Epson Extends Technology Leadership to the Emerging Wearable Consumer Device Market with Strong Emphasis on Fitness and Health

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 2014 International CES, LVCC South Hall Meeting Room S214 -- Epson America today announced its entrance into the consumer wearable marketplace with an innovative portfolio that leverages Epson's industry-leading original sensing technology with cloud-based services to serve the emerging fitness, health and sports segment of the wearables market. Products will feature Epson's core technologies in Bio, Swing and Location sensing.

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Initial Bio sensing products to be launched in North America include wearables in the form of smart watches and fitness bands, part of the new Pulsense^™ product line announced today.  Epson^® will also demonstrate its Swing sensing technology with a "golf swing analyzer" demonstration and have its Location sensing concept watches on display.  These products and third-party apps will be showcased at the Epson SmartWare Pavilion, meeting room S214, in the Las Vegas Convention Center during 2014 International CES.

"We are taking our industry-leading patents and technology and launching a whole new range of consumer-focused devices," says Mr. Yoshiyuki Moriyama, COO of Epson's Sensing System Division. "From a broad consumer perspective, Epson is primarily known for our strong technology leadership position in printers and projectors. Epson's vision is to promote personal health and continuously create a pleasant living environment by using our unique precision sensor technology to capture and visually present useful data from the daily lives of customers."

The company plans to offer powerful solutions that can detect personal biometric data such as heart rate or to track the bio-mechanics of a golf swing. These new "quantified self" technologies are the basis for Epson's new line of smart watches, fitness bands and sports devices.

The Epson Group is a global leader in technology with more than 330 sensing related patent registrations worldwide and over 220 employees working within the corporate sensing division. As the Group's representative in the Americas, Epson America will be able to leverage the Company's innovations and offer a tailored approach for the region by working with third-party application developers to offer a wide array of apps for the health, fitness and sports communities. 

According to Juniper Research, smart wearable device shipments are expected to reach close to 70 million units with annual retail value of all smart wearable device sales to reach over $8 billion in 2017 alone.  More than half that forecast is based on sports and fitness wearable devices.

Mr. Moriyama added, "Epson is committed to the relentless pursuit of innovation in compact, energy-saving and high-precision technologies.  Combined with targeted cloud-based platforms, we will offer exciting new products and services that enable our customers to experience meaningful opportunities for self-improvement."

For more information on all Epson products being showcased at CES, visit www.epson.com/smartware2014.

About Epson

Epson is a global innovation leader whose product lineup ranges from inkjet printers and printing systems, 3LCD projectors and industrial robots to sensors and other microdevices. Dedicated to exceeding the vision of its customers worldwide, Epson delivers customer value based on compact, energy-saving, and high-precision technologies in markets spanning enterprise and the home to commerce and industry.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 73,000 employees in 94 companies around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and the communities in which it operates. Epson America, Inc. based in Long Beach, Calif. is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: www.epson.com.

You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EpsonAmerica), Twitter (http://twitter.com/EpsonAmerica) and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/EpsonTV).

Note: Specifications are subject to change without notice.  EPSON is a registered trademark and Pulsense is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks.

SOURCE Epson America