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| FILE PHOTO: An employee uses an electrocardiogram function on a Fitbit smartwatch at the IFA consumer technology fair, in Berlin |
The home has become the center of activities with children
learning and playing games online and adults working from home, juggling video
calls, shopping digitally and conducting doctors' appointments virtually.
"The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was like a time
machine that suddenly propelled us tens of years into the future," said Paul
Silverglate, vice chairman at Deloitte, the multinational professional services
company.
"It has changed how we interact with our connected
devices, ultimately helping consumers, healthcare providers, education
professionals, technology innovators and others adapt, innovate and thrive in
our daily lives," he said.
Fitness has surfaced as a key theme in the Deloitte survey
with 58% households having a smartwatch or fitness tracker, while 14% of the
device owners bought their fitness gadgets after the start of the pandemic.
About 55% of the people use their gadgets to measure walking
steps and athletic performance, track heart health and monitor sleep and
calories.
Despite the increase in the number of devices, one-third of
survey respondents admit to feeling overwhelmed by the devices and
subscriptions they need to manage.