Wearables

What Are Smart Glasses?

Smart glasses are wearable devices that integrate computer technology into eyeglasses. These glasses work by projecting digital images onto the user’s field of vision. Test your knowledge about smart glasses.

A Lighter, Smarter Magnetoreceptive Electronic Skin

Imagine navigating a virtual reality with contact lenses or operating your smartphone under water — this and more could soon be a reality thanks to innovative e-skins. A research team...

A Color-Based Sensor Emulates Skin’s Sensitivity

Jamie Paik and colleagues in the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab in EPFL’s School of Engineering have developed a sensor that can perceive combinations of bending, stretching, compression, and temperature changes, all using a robust system that boils down to a simple concept: color. Read on to learn more about it.

Transmitting Power Through the Body

To free wearable tech from their burdens, researchers developed Power-over-Skin, which allows electricity to travel through the human body and could one day power battery-free devices from head to toe.

Soft, Bioelectronic Sensor Implant

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and New York’s Columbia University have embedded transistors in a soft, conformable material to create a biocompatible sensor implant that monitors...

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a nanorobotic hand made of DNA that can grab viruses for detection or inhibition developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; a new and improved wearable ultrasound patch for continuous and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring developed at the University of California San Diego; and soft and intelligent sensor materials based on ceramic particles developed at Empa’s Laboratory for High-Performance Ceramics.

So CUTE! New Wearable Device Creates Unprecedented Haptic Sensations

Researchers have developed cutaneous electrohydraulic (CUTE) wearable devices to greatly expand the haptic sensations that can be created by future consumer products.

A Haptic Patch Can Transmit Complex Information to a Wearer’s Skin

Matthew Flavin, Ph.D., was part of a team at Northwestern University that developed a haptic patch to convey visual information to unsighted people through an array of multi-function actuators. Now, as assistant professor in the School of Electrical Engineering, he has started a new lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology to continue his work on bioelectronics.

New Wearable Communication System Can Transmit Data Farther than Wi-Fi

A group of University of Arizona researchers has developed a wearable monitoring device system that can send health data up to 15 miles without any significant infrastructure. Their device, they hope, will help make digital health access more equitable. Read on to learn more.

Silicone Membrane for Wearable Devices is Comfortable and Breathable

A silicone membrane for wearable devices is more comfortable and breathable thanks to better-sized pores made with the help of citric acid crystals. The new preparation technique fabricates thin, silicone-based patches that rapidly wick water away from the skin. The technique could reduce the redness and itching caused by wearable biosensors that trap sweat beneath them. Read on to learn more.

Future Washable Smart Clothes Powered by Wi-Fi will Monitor Health

Purdue University engineers have developed a method to transform existing cloth items into battery-free wearables resistant to laundering. These smart clothes are powered wirelessly through a flexible, silk-based coil sewn on the textile. Read on to learn more.

MXene Nanomaterials for Wireless Charging in Textiles

Researchers have built a full textile energy grid that can be wirelessly charged. The team reported that it can power textile devices, including a warming element and environmental sensors that transmit data in real-time.

Stretchable, Flexible Biofuel Cell Runs on Sweat

A flexible and stretchable cell has been developed for wearable electronic devices that require a reliable and efficient energy source that can easily be integrated into the human body. Read on to learn more about it.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a self-powered “bug” that can skim across water; a sweat-powered wearable that has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid; and a novel foot-pedal operated system and device to control movement of an object in three-dimensional space.

A Stretchable, Wearable Device that Fully Utilizes Body Heat

UW researchers have developed a flexible, durable electronic prototype that can harvest energy from body heat and turn it into electricity that can be used to power small electronics.

5Ws of the Smart Mask

Caltech engineers have developed a prototype for a high-tech paper mask that can be used to monitor a range of metabolic and respiratory conditions.

Smart Full-Body Fitness Tracking

With the new Smart Connected Sensors platform from Bosch Sensortec, you can track more than just steps. You can program complex whole-body movements and accurately track them during physical workouts or while you are going through a rehabilitation or physical therapy regimen. Read on to learn more.

Smaller Skin-Like Stretchable Electronics for Wearables

Researchers at Stanford have been working on skin-like, stretchable electronic devices for over a decade. Recently, they presented a new design and fabrication process for skin-like integrated circuits that are five times smaller and operate at one thousand times higher speeds than earlier versions. Read on to learn more about it.

Rapidly Testing Stretchable Sensors

Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype and test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. Read on to learn more.

3D-Printing Flexible Devices without Mechanical Joints

Eva Baur, a Ph.D. student, used 3D-printed double network granular elastomers (DNGEs) to print a prototype ‘finger,’ complete with rigid ‘bones’ surrounded by flexible ‘flesh.’ The finger was printed to deform in a pre-defined way, demonstrating the technology’s potential to manufacture devices that are sufficiently supple to bend and stretch, while remaining firm enough to manipulate objects. Read on to learn more.

5Ws of the Mouth-Based Touchpad

A new device developed by MIT engineers allows people living with paralysis to interact with phones and computers using their tongue, mouth, and head gestures.

Portable Engine Can Power Artificial Muscles in Assistive Devices

Researchers have developed a lightweight fluidic engine to power muscle-mimicking soft robots for use in assistive devices. What sets the new engine apart is its ability to...

Medical-Grade Smartwatch Can Monitor Astronauts, Patients

The wrist-worn device astronauts have been using to collect data is going out of production, and the EmbracePlus could address some of the limitations of the previous device, including comfort and connectivity, especially given that the other device doesn’t stream data in real time.

Opening Up the Potential of Thin-Film Electronics for Flexible Chip Design

Silicon semiconductors have become the ‘oil’ of the computer age, as was demonstrated recently by the chip shortage crisis. However, one of the disadvantages of...

New Patch Can Help Control Robotic Exoskeletons

In a new study, engineers from Korea and the United States have developed a wearable, stretchy patch that could help to bridge the divide between people and machines — and with benefits for the health of humans around the world. In lab experiments, the researchers showed that humans could use these devices to operate robotic exoskeletons more efficiently.