Wearable technology providers still have a lot to do to convince the general public they need one of their products, according to new research.

A whopping 75% of the 2000 UK adults polled by Hive by British Gas said they couldn’t see how wearable tech would make their lives easier. Almost one in 10 (9%) polled said they thought wearables would make their lives more difficult.

This isn’t the first time Brits have been less than convinced by the pull of smartwatches and eyewear, although back in 2014 it was for a different reason; two in three people polled by LoveMyVouchers.co.uk said they were too embarrassed to wear Google Glass.

A separate piece of research, from mobile app developer Apadmi, found that, of those who found wearables appealing, 40% would most like to buy a smartwatch, followed by 28% who opted for a fitness tracker. 23% said they would most like to buy eyewear, with smart clothing (18%) the least popular option.

The Apadmi research argues the release of the Apple Watch has forced a paradigm shift in consumers’ expectations; whereas in 2014, YouGov research found fitness trackers to be the most popular kind of wearable, the smartwatch has gained the lead.

Nick Black, co-founder and director at Apadmi, noted that from late 2014 onwards, more consumers have been reporting they want a smartwatch over anything else, meaning this trend was not directly fuelled by the Apple Watch hitting the stands.

“Consumers are suddenly excited about smartwatches in a way that they’ve never seen before, which leads us to believe that Apple’s impending entry can be a real game-changer for the entire smartwatch category,” he said.

The full report, on wearable technology trends, can be found here.

 

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