Researches in the medical field are causing a rise in wearables and soft robotics. Recent research published in Nature explains how soft materials can be fabricated with micron resolution for complex systems like robotics and next-generation wearables.

Additive manufacturing has a wide range of applications and addresses many challenges inherited from conventional molding techniques such as human error, multistep fabrication, and manual handling. However, 3D printing soft functional robots with two-part platinum cure silicones require development to match the material performance of the molded counterparts.

Read more: Fraunhofer’s Soft Robotic Wearable System Protects Workers from Back Injury

Based on previously published work, the researchers selected a thiol-ene silicone formulation that possessed excellent printability (low viscosity, rapid gelation, and high reaction conversion). They employed the use of a materials platform consisting of silicone double networks (SilDNs), offering low elastic moduli and strength not found in previous SLA elastomers. Furthermore, while meeting the process requirements of SLA, these SilDNs are also compatible with less restrictive additive manufacturing techniques like UV-curing injection molding.

“The combination of low moduli, high toughness, and high tear resistance is desirable when printing soft robotic and biomedical devices,” said the researchers. “Unlike other materials where the 3D printing process can impart anisotropy or alter performance, SilDNs can possess similar properties regardless of print orientation or layer height. These findings suggest that the condensation network crosslinks across printed layers.”

Sensors and soft actuators need tear resistance and the ability to connect to stretchable fabrics. Therefore, a good elastomer-textile bond is necessary for these devices. Wearables must be able to hold up under wear and tear and donning and doffing cycles, reports 3Dprint.com.

“By introducing the SilDN framework, we note opportunities to improve process speed and final material properties. While the photopolymerization kinetics of the thiol-ene network enables rapid 3D printing, the tin-catalyzed condensation network forms over a period of hours to prolong total manufacturing time,” says the researchers.

Read more: 3D Printing Hits the Big Screen as it Brings Futuristic Wearables to Life in Black Panther

The researcher 3D printed the materials on a modified bottom-up commercial desktop SLA printer (Ember by Autodesk) using a blue-light LED projector modified to use a PMP window. They also added a dye series to refine Z-axis resolution, and then in post-printing, painted the surgical simulator with SilcPigs pigments.

Researchers at RMIT University in Australia have developed electronic artificial skin that reacts to pain just like human skin. The wearable sticker-like device can clear the way for better prosthetics, smarter robotics and noninvasive alternatives to skin grafts, according to a news release.

The device mimics the body’s near-instant feedback response and can react to painful sensations with the same lighting speed that nerve signals travel to the brain, reports RMIT.

Lead researcher Professor Madhu Bhaskaran said the pain-sensing prototype was a significant advance towards next-generation biomedical technologies and intelligent robotics.

Read more: Lily Bioceuticals Announces Wearable 24-Hour Life-Like Synthetic “Second Skin”

“Skin is our body’s largest sensory organ, with complex features designed to send rapid-fire warning signals when anything hurts,” Bhaskaran said. “We’re sensing things all the time through the skin but our pain response only kicks in at a certain point, like when we touch something too hot or too sharp. No electronic technologies have been able to realistically mimic that very human feeling of pain – until now. Our artificial skin reacts instantly when pressure, heat or cold reach a painful threshold.”

In addition to the pain-sensing prototype device, the researchers also developed devices made with stretchable electronics that can sense and respond to changes in temperature and pressure.

Bhaskaran said three functional prototypes were designed to deliver key features of the skin’s sensing capability in electronic form.

The research team hopes that with further development, the stretchable artificial skin could replace skin grafts in cases where a traditional approach might not be feasible.

“We need further development to integrate this technology into biomedical applications but the fundamentals – biocompatibility, skin-like stretchability – are already there,” Bhaskaran said.

Read more: NUS Scientists Develop Electronic Skin with Exceptional Sense of Touch for Prosthetics

The new research, published in Advanced Intelligent Systems and filed as a provisional patent, combines three technologies previously pioneered and patented by the team:

• Stretchable electronics: combining oxide materials with biocompatible silicone to deliver transparent, unbreakable and wearable electronics as thin as a sticker.
• Temperature-reactive coatings: self-modifying coatings 1,000 times thinner than a human hair based on a material that transforms in response to heat.
• Brain-mimicking memory: electronic memory cells that imitate the way the brain uses long-term memory to recall and retain previous information.

The pressure sensor prototype combines stretchable electronics and long-term memory cells, the heat sensor brings together temperature-reactive coatings and memory, while the pain sensor integrates all three technologies.

For criminals who are transitioning from prison back to regular society, starting a new life can be difficult. Researchers from Purdue University Polytechnic Institute have decided to help these people by using artificial intelligence. Their method could help parolees avoid committing crimes after rejoining regular society.

Read more: Purdue Researchers Develop Wearable That May Help Prevent Sudden Death From Epilepsy

Results of a U.S. Department of Justice study indicated more than 80 percent of people in state prisons were arrested at least once in the nine years following their release. Almost half of those arrests came in the first year following release.

Marcus Rogers and Umit Karabiyik of Purdue Polytechnic's Department of Computer and Information Technology, are leading an ongoing project focused on using AI-enabled tools and technology to reduce the recidivism rates for convicted criminals who have been released. They are studying the forensic psychology aspect, by identifying risky behaviors, stressful situations, and other behavioral and physiological factors connected to a risk of individuals returning to criminal behavior, reports Purdue University.

“The goal of the study is to identify opportunities for early intervention to better assist those individuals to integrate back into general society successfully,” said Marcus Rogers, professor of computer and information technology.

"The major reason recidivism is so high is the parolees don't feel like they belong in the community," Karabiyik said. "They have a hard time, and they immediately go back to their old criminal habits. Their old criminal communities are very welcoming."

Parolees will be given bracelets that collect health information, including stress and heart rate. Smartphones carried by each individual will collect information, ranging from where they are at any given time to the photos they may take. The artificial intelligence will be run in intervals with the data examined rather than in real-time.

Rogers said the information will be used to identify risky behaviors, stressful situations, and other behavioral and physiological factors correlated with those individuals at risk of returning to their criminal behavior.

