The wearable computing era isn’t on the horizon — it’s already here, says Flurry

Given our addiction to smartphones and tablets, mobile consumers are already primed for the coming onslaught of wearable computing devices. Indeed, we’re so tied to our mobile gadgets today that we might as well call them wearable, according to the latest research from the mobile advertising company Flurry.

Based on random sample data from more than 15,000 iOS users in the U.S., the firm has found that we’re pretty much always connected to our mobile devices — even while we sleep (see the chart below). It’s a huge difference from the way we view television, which typically sees low usage throughout the day except for a big prime-time viewership spike.

“I’m amazed at the nighttime usage for mobile — do people not sleep?” Flurry chief executive Simon Khalaf told VentureBeat. “It kind of tells you we’re already in the wearable space; it’s [mobile] glued to consumer’s bodies.”

Khalaf presented Flurry’s latest insights at its SourceDigital13 conference in New York City today, an event aimed at bringing together some of NYC’s biggest minds in advertising to help solve the mobile ad dilemma.

“It’s not about promoting Flurry … in fact, I had to beg to get a speaking spot,” Khalaf said. “It’s more about getting people who matter together and trying to figure this out as a group. This is more of a brainstorming session.”

Among other interesting finds, Flurry found that the Millennial set (ages 25 to 34) used health- and fitness-related apps more than any other group (see chart below). And when it came to games, typically the territory for the young, Flurry found that Millennials actually used them less than other age groups. (The big gamers? Middle-aged folks from the Gen X set.)

Digging deeper into its Millennial data, Flurry found that women use fitness apps 200 percent more than men. The firm also found that certain gender stereotypes held true. The second-largest app category for women was lifestyle and shopping while men focused more on media and entertainment apps.