• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October 28, 2015

The next wave of wearable devices and the Internet of Things will come not only with many more connected devices — some 50.1 billion in five years -- but with specific apps that will provide more complex “virtual assistance”, something every brand will need to consider in their digital marketing plans.

Speaking at OMMA Chicago, Ben Gaddis, chief innovation officer, of T3 says more "virtual assistance” will replace exisiting less engaging digital formats -- like display This will come from next generation of Siri-like enabling apps in wearable devices  --  everything for determining your specific exercise needs, without inputing any information, to creating meals just by from a specific set of ingredients.

Gaddis, for example, talks about one innovative fitness device, called Atlas Wearables. “It can measure your form. It can tell you what type of push-ups you did -- the difference between a regular push-up and triangle push-up; the difference between single arm biceps curl and a simulatenous arm biceps curl. It can measure how your muscles are flexing.”

What will marketers do with this? Get more specific when it comes to branding. For example, maybe you don’t need a Gatorade-like drink, “maybe you need a muscle builder," he says.

Virtual assistance-related branding efforts will mean some tough decisions in the digital display space for marketers, he says. One will be that “80% of what is known as display space interactions will go away.”