Read more: Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Institute Aims to Put Humans at the Center of this Field

In addition to determining the factors that draw parolees back, the research also will study the effect of offering assistance to the individuals as they integrate back into society.

For example, Karabiyik said the AI tools could recommend communities or jobs that would work well for the parolees, helping them feel comfortable and eliminating their high-risk status.

Researchers at UT Dallas and their international colleagues have developed a method to create micro LEDs that can be folded, twisted, cut and stuck to different surfaces. Their invention helps pave the way for the next generation of flexible, wearable technology.

Read more: Georgia Tech Research On Flexible Electronics Shows Promise For Spinal Injury Therapies

As they are lightweight, thin, energy-efficient, and visible in different types of lighting, LEDs are ideal components for backlighting and displays in electronic devices. They are typically used in products ranging from brake lights to billboards, reports UT Dallas.

Micro LEDs can be as small as 2 micrometers and bundled to be any size. They provide higher resolution than other LEDs. Their size makes them a good fit for small devices such as smartwatches, but they can be bundled to work in flat-screen TVs and other larger displays. LEDs of all sizes, however, are brittle and typically can only be used on flat surfaces.

“The biggest benefit of this research is that we have created a detachable LED that can be attached to almost anything,” said Dr. Moon Kim, Louis Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering at UT Dallas and a corresponding author of the study. “You can transfer it onto your clothing or even rubber — that was the main idea. It can survive even if you wrinkle it. If you cut it, you can use half of the LED.”

Researchers in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics helped develop the flexible LED through a technique called remote epitaxy, which involves growing a thin layer of LED crystals on the surface of a sapphire crystal wafer, or substrate.

Typically, the LED would remain on the wafer. The researchers added a layer, made of a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon called graphene, to prevent the new layer of LED crystals from sticking to the wafer.

Their colleagues in South Korea carried out laboratory tests of LEDs by adhering them to curved surfaces, as well as to materials that were subsequently twisted, bent and crumpled. They also adhered an LED to the legs of a Lego minifigure with different leg positions.

The flexible, bendable LEDs have potential uses in flexible lighting, clothing and wearable biomedical devices. From a manufacturing perspective, the fabrication technique offers another advantage: Because the LED can be removed without breaking the underlying wafer substrate, the wafer can be used repeatedly.

Read more: Fast-Charging Bendable Graphene-Based Supercapacitor Could Power Wearables

“You can use one substrate many times, and it will have the same functionality,” Kim said.

The research was published online in the journal Science Advances.

Withings announced that its ScanWatch has received CE marking for medical devices. It means the smartwatch can be sold in Europe. The watch is now available in Europe for 279€.

Unveiled at the CES 2020, the smartwatch can take ECG, detect sleep apnea and boasts an estimated 12 months of battery life. According to Withings, the ScanWatch is the world's first clinically validated hybrid smartwatch to detect atrial fibrillation (AFib), blood oxygen levels (SpO2), and sleep apnea.

Read more: We’re Maintaining Our Weight and Sleeping More in Quarantine, Withings’ COVID-19 Lockdown Study Reveals

The ScanWatch is still awaiting FDA approval for sale in the US, but hopefully it will be available worldwide soon.

The ScanWatch comes with a PPG sensor, which continuously monitors the wearer’s heart rate and alert them if there’s an irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia. If an arrhythmia is detected the watch prompts the user to take an ECG reading. The user can see the ECG results either on their watch screen or in the watch’s Health Mate app. Afterwards, they can print out a graph of their ECG to send to their doctor.

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with this condition stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. Due to this, the brain and the rest of the body are deprived of enough oxygen. However, eight out of 10 people with this condition aren’t aware that they have, Withings said in the press material.

The SpO2 feature in the watch can measure oxygen saturation continuously and let you know if you’re experiencing any sleep apnea episodes. And like other sleep trackers, the ScanWatch will provide detailed sleep analysis like duration, depth regularity, and interruptions.

Read more: Leading Connected Healthcare Firm Withings Launches B2B Solutions for Healthcare Professionals

“We announced ScanWatch earlier this year to an enthusiastic response. Today, its capabilities to detect heart rhythm disorders as well as to track blood oxygen saturation levels have become even more amplified due to COVID-19,” said Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings, reports MobiHealthNews.

“With the CE mark regulatory approval for AFib detection and SpO2 measurement, we are delighted to be able to make ScanWatch available to customers in Europe now, with medical-grade sleep apnea detection coming later this year as well as US availability.”

Biofourmis, which combines AI-based data analytics and biosensors to monitor the progress of medical treatments, has raised $100 million Series C financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation by existing investors Openspace Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and EDBI.

Read more: Biofourmis’ AI-Powered Tech Being Used in Remote Monitoring of COVID-19 Patients in Hong Kong

“We believe predictive health is the future of medicine and Biofourmis is a leader in using AI and machine learning-based solutions to advance digital therapeutics," said Greg Moon, Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We are excited to partner with Biofourmis and support their mission of using AI and wearables data to enable personalized care.”

The company said it will use the money to accelerate its global expansion, advance digital therapeutics pipeline, develop additional care pathways and drive deeper integration with its health system, hospital, pharmaceutical and clinical research clients and partners, according to a press release.

“COVID-19 is pushing remote monitoring and digital therapeutics to the forefront of medicine,” said Biofourmis CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput. “Our vision is to use digital medicine to empower patients, clinicians and researchers everywhere by providing software-as-a-treatment for patients with unmet clinical needs, from post-acute care to optimal medication therapy.”

