Hitachi Business Microscope - Office Networking Remixed

Companies everywhere are figuring out how to make wearables work for their employees by making them more efficient and monitoring their progress, but also improving the organization. Take for example, Hitachi Business Microscope. This gadget is about the size of a school or company ID and worn around the neck. This device is filled with various sensors that not only monitor a persons movement and speech, but also their surrounding environment such as temperature and lighting. It tracks and analyzes every movement and gesture.

The device tracks where a worker travels within the office, knows their fellow colleagues with whom they are talking to due to recognizing the other persons badge, and it measures how effective the conversation is by analyzing the energy/pitch level in their voice and how many times they nod or gesture. Employees are able to see their productivity level, their communication habits, and whom they seem to have a rapport with. This technology, the Hitachi Business Microscope, can be beneficial to both the employee and employer so long as it is being used for the right reasons.

This particular device has an LCD screen that displays feedback as well as statistics. Through use of this gadget business and employees are able to work more efficiently with those they have a more progressive relationship with, improve collaboration or stalemate amongst team members, and encourage people to reach out and discuss with others that they may not have done with in the past.

Though this is an excellent and innovative technological gadget, their are a few concerns that should be pointed out. The biggest of which is privacy and monitoring. With the information about the NSA monitoring American citizens, people are becoming less trusting and fearful of monitoring devices. It will be important for companies looking to implement this into their organizations for improvement to make sure they give their employees the option of participating, thoroughly explain how the device works and tracks different factors and emphasize that the information provided isn't on an individual bases but aggregate.

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