Category: Wearables

Florida’s IHMC Robotics Lab has successfully completed real-world tests of its cutting-edge exoskeleton suit, Eva, drawing comparisons to the advanced technology seen in the movie Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise. In a groundbreaking step toward practical application, the team took Eva outside of the lab for a test run, offering a glimpse into what the future of wearable robotic systems might look like.

The test, which took place in real-world conditions, demonstrated Eva‘s ability to perform outside the controlled environment of a lab, marking a significant milestone in the development of exoskeletons designed for field deployment. The wearable exoskeleton is designed to assist individuals working in hazardous environments, helping to offload the weight of heavy personal protective equipment (PPE) and reduce the physical strain associated with such demanding roles.

A research team at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) has created a groundbreaking wearable device capable of harvesting electrical energy from body movements. This innovative three-dimensional stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester can be worn directly on the skin or clothing, converting mechanical energy from joint movements into electricity to power electronic devices.

Energy harvesters typically fall into two categories: those utilizing the Triboelectric effect and those relying on the Piezoelectric effect. The Triboelectric effect occurs when certain materials become electrically charged through friction, while the Piezoelectric effect generates electrical charge when mechanical stress is applied. The DGIST device takes advantage of the Piezoelectric effect, harvesting energy from everyday physical activities such as walking or joint movements.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have unveiled a groundbreaking wearable ultrasound patch designed for continuous, noninvasive blood pressure monitoring. This innovative device is the first of its kind to undergo extensive clinical validation on over 100 patients, offering a new and potentially transformative method for tracking cardiovascular health both in clinical settings and at home. The results of the study were recently published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Traditional blood pressure measurements, such as those taken with a cuff, typically provide only one-time readings, which can miss important trends and fluctuations. In contrast, the UCSD-developed wearable patch continuously monitors blood pressure and provides real-time waveform data, offering detailed insights into changes and trends over time. According to Sai Zhou, co-first author of the study and recent Ph.D. graduate from the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, this continuous data stream allows for better monitoring of cardiovascular health.

Traditional liquid metal-based conductors often require complex secondary activation processes, which can lead to device failure due to leakage. A research team led by Tao Zhou has developed a novel method combining liquid metal, the conductive polymer PEDOT, and hydrophilic polyurethane to address these challenges.

This innovative composition allows the material to self-assemble during the printing and heating process. The liquid metal particles form a conductive pathway on the material’s bottom surface while oxidizing to create an insulated top layer. This dual-layer structure ensures accurate data collection by preventing signal leakage.

Scientists at Osaka University, in collaboration with Joanneum Research in Weiz, Austria, have unveiled wireless health monitoring patches that utilize embedded piezoelectric nanogenerators to self-power using harvested biomechanical energy. This breakthrough could pave the way for new autonomous health sensors and battery-less wearable electronic devices.

As wearable technology and smart sensors become increasingly prevalent, powering these devices remains a significant challenge. Despite the modest energy requirements of individual components, the reliance on wires or batteries can be cumbersome and inconvenient. Hence, innovative energy harvesting methods are essential. Additionally, health monitors that can power and activate sensors using ambient motion will likely see faster adoption in medical settings.

In a groundbreaking endeavor to create versatile wearable electronic devices, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland have developed new scalable approaches for battery- and solar-powered fibers. These advanced fibers can be woven into clothing, enabling the potential to harvest and store electrical energy, according to a statement by the scientists.

Traditional fiber batteries often face challenges with scalability and performance limitations. To overcome these hurdles, the APL team engineered fiber batteries using a stacked design similar to conventional pouch cells. This innovative method involves layer lamination and laser machining, producing battery fibers as narrow as 650–700 µm. These fibers could power high-performance wearable electronics that retain the qualities of conventional textiles, such as breathability, stretchability, and washability, as reported by Tech Xplore.

The surge in wearable technology has underscored the need for power sources that can keep pace with the flexibility and mobility of these cutting-edge devices. Addressing this demand, researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough by developing a miniature energy storage device capable of stretching, twisting, folding, and wrinkling. This milestone, detailed in the journal npj Flexible Electronics, heralds a new era of truly adaptable and comfortable wearables.

The Challenge: Flexible Needs vs. Brittle Electrodes

As wearables become increasingly prevalent, traditional batteries struggle to meet the demands of soft electronic devices due to their lack of flexibility. Micro supercapacitors (MSCs) have emerged as a promising alternative, offering high power density, rapid charging, and extended lifespan. However, a key obstacle remained: the fabrication of electrodes.

In the realm of display technology, innovation has long been stifled by the limitations of traditional approaches such as LCDs and OLEDs. These technologies, while effective for visual presentation, have struggled to evolve beyond their primary purpose. However, researchers at Sweden’s Linköping University (LiU) have shattered these constraints with a groundbreaking discovery: Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes (PeLEDs) capable of both emitting and detecting light simultaneously. This dual functionality promises to revolutionize displays by integrating advanced features like touch sensitivity, ambient light detection, image scanning, and even device charging into a single platform.

Published in Nature Electronics, LiU’s research marks a significant leap forward in display technology. Feng Gao, a professor of optoelectronics at LiU, believes that this breakthrough could accelerate the adoption of self-charging wearables, ushering in a new era of innovation and functionality.

Researchers from the University of California, Merced, have made strides in developing a novel material with adaptive durability, inspired by the unique behavior of cornstarch in cooking. This innovative material toughens up when subjected to hits or stretches, offering enhanced protection against damage and stress.

Drawing inspiration from the distinct properties of cornstarch slurry, which exhibits liquid-like behavior under gentle stirring and solid-like behavior under rapid impact, the research team aimed to replicate this phenomenon in a polymer material. Their approach involved blending conjugated polymers known for their electrical conductivity with specific molecules to achieve the desired characteristics.

Fiber, renowned for its breathability, flexibility, and durability, emerges as an optimal substrate for wearable devices, seamlessly integrating technology into clothing. Among the myriad applications, color-changing fibers stand out as an interface bridging humans and computers, promising advancements in communications, navigation, healthcare, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Drawing inspiration from photochromic and polymer optical fibers, researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Nanjing University have engineered a groundbreaking multicolored, uniformly luminescent, photochromic fiber. Utilizing a mass-producible thermal-drawing method, the scientists achieved versatility in designing fiber structures, heralding a new era in wearable technology.

A groundbreaking technology capable of real-time human emotion recognition has been developed by Professor Jiyun Kim and his research team at the Department of Material Science and Engineering at UNIST. This innovative breakthrough holds the potential to transform various industries, particularly influencing the evolution of next-generation wearable systems tailored to provide services based on emotional cues.

The challenge of understanding and accurately extracting emotional information, given its abstract and ambiguous nature, has long persisted. To overcome this hurdle, the research team introduced a multi-modal human emotion recognition system, amalgamating verbal and non-verbal expression data to efficiently harness comprehensive emotional information.

If humanoid robots aspire to seamlessly integrate into society, mastering the art of reading human emotional states and responding appropriately is paramount. A groundbreaking wearable, developed by researchers in Korea, might just be the key to unlocking this emotional intelligence for machines.

While robots excel in various tasks, understanding human emotions has been a considerable challenge. The wearable system, devised by the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea, represents a significant leap forward in enhancing the emotional intelligence of technology.