In conjunction with the Series C financing announcement, Biofourmis has announced an alignment of its internal operations to enable deeper integration with clients and partners and to support ongoing innovation. The new business structure will include two verticals:

• Biofourmis Therapeutics: Focuses on pioneering an entirely new category of medicine, by developing clinically validated software-based therapeutics to treat and manage patients with unmet clinical needs. These digital therapies work independently or in conjunction with pharmacotherapies—thereby augmenting drug efficacy, reducing costs and resulting in better patient outcomes.
• With Biofourmis Therapeutics' "beyond the pill" model, pharmaceutical companies prescribe the company's digital therapeutics solution as a companion therapeutic with high-value drugs to improve efficacy and to better manage and treat patients with complex chronic conditions.
• Biofourmis Health: Focuses on virtual care models to manage patients remotely as they transition from acute to post-acute care. The company's AI-based Biovitals® Platform is layered with personalized care pathways to manage patients with heart failure, coronary artery disease, respiratory illnesses and cancer, especially those undergoing chemo/radiation therapy or CAR-T treatment.
• Biofourmis Health's "home hospital" initiative leverages the company's AI-based remote monitoring to lower healthcare costs—through reductions in length of stay, readmissions and emergency department visits, among other measures—and to improve patient outcomes by enabling clinicians to remotely monitor patients and intervene up to 21 hours in advance of when a medical crisis would have otherwise occurred.

Read more: Chugai and Biofourmis Collaborating to Develop Digital Solution For Objective Assessment of Pain

“In the last seven months, healthcare has fast-forwarded by at least five years,” Rajput said. "Despite a challenging global economic environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect that our latest funding round will accelerate Biofourmis' plans to rapidly scale to support more healthcare provider, pharmaceutical and health plan clients across the world.”

Vuzix announced that Pixee Medical, a France-based medical company, in collaboration with Dr. Jérôme Villeminot and his team from Clinique St Odile in Haguenau, France, have successfully validated a new milestone by using Knee+, the first total knee replacement AR navigation system, solely guided by the Vuzix M400 AR Smart Glasses. The Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses running the Knee+ solution provided real time navigation throughout the surgery, displaying essential augmented reality information in the surgeon's field of view.

Vuzix and Librestream Announce Onsight Cube Thermal Scanner On Vuzix M400 AR Glasses For COVID-19

The most recent surgery also marked the first ambulatory surgery using Pixee's MIS solution.  During the last 2 months, Pixee successfully achieved the first round of the Knee+ clinical validation program. This major milestone starts a second round of validation, opening the way to a first limited commercialization of their innovative solution in November 2020.  Pixee has a growing list of surgeons and orthopedic manufacturers worldwide interested in trying this innovation using the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses. The combination is compact, easy to use, wireless and does not require disposables, says a press release.

“The team at Pixee Medical created an innovative path to bring the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses into the operating room to perform knee replacement surgeries and continues to make progress in the operating theater for a variety of uses. We look forward to supporting them in their worldwide distribution of this innovative AR solution,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix.

Read more: Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses Continue Their Expansion Into Remote Care For COVID-19 Patients

If you're interested in learning more about Vuzix Smart Glasses and how they are being used in healthcare, you can register for the upcoming webinar on Vuzix’s website.

“The team at Pixee Medical created an innovative path to bring the Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses into the operating room to perform knee replacement surgeries and continues to make progress in the operating theater for a variety of uses. We look forward to supporting them in their worldwide distribution of this innovative AR solution,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix.

Read more: Vuzix M400 Smart Glasses Continue Their Expansion Into Remote Care For COVID-19 Patients

If you're interested in learning more about Vuzix Smart Glasses and how they are being used in healthcare, you can register for the upcoming webinar on Vuzix’s website.

The COVID-19 pandemic is making companies across the globe search for solutions on how to deal with the crisis. South Korean electronics giant LG want to give new meaning to clean and personal air. The company plans to introduce its PuriCare™ Wearable Air Purifying mask at the IFA 2020. The LG PuriCare will be available starting in the fourth quarter in select markets.

Read more: Face Masks Made Of Electroceutical Fabric Kills Coronavirus On Contact

LG PuriCare resolves the dilemma of homemade masks being of inconsistent quality and disposable masks being in short supply. The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier employs two H13 HEPA filters, similar to the filters used in the company’s home air purifier products, reports LG.

The PuriCare Wearable uses the latest advancements in air purification, high-performance replaceable filters to supply fresh, clean air indoor and out. With its Dual Fans and patented Respiratory Sensor, LG’s wearable air purifier allows users to take in clean, filtered air while the Respiratory Sensor detects the cycle and volume of the wearer’s breath and adjusts the dual three-speed fans accordingly. The fans automatically speed up to assist air intake and slow down to reduce resistance when exhaling to make breathing effortless.

Ergonomically designed based on extensive facial shape analysis, LG PuriCare Wearable fits snugly on the user’s face to minimize air leakage around the nose and chin. The design also makes it possible to wear the unit comfortably for hours on end. The efficient and lightweight 820mAh battery offers up to eight hours of operation in low mode and two hours on high.

What’s more, LG’s innovative personal air solution comes with a case that helps maintain hygiene between uses. Equipped with UV-LED lights that kills harmful germs, the one-of-a-kind case can even charge the mask and sends a notification to the LG ThinQ mobile app (Android/iOS) when the filters need to be replaced for peak performance. And because every component of LG PuriCare Wearable – from the filters to the ear straps – is replaceable and recyclable, it’s an environmentally responsible solution as well.

Read more: Huami’s Amazfit Aeri Mask Self-Disinfects and Unlocks Your Phone With Face ID

“The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier is an exciting addition to our growing lineup of products designed to deliver meaningful health and hygiene benefits,” said Dan Song, president of LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company. “At a time when consumers are seeking ways to make life safer and more convenient, it’s important that we’re able to offer solutions that add measureable value.”

For IFA 2020, LG will present a virtual exhibition throughout the month of September featuring its latest innovations including LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier.

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FallCall Solutions, the creator of the FallCall Lite app for Apple Watch and iPhone, has teamed up with Trelawear Inc. to bring the first Bluetooth jewelry inspired Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) wearable pendant to be featured on the FallCall Lite app platform fully integrated into the Apple ecosystem.

Read more: FallCall Launches Personal Emergency Response System App for Apple Watch and iPhone

“Our vision when we first built FallCall was to change the narrative around PERS devices," states Dr. Shea Gregg, Founder and President of FallCall Solutions. "We have serviced thousands of Help Calls for our app users using the mobile and wearable devices they already own. In-line with our desire to provide safety and style for active lifestyles, we partnered with Trelawear, a leader in the design and distribution of attractive discreet PERS devices, to offer a beautiful 100% brass pendant collection that provides a true breakthrough solution for our current and future clients.”

