A report from PC Magazine says that the wearable sensors market is poised to explode in the next five years. Developers are seeking sensors that are easy to wear, rather than their subjects having to deal with mobile phone sensors.
Jaguar is supplying biometric wristbands to selected members of the crowd at Wimbledon. Additionally, atmospheric, in-ground sensors will be monitoring the energy around the courts, and global sentiment on social media will be analyzed.
The atmospheric sensors will collate crowd movement, audio levels, and infrared. The biometric wristbands will capture the wearers’ heart rates, movement, and location around the grounds. Finally, sociometric tracking will be used to follow Wimbledon-related conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This data can be tracked throughout the tournament on Wimbledon’s social media sites or at www.feelwimbledon.co.uk.
CONFERENCE AGENDA ANNOUNCED:
The highly-anticipated educational tracks for the 2015 R&D 100 Awards & Technology Conference feature 28 sessions, plus keynote speakers Dean Kamen and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason. Learn more.
Wearable sensors can also alert the user to dangers such as sunburn. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology has developed wearable stretchable sensors that can be worn on the skin to detect UV radiation and harmful gases. In order to make the sensor stretchy and flexible, the scientists transferred zinc oxide onto a silicone rubber substrate. The zinc oxide layers slide around and allow the sensor to move. This makes the flexible sensor different from others that are merely encased in rubber. These devices will likely be quite cheap to purchase, since materials like silicone and zinc oxide are low-cost and are already being manufactured in large quantities for other applications.
A paper entitled “Wearable Sensors for Healthier Pregnancies” appeared earlier this year in Proceedings of the IEEE. According to this paper, in 2013, 289,000 women worldwide died during and following pregnancy and childbirth as a result of “adverse outcomes” that included miscarriage, preterm births, still births, and low weight at birth. Sensors could be used to monitor pregnant women’s lifestyle behaviors and alert them when changes need to be made.
Google is creating a wearable sensor to help doctors monitor their patients’ health without the patients having to be anywhere near the clinic or doctor’s office. The sensor is being developed by Google at its experimental Google X Lab, the same lab that made Google Glass.
Additionally, Google — in conjunction with Biogen Idec Inc. — is also developing a sensor to monitor patients who have multiple sclerosis. The project utilizes sensors, software, and data analysis tools to collect and analyze data from people who have MS, in an attempt to figure out why the disease progresses differently in each patient.
Read more about wearable sensors here:
Nano-Accordion Structures Used for Wearable Sensors, Flexible Electronics
Wearable Sensor is a Thumbnail Track Pad
Asthma Triggers Monitored by Wearable Sensors
Wearable Sensor Smooths Path to Long-Term EKG, EMG Monitoring
