Wearable Computing Goes Woven, Wireless, and Washable
1 min read
Summary
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have released a research paper proposing “fiber computers” embedded in textiles, which they believe could help to perform tasks such as health monitoring with very low power usage.
Each fibre is a self-contained system and can communicate with its neighbours to form a network when integrated into clothing.
Fibre computers contain surface-mount microcontrollers, LEDs, Bluetooth Low Energy radio, light and temperature sensors, an accelerometer and a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, with power supplied by a tