wearable boarding pass using a smartwatch
And Iberia airlines has teamed with tech giant Samsung to develop a wearable boarding pass using a new app that can be installed on Samsung's Gear 2 and Gear Neo smartwatches – eliminating the need for a paper document.
Similar to boarding passes on mobile phones, passengers who are wearing one of the devices can simply scan the electronic bar code on the app to get through airport checkpoints and onto their flight.
A handful of airlines have gradually been incorporating smartwatch technology to make it easier for customers to book or manage their flights.
Earlier this year Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling partnered with Sony to create the first smartwatch-based boarding pass, and Air Berlin announced its own app using Pebble's smartwatches.
Sabre's travel app TripCase is expected to plan more than 25 million trips this year
Apps for smartphones and smartwatches can warn users of any changes to flights and transfers
After showcasing its Google Glass flight finder app at World Travel Market in London, global travel technology company Sabre has announced the next step in developing travel programmes that work across a number of wearable devices including smartwatches and Google Glass.
The move reflects the company's view that wearables will have a dramatic impact on the way consumers shop for and experience travel.
This will extend to the way they discover local hotspots and navigate destinations, as well as board the plane.
Wearable technology could prove to be a godsend for tourists to speed up the check-in process
Spending on wearable technology will hit £870m this year, researchers predict
TripCase, Sabre's leading travel app, is the first of its kind to integrate with the highly-anticipated Samsung Gear S smartwatch, launched recently in the UK.
The integration allows travellers to tap a notification to open the TripCase app and will include a click-to-call feature starting next month.
In addition, consumers using Android Wear devices and the Pebble and Pebble Steel watches can receive TripCase notifications directly to their wearable devices. TripCase users wearing these smart devices will receive real-time alerts for flight or gate changes and other travel information conveniently on their wrists when every minute counts.
TripCase is on pace to manage more than 25 million trips in 2014.
Edinburgh Airport is the first in the UK to use Google Glass, which is equipped with an optical display
The Google Glass trial by Virgin has been declared a success after starting in February
'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,' said John Samuel, senior vice president of Sabre Traveller Solutions.
'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 communication to an interactive, on-the-go service experience.'
Sabre's Google Glass flight finder app was the company's first foray into testing wearable devices and operates by finding flights based on voice commands
Mr Samuel added: '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.
'Creating these full service experiences require not just smart devices but also more precise location services and smart recommendation services.'
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