FallCall Lite is a comprehensive Personal Emergency Assistant that is available from the Apple App Store for Free. Standard features include voice activation with Siri®, automatic "Elder Watch Battery Charge" updates for Caregivers, plus "Help Calls" to up to five Care Group members, with location and heart rate information, says a press release.

Trelawear devices remotely pair with the FallCall Lite app and follow the same simple electronic process for signing up and maintaining FallCall’s 24/7, U.S-based personal emergency monitoring service. Mytrex, Inc. with its 30+ years of emergency medical monitoring services will be the service provider for Trelawear Inc. devices.

The monthly subscription for the central monitor is $19.99. It adds access to trained and certified Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs) 24 hours a day. Additionally, the monitoring service will send situational updates to Care Group members as an emergency event is unfolding.

Read more: Wearable Inertial Sensor-Based Devices Can Accurately Assess Elderly Fall Risk: Study

“Safety has never been as important as it is today, and FallCall Lite was a natural fit for Trelawear,” said Mara Perlmutter, Founder and CEO. “Trelawear caters to a younger demographic and provides a solution for adult children purchasing for their loved ones who own smartphones and are comfortable using Bluetooth with mobile apps. We were looking for the right partner who could provide a compatible Bluetooth app platform and who similarly believed in the importance of de-stigmatizing the wearing of a PERS device, appreciating that women of all ages want to look and feel beautiful while also feeling safe.”

In a potential breakthrough in wearable sensing technology, researchers from Cornell and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have designed a wrist-mounted device that uses thermal sensors to accurately predict hand positions.

Read more: Scientists From NTU Singapore Develop AI System For High Precision Recognition of Hand Gestures

The bracelet is called FingerTrak and it incorporates four miniature, low-resolution thermal cameras. The system uses machine learning to sense and translate into 3D the many positions of the human hand, including 20 finger joint positions. It has the potential for a variety of uses including automated sign-language translation, virtual reality, human-robot interaction and other areas, the researchers said.

“This was a major discovery by our team – that by looking at your wrist contours, the technology could reconstruct in 3D, with keen accuracy, where your fingers are,” said Cheng Zhang, assistant professor of information science and director of Cornell’s new SciFi Lab, where FingerTrak was developed. “It’s the first system to reconstruct your full hand posture based on the contours of the wrist.”

Yin Li, assistant professor of biostatistics and medical informatics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, contributed to the software behind FingerTrak.

The team said the system will need a bit more refining to make it useful in various fields. It could allow VR game players to track their own hand movements or it could make for remote-controlled robots that directly mimic a human operator’s motions.

FingerTrak could also have an impact on health care applications, specifically in monitoring disorders that affect fine-motor skills, Li said.

“How we move our hands and fingers often tells about our health condition,” Li said. "A device like this might be used to better understand how the elderly use their hands in daily life, helping to detect early signs of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”

Read more: With Tap Strap 2 You Can Control Any Bluetooth-Enabled Device with Gesture

The research was published in Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.

Hearables or Smart headphones are advanced, electronic in-ear-devices. They are designed for multiple purposes ranging from wireless transmission to communication, medical monitoring and fitness tracking. Due to the popularity of wearables, hearables with augmented reality (AR) features are becoming ubiquitous.

Read more: Audio Streaming and New Bluetooth Technology to Drive Hearables Market, Reaching $80 billion in 2025

While virtual reality takes to a completely different world than where you are now, augmented reality adds (augments) additional things to your reality. Now, Audio augmented reality (AuR) augments our reality by incorporating virtual add-ons. AuR also enhances our reality by curating or selectively manipulating what we hear. This technology offers an immersive experience by including an audio layer on top of real reality. As seeing takes up a lot of our focus, and hearing has a lower cognitive load, Aur is the safest way of layering on a combined sensory experience.

“Today, when people talk about augmented (audio) reality they’re usually referring to audio content customized for your location. One super simple, low-tech example that’s been around for years comes from the US Open Tennis Championship. When you go watch the US Open live, you can get American Express headphones that let you listen to John McEnroe’s commentary from the TV booth while you watch the match. That’s augmenting your reality of watching the tennis match with audio commentary,” says Katherine Prescott, who launched VoiceBrew as the first digital media company dedicated to helping people get the most out of Amazon Alexa.

Hearing aids have long been small earbud like devices worn in the ears of old people. They were boring. But now smart hearables are changing the landscape of hearing aids. Many hearables makers are integrating audio augmented reality into their devices to deliver immersive experience to the user.

Nuheara

Nuheara’s premium earbuds now offer noise cancellation. With Nuheara’s IQbuds you can hear nearby conversation while muting other sounds.

Olive Smart Ear

The Olive Smart Ear are small earbuds. All you have to do is set it up via an app-driven hearing test to tune the device to the quirks of your personal hearing. After that, the device equalizes the world to your ears while also offering variable amplification taken from the traditional hearing aid playbook.

Read more: Audio Augmented Reality (AuR) enhances our reality by curating or selectively manipulating what we hear

Sonion-Valencell Partner Up for Biometrics

Sonion and Valencell formed a strategic partnership that will increase the limits for the use of biometric sensors in the ear. Under the strategic partnership, Sonion will launch an extensive collection of sensor modules for various applications in the ear and Valencell will continue developing its innovative portfolio of advanced and accurate biometric sensor capabilities. Valencell's tech can measure heart rate via PPG (photoplethysmography), and measure blood pressure the same way. As part of the sensor modules, Sonion will integrate its world class balanced armature speakers.

Hearables or Smart headphones are advanced, electronic in-ear-devices. They are designed for multiple purposes ranging from wireless transmission to communication, medical monitoring and fitness tracking. Due to the popularity of wearables, hearables with augmented reality (AR) features are becoming ubiquitous.

Read more Audio Streaming and New Bluetooth Technology to Drive Hearables Market, Reaching $80 billion in 2025

While virtual reality takes to a completely different world than where you are now, augmented reality adds (augments) additional things to your reality. Now, Audio augmented reality (AuR) augments our reality by incorporating virtual add-ons. AuR also enhances our reality by curating or selectively manipulating what we hear. This technology offers an immersive experience by including an audio layer on top of real reality. As seeing takes up a lot of our focus, and hearing has a lower cognitive load, Aur is the safest way of layering on a combined sensory experience.

“Today, when people talk about augmented (audio) reality they’re usually referring to audio content customized for your location. One super simple, low-tech example that’s been around for years comes from the US Open Tennis Championship. When you go watch the US Open live, you can get American Express headphones that let you listen to John McEnroe’s commentary from the TV booth while you watch the match. That’s augmenting your reality of watching the tennis match with audio commentary,” says Katherine Prescott, who launched VoiceBrew as the first digital media company dedicated to helping people get the most out of Amazon Alexa.

Hearing aids have long been small earbud like devices worn in the ears of old people. They were boring. But now smart hearables are changing the landscape of hearing aids. Many hearables makers are integrating audio augmented reality into their devices to deliver immersive experience to the user.

Nuheara

Nuheara’s premium earbuds now offer noise cancellation. With Nuheara’s IQbuds you can hear nearby conversation while muting other sounds.

Olive Smart Ear

The Olive Smart Ear are small earbuds. All you have to do is set it up via an app-driven hearing test to tune the device to the quirks of your personal hearing. After that, the device equalizes the world to your ears while also offering variable amplification taken from the traditional hearing aid playbook.

Read more Audio Augmented Reality (AuR) enhances our reality by curating or selectively manipulating what we hear

Sonion-Valencell Partner Up for Biometrics

Sonion and Valencell formed a strategic partnership that will increase the limits for the use of biometric sensors in the ear. Under the strategic partnership, Sonion will launch an extensive collection of sensor modules for various applications in the ear and Valencell will continue developing its innovative portfolio of advanced and accurate biometric sensor capabilities. Valencell's tech can measure heart rate via PPG (photoplethysmography), and measure blood pressure the same way. As part of the sensor modules, Sonion will integrate its world class balanced armature speakers.

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The rise in contactless payment as a result of the growing usage of contactless cards and Near-Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile payments is driving the wearable payments market.

Read more: Contactless Payment Systems On The Rise Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

In large part, this usage reflects a growing trend in changing consumer behavior regarding payment habits and trends, driven by maturing smartwatch technologies, evolving tokenization platforms, and the convergence with other end verticals such as ticketing and transport, and fitness and health applications. As a result of these trends, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research forecasts US$7.2 billion in global revenue from the sale of payment-enabled wearables in 2024, says a news release.

A combination of technology maturity, consumer popularity, familiarity with contactless payments, and the unique external phenomena (and notably COVID-19, whereby contactless is being pushed as a safe and hygienic alternative to cash by the payment networks, merchants, government, and the World Health Organization) is accelerating today's market adoption of contactless technologies. Wearable devices are primed to take advantage of this trend, with increasing choice and flexibility in terms of form-factors and available payment methods.

Ecosystem players such as wearable OEMs, silicon and IP providers, payment enablers, and financial application developers are all working to develop wearable payment experiences that are EMV-compliant, lightweight, interoperable, and intuitive UI. But most importantly, wearable payment technology can easily converge with other applications, such as loyalty and rewards, fitness and health, ticketing and transport, access control, etc., offering up new revenue streams and business opportunities for the various stakeholders.

This can be seen primarily by the growing adoption of open-loop payment systems in active devices such as smartwatches, which are outstripping closed-loop passive devices (such as silicon wristbands) in terms of shipment numbers over the forecast period. Regardless of device type however, increased merchant acceptance and growing consumer adoption serve to highlight the ease and convenience of wearable-enabled payments.

Some of the top players in the market include Apple, CPI Card Group, G+D, Idemia, Infineon, MasterCard, NXP, Qualcomm, and Thales Gemalto, all of which are pushing through innovative solutions in the space. While wearable payments is a small market today, it is not niche. There are increasing and lucrative opportunities that will continue to push adoption and usage, and showcase new applications, including M2M payments, pay on demand, micropayments, 5G for instant B2B payments, and beyond, such as access control and transit.

Read more: Wearables Market Projected to Grow 137% By 2024

These findings are from ABI Research's Wearable Payments Ecosystem application analysis report. This report is part of the company's Digital Security research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights. Based on extensive primary interviews, Application Analysis reports present in-depth analysis on key market trends and factors for a specific application, which could focus on an individual market or geography.

Amazon has entered the health and fitness space with Halo, a subscription service and accompanying wristband that unlocks an array of health metrics, including activity, body fat, sleep, and tone of voice analysis, to determine how you sound to others. Customers in the U.S. can request early access to Amazon Halo with the Amazon Halo Band and 6 months of Halo membership available for a special price of $64.99.

Read more: Amazon Reportedly Working on an Emotion Tracking Wearable

“Despite the rise in digital health services and devices over the last decade, we have not seen a corresponding improvement in population health in the U.S. We are using Amazon’s deep expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer customers a new way to discover, adopt, and maintain personalized wellness habits,” said Dr. Maulik Majmudar, Principal Medical Officer, Amazon Halo. “Health is much more than just the number of steps you take in a day or how many hours you sleep. Amazon Halo combines the latest medical science, highly accurate data via the Halo Band sensors, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence to offer a more comprehensive approach to improving your health and wellness.”

Amazon Halo Band is purpose-built to focus on your health and wellness—unlike smartwatches and fitness trackers, it doesn’t have a screen or constant notifications. The small sensor capsule delivers highly accurate data, and includes an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a heart rate monitor, two microphones, an LED indicator light, and a button to turn the microphones on or off, among other functions. Amazon Halo Band is water-resistant for all-day wear and the comfortable fit means it won’t snag or irritate at night. Plus, the battery lasts up to seven days and fully charges in under 90 minutes. Customers can choose from three fabric band colors at purchase, with fabric and silicone sport accessory bands available in 15 additional colors, reports BusinessWire.

The Amazon Halo app has a suite of five core features to understand health and wellness:

Activity

Informed by American Heart Association physical activity guidelines and the latest medical research, Amazon Halo awards points based on the intensity and duration of movement, not just the number of steps taken. Amazon Halo deducts one activity point for every hour over eight hours of sedentary time in a day, outside of sleep. A baseline goal of 150 activity points is set and measured weekly.

Sleep

Amazon Halo uses motion, heart rate, and temperature to measure time asleep and time awake; time spent in the various phases of sleep including deep, light, and REM; and skin temperature while sleeping. In the morning, Amazon Halo delivers a sleep score out of 100, any deviation from baseline sleep temperature, and a hypnogram showing time spent in each sleep phase.

Body

Using new innovations in computer vision and machine learning, Amazon Halo lets customers measure their body fat percentage from the comfort and privacy of their own home, making this important information easily accessible. The Amazon Halo body fat measurement is as accurate as methods a doctor would use—and nearly twice as accurate as leading at-home smart scales, Amazon says.

Tone

The innovative Tone feature uses machine learning to analyze energy and positivity in a customer’s voice so they can better understand how they may sound to others, helping improve their communication and relationships. For example, Tone results may reveal that a difficult work call leads to less positivity in communication with a customer’s family, an indication of the impact of stress on emotional well-being.

Read more: Amazon and Walmart Granted Patents for Novel Uses of Biometric Sensing

Labs

Amazon Halo Labs are science-backed challenges, experiments, and workouts that allow customers to discover what works best for them specifically, so they can build healthier habits. Customers can choose from labs created by Amazon Halo experts, as well as brands and personalities they already know, including 8fit, Aaptiv, American Heart Association, Exhale On-Demand, Harvard Health Publishing, Headspace, Julian Treasure, Lifesum, Mayo Clinic, Openfit, Orangetheory Fitness, P.volve, Russell Wilson, Relax Melodies, SWEAT, and WW.

Across the globe, as people slowly emerge from their COVID-19 quarantines, and wonder what the future holds, contactless payments start to make a whole lot more sense.

Contactless payment is a secure payment method that uses RFID technology or NFC (near-field communication). To use the system, a user taps their debit or credit card, smartcard, or another payment device near a point-of-sale terminal equipped with the technology. It doesn’t require the user to input a PIN.

Related Discover Cardmembers Can Now Make Contactless Payments Using Garmin Pay

“As customers increasingly demand expediency—and now, assurances that store clerks and bank tellers will stay physically distant—more brick-and-mortar businesses are turning to “tap-to-pay” systems,” reports Stephanie Walden in Forbes.

Recently, Fidesmo, a Swedish tech company announced joining forces with Mondaine to add wearable payment service, Fidesmo Pay to the Mondaine’s collection. This opens up for thousands of cardholders, from several European banks in multiple regions, to be able to make contactless payments with the Mondaine PayChip™. The Mondaine PayChip™ can be inserted into a specially developed strap with a pocket, or into a special strap loop, which can be added to many Mondaine watches. The patented system enables the consumer to swap the pay chip in sim card size from one watch to another one very quickly and easily – a world exclusivity. By holding the watch closely to any terminal that supports contactless payments, the payment is more convenient than ever before.

Fidesmo makes it possible to connect contactless services, such as payment, public transport tickets, office/hotel and car keys, to both passive and active devices.

In other news, Dawson Racing announced its association with Atlanta, Georgia-based Square 1 Flex for its new custom Visa payment-enabled e-wallet and Dawson Racing themed wearable device. As consumers increasingly look for touchless payment opportunities, the new offerings will allow fans to complete transactions more safely on or off the track, while earning points through the new loyalty rewards program.

Visa, the world’s second-largest card payment organization, partnered with Planeta Informatica, to launch a new technology that enables public transit operators worldwide to implement contactless payments faster and easier than ever, and for a much lower cost. Transit operators using the new Visa Secure Access Module (SAM) will find it easier to start offering riders the ability to tap to pay with a contactless card, phone or wearable device, without the need to replace current turnstiles or terminal hardware.

Related HID Global and Fidesmo Partner Up To Add Contactless Access Control To Smartwatches and Other Wearables

Despite the enticing features and advantages offered by contactless payments, there are some hurdles to overcome such as its high cost and limited battery life of the devices. However, a growing number of financial services are now offering contactless payment services, which has opened new avenues for market players.

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Smartwatches aren’t just for kids anymore. Various companies are offering smartwatches that cater to the needs for children. These smartwatches offer health tracking, games, learning development exercises, and safety. Here’s my list of the 6 best smartwatches for kids in 2020.

Fitbit Ace 2

Fitbit Ace 2 is designed to help kids build healthy habits and encourage them to spend more active time with family and friends. Fitbit Ace 2 helps parents and their children understand how physical activity impacts overall well-being and health. Kids see stats, goal celebrations, parent-approved friends, and call notifications. Ace 2 is water-resistant to 50M and the helpful bumper around the screen protects it during kid-related activities all day long. Fitbit Ace 2 comes in a selection of fun and bold kid-friendly colors. With colorful avatars, kids can personalize their profiles. Animated clock faces motivate challenges to keep children moving.

Read more Children are Becoming Major Driving Force Behind the Wearable Market Growth in China

Coolpad Dyno

The Coolpad Dyno smartwatch aims to bridge the gap between kids and tech in a safe and fun manner. Running on its own 4G LTE connection, the smartwatch allows kids to make calls, send messages, and transmit location. Other functionalities include step tracking and alarm clock. Coolpad has a companion app for the parent to add specific contacts that the child can both call and message. Phone calls can be made using the SIM card that connects to networks in the US and Canada. Coolpad Dyno has some fun watch faces that your child can swap between as well as two different colored straps in the box. The watch also has an excellent battery life which lasts for nearly 3 days between charges.

Garmin Vivofit Jr. 2

Garmin’s Vivofit Jr. 2 with Marvel’s Spider-Man themed bands and mobile app, is specifically designed for kids. Vivofit 2 is actually more than just a fitness tracker, it provides kids with an interactive experience where activity unlocks adventure, shaping habits for lifelong health and fitness. Using a comic-book style Spider-Verse app, kids can look forward to crushing activity minute goals to unlock new adventures, gems, games, and step icons. New York City comes to life with enhanced animations featuring fun fitness facts integrated into the story to further encourage building healthy habits. The vívofit jr. 2 bands come in 2 ultra-durable, etched Marvel Spider-Man designs. They are swim-friendly, feature a customizable color screen, and boasts a battery life of over one year.

Vtech KidiZoom

With lots of cool features, Vtech KidiZoom and Vtech KidiZoom DX2 smartwatches are especially designed for kids. The watches have a camera for taking photos and videos, a motion sensor for tracking activities, and has a range of games and apps to use. The KidiZoom DX 2 has two cameras that allow children to capture everything from action videos to selfies, reports GadgetsAndWearables. The voice recorder lets kids change their voice and give it cool effects. There’s a pedometer and there are games that can be played via the touch screen.

LeapFrog LeapBand

Aimed at kids 4 to 7, the LeapFrog LeapBand is a fitness tracker packed with many features. The LeapBand turns active physical play and healthy eating habits into a game with a bunch of appealing virtual rewards. This is more than just a fitness tracker. It offers a virtual pet that, which children can play with and nurture. To keep their pet happy, children must feed them healthy food and keep active. Children earn rewards by taking part in activities like muscle and bone-strengthening activities and cardiovascular activities. They spend these rewards on their virtual pet.

Read more Children Could Be More Prone to Cyber Crime Because of Wearables

Octopus Joy

The Octopus by Joy is a smartwatch that teaches kids to follow routine. The smartwatch sends alerts to users when it’s time to brush their teeth, leave for school, do that homework, take a bath, and more using an Android or iOS app managed by parents. The watch connects to a parent’s phone via Bluetooth so they can program tasks and get notified when kids stay on schedule. In theory, this means parents won’t have to nag their kids so much, because it teaches them to manage their own time. For an extra $49 dollars kids can get a charging station that doubles as a night light. Octopus uses colorful icons to help kids tell time and keep kids on schedule with visual reminders. Once a task is completed, the kid can check it off.

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A fitness tracker can help you monitor your steps, heart rate, sleep, and more. The latest fitness trackers with their superb design, compatibility, convenient features, and functionality, are attracting more and more women. These trackers feature slim, lighter and well-rounded design, affordable price, and offers some female-friendly features. Below is a list of the 5 best fitness trackers and smartwatches for women in 2020.

Read more INNOVO: Non-Invasive Wearable to Treat Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women

Garmin Vivoactive 4

Vivoactive 4 is Garmin’s all-purpose smartwatch. It comes in two sizes: a 45mm stainless steel model and a 40mm model for small wrists (4S), reports GadgetsAndWearables. Features include fitness tracking essentials, as well as NFC for on-the-go payments, music storage and built-in GPS. The Pulse Ox sensor gauges your blood oxygen saturation during the day and as you sleep to show how well your body is absorbing oxygen. Find out if you’re having a calm, balanced or stressful day. Relax reminders will even prompt you to do a short breathing activity when you’re feeling stressed. For menstrual cycle tracking, use the Garmin Connect app to track your cycle, log physical and emotional symptoms and learn about training and nutrition during each phase of your cycle. Even get cycle tracking information on your wrist.

Bellabeat Leaf Chakra

Bellabeat, a wellness-oriented outfit dedicated to creating attractive connected wearables for women, has introduced a smart piece of jewelry is designed to track your health. The wearable, called Leaf Chakra, features the added power of healing crystals. Leaf Chakra was created to highlight the importance of personal wellness and to help reaffirm the user’s connection with the Earth and his or her chakra energy through the healing powers of gemstones and crystals. Chakras are the body’s specific energy centers. The concept is found in the early traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. There are seven chakras in the human body. Each energy center serves a specific purpose such as managing emotional well-being or building resistance to disease.

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G-SHOCK Women

Casio G-Shock unveiled its latest S Series collection of smartwatches for women’s fitness and lifestyle. Inspired by the pastel colors of spring, the watches come in pink and gold accents just in time for the season. The four new timepieces offer a new take on two of the most popular S Series silhouettes, the GMAS120 and GMAS130. The GMAS130 features step tracking, which provides an achievement indicator percentage, an activity graph of the last five hours, and a non-active alert, allowing users to easily assess their progress throughout the day. The GMAS120 lifestyle models also boast top-line features including magnetic resistance and a speed indicator. All of the models come equipped with G-SHOCK technology.

Withings Steel HR

With the repurchase of Nokia in 2018, Withings has reappeared with a new look, increased focus on connected health, and the first new product under its original brand name. The company’s Steel HR Sport is a multisport hybrid smartwatch with heart rate monitoring, connected GPS tracking and fitness level analysis – an estimate of maximum oxygen intake during running workouts. With an unprecedented battery life of 25 days, the device complements the Withings networked healthcare device portfolio, which includes activity trackers, sphygmomanometers, smart scales, thermometers, and sleep monitoring systems.

Read more J’adore Adorn Launches Luxury Swarovski Elements Crystal Earphones for Women

Fitbit Charge 4

Fitbit’s Charge 4 is the company’s most advanced health & fitness tracker with built-in GPS, heart rate tracker, SpO2, active zone minutes, Spotify, Sleep tools, Fitbit Pay and more. Paired with essential smart features and up to seven days of battery life in a sleek, swimproof design – the Charge 4 comes at an approachable price. The onboard GPS enables you to track your pace and distance during cycling, jogs and other outdoor activities without being tethered to a smartphone. After completing a GPS-enabled workout, sync your device for a GPS-powered heat map in the Fitbit app where you can see your workout intensity, based on your different heart rate zones along your route, to help you visualize and improve how you are performing against different terrain.

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Medtronic, a leading medical technology company, announced its plans to buy Companion Medical, a company best known for making the FDA-cleared InPen, an insulin pen that integrates a companion app. The addition of Companion Medical’s InPen to the Medtronic portfolio expands the company’s ability to serve people where they are in their diabetes journey and offer them a unique and expansive ecosystem of support — regardless of how insulin is delivered.

Read more Medtronic Buys Diabetes Management Startup Klue to Strengthen Personalized Closed Loop System

“This acquisition is an ideal strategic fit for Medtronic as we further simplify diabetes management and improve outcomes by optimizing dosing decisions for the large number of people using multiple daily injection (MDI). We look forward to building upon the success of the InPen by combining it with our intelligent algorithms to deliver proactive dosing advice personalized to each individual. This smart CGM system can help people think less about diabetes and be able to live life with more freedom, on their own terms,” said Sean Salmon, executive vice president and president of the Diabetes Group at Medtronic. “Our goal is to become a trusted partner that offers consistent support whether an individual wants to stay on MDI, transition to automated insulin delivery or take a break from their pump.”

The acquisition of Companion Medical builds upon prior Medtronic strategic acquisitions, including Nutrino and Klue, that form the building blocks to design powerful algorithms leveraging the company’s deep data science and AI capabilities. With this latest acquisition, Medtronic will work to further advance the automation of insights and dosing capabilities to help alleviate burden regardless of the technology that’s preferred for insulin delivery. In addition, Medtronic will look to expand the availability of InPen globally, reports GlobeNewswire.

“We are thrilled to be combining our strengths and differentiated product portfolios to work towards serving even more people around the world living with diabetes in the ways that matter most to them,” said Sean Saint, CEO and co-founder of Companion Medical. “Simplifying diabetes management to reduce burden and improve outcomes has always been our goal, and through a respected global leader like Medtronic, we’ll now be able to take InPen to this next phase of growth which is great news for people with diabetes who stand to benefit most.”

Read more Medtronic Wins FDA Clearance And CE Approval For LINQ II Insertable Cardiac Monitor

The acquisition is expected to close within one to two months - subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to be neutral to Medtronic’s adjusted earnings per share in the current fiscal year, and accretive thereafter. In addition, it is expected to meet Medtronic’s long-term financial metrics for acquisitions. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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Did you ever face lower back pain? Where you afraid of surgery or taking drugs? Ever wondered if there is a wearable which could cure your pain? Look no further!
ENSO’s High Frequency Impulse Therapy is a non-invasive, opioid-free device that has been shown in double-blind, clinical trials to solve pain better than Vicodin. The device is used and covered by insurance nationally at pain and orthopedic centers in the US. Shaun and the team are now working to expand insurance coverage and access to the rest of the 1.5B people around the world that live with chronic pain.

Shaun Rahimi started ENSO after experiencing terrible back pain in college. Having worked as an engineer building medical devices for companies including Abbott Labs and Neuropace, he saw an opportunity to create an exceptionally effective solution to pain that does not require drugs or surgery.

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Do you have a question to the Speaker? Place your question here:

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Want to gain more insights? Check out these videos froM ENSO:
Walking Test (Before):

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RCT Pilot - Patient D.R. - Day 1 TUG test from Shaun Rahimi on Vimeo.

Walking Test (After 4 weeks of ENSO HFIT):

RCT Pilot - Patient DR - Week 4 TUG test from Shaun Rahimi on Vimeo.

Stephanie (ENSO user testimonial):

Stephanie - User Review from Shaun Rahimi on Vimeo.

A team of researchers at Tufts University’s School of Engineering have developed biomaterial-based inks that respond to chemicals released from the body in fluids like sweat as well as other environmental elements by changing color. The inks can be screen printed onto textiles such as clothes, shoes, or even face masks in complex patterns and at high resolution, providing a detailed map of human response or exposure. The advance in wearable sensing, reported in Advanced Materials, could simultaneously detect and quantify a wide range of biological conditions, molecules, and, possibly, pathogens over the surface of the body using conventional garments and uniforms.

Read more Smart Clothes to Contribute Over $11 Bn to Fitness Wearable Revenue by 2025, Says Juniper Research

“The use of novel bioactive inks with the very common method of screen printing opens up promising opportunities for the mass-production of soft, wearable fabrics with large numbers of sensors that could be applied to detect a range of conditions,” said Fiorenzo Omenetto, corresponding author and the Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering at Tufts’ School of Engineering. “The fabrics can end up in uniforms for the workplace, sports clothing, or even on furniture and architectural structures.”

Wearables incorporate electronics in patches, wristbands, and other devices to monitor the wearer’s health. Tufts researchers took a different approach – non-electronic, colorimetric detection of a theoretically very large number of analytes using sensing garments that can be distributed to cover very large areas: anything from a patch to the entire body, and beyond, reports Tufts University.

The components that make the sensing garments possible are biologically activated silk-based inks. The soluble silk substrate in these ink formulations can be modified by embedding various “reporter” molecules – such as pH-sensitive indicators, or enzymes like lactate oxidase to indicate levels of lactate in sweat. The former could be an indicator of skin health or dehydration, while the latter could indicate levels of fatigue of the wearer. Many other derivatives of the inks can be created due to the versatility of the silk fibroin protein by modifying it with active molecules such as chemically sensitive dyes, enzymes, antibodies, and more. While the reporter molecules could be unstable on their own, they can become shelf-stable when embedded within the silk fibroin in the ink formulation.

The inks are formulated for screen printing applications by combining with a thickener (sodium alginate) and a plasticizer (glycerol). The screen printable bio-inks can be used like any ink developed for screen printing, and so can be applied not just to clothing but also to various surfaces such as wood, plastics, and paper to generate patterns ranging from hundreds of microns to tens of meters. While the changes in color presented by the inks can provide a visual cue to the presence or absence of an analyte, use of camera imaging analysis scanning the garments or other material can gather more precise information on both quantity and high resolution, sub-millimeter mapping.

Read more From Pregnant Mothers To Pets, Japan Is Making Swift Progress In The Race For Smart Clothes

“The screen printing approach provides the equivalent of having a large, multiplexed arrangement of sensors covering extensive areas of the body if worn as a garment, or even on large surfaces such as room interiors,” said Giusy Matzeu, research assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts School of Engineering and first author of the paper. “Coupled with image analysis, we can obtain a high-resolution map of color reactions over a large area and gain more insight on the overall physiological or environmental state. In theory, we could extend this method to track air quality, or support environmental monitoring for epidemiology.”