Evaluation Engineering - 32

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS

WEARABLE ELECTRONICS:
PUTTING ON THE FUTURE
By Ken Cormier, Managing Editor
During pre-show coverage of the
Academy Awards, interviewers on the
red carpet generally ask celebrities the
question "Who are you wearing?" In the
world of wearable electronics, the answer
might be Samsung, Apple, Fossil Sport, and
Fitbit. Other names could include Runtastic,
Mio, Misfit, Mio, Nike, Microsoft, Garmin,
and more.
Wearable tech has been around a
while. Probably the first wearable form
of technology, eyeglasses, was invented
in the 13th century. The first portable
and wearable clocks were invented in
the 16th century.
Wearable technology donned by consumers often includes health and fitness
tracking capabilities. Another wearable
tech gadget includes motion sensors to
activate a camera and synchronize with
mobile devices. Medical wearables include smart patches, smart pills, and
other forms of treatment for chronic
diseases. Such wearable systems usually
employ multiple sensors integrated into
a network.
The evolution of wearables will likely
involve smaller, more effective, and more
easily concealed versions of technology.
Today's wearable styles include watches,
jewelry, clothing, implantable devices,
and head-mounted displays. Here are
a few updates in the world of wearable
electronics.

Predicted 2022 wearable
devices market: $51.5B
According to a recent MarketWatch report, the global wearable devices market
is positioned to mushroom to $51.5 billion
by 2022 at a CAGR of 15% during the forecast period. The wearables market was
valued at $19.6 billion in 2015, according
to a report by Allied Market Research. A
May 2 article by Forbes states that presently 1 in 6 consumers owns and uses a
wearable device.

EVALUATION ENGINEERING JULY 2019

Suckers stick tech to human skin
A team of researchers has developed a
graphene-based biosensor that was inspired by octopus tentacle suckers. The
findings were reported in ACS Applied
Materials & Interfaces. An elastic polyurethane and polyester fabric was reportedly
coated with graphene oxide and soaked
in L-ascorbic acid for conductivity, while
retaining strength and stretch. Then, a
coating of graphene and poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film was added to form
a conductive path from the material to the
skin. The addition of octopus-like suckers
allowed the sensor to detect a wide range
of pressures and motions in wet and dry
conditions. The device is also capable of
detecting electrocardiogram signals, as
well as pulse and speech patterns.

graphene and other materials can be incorporated into fabric to create charge
storable elements, such as capacitors.
This could logically lead the way to textilebased power supplies that are washable,
flexible and comfortable. The research,
published in the journal Nanoscale, shows
that inks with graphene can be employed
to store electrical charge, and release
it when needed. The inks were directly
coated onto a polyester fabric through a
simple dyeing process. This "battery" on
fabric is bendable and can tolerate normal
washing machine cycles.2

Self-powered wearable tech

Don't forget the pets

Michigan State University researchers
have provided a potential solution to
the need of a power source for wearable
technology: crumpled carbon nanotube
forests or CNT forests. A team of scientists led by Changyong Cao, director of
MSU's Soft Machines and Electronics
Laboratory, created stretchable supercapacitors for powering wearables. "The
key to success is the innovative approach
of crumpling vertically aligned CNT arrays, or CNT forests," Cao said. "Instead of
having a flat thin film strictly constrained
during fabrication, our design enables the
three-dimensionally interconnected CNT
forest to maintain good electrical conductivity, making it much more efficient, reliable, and robust."1

The worldwide pet wearable market is
predicted to reach $4.17 billion by 2026,
according to research published by Polaris
Market Research. The report attributes
growth in the market to increasing pet
adoptions, along with heightened awareness of pet care and safety. Factors adding
growth include need to monitor pets, the
growth of IOT, and tech advancements.
North America is expected to dominate
the market. Specific wearable items include smart collars, smart cameras, smart
harnesses, and others. Smart cameras were
the hottest item for 2017.3

Wash-and-wear electronics
Researchers from Cambridge and Jiangnan
University have demonstrated how

REFERENCES

1. ScienceDaily, "Self-powered wearable tech,"
May 2019
2. Printed Electronics World, "Washable,
wearable battery-like devices woven directly
into clothes," May 2019
3. Polaris Market Research, "Pet Wearable
Market Growth Rate, Key Players, Suppliers,
Types & Applications to 2026," June 2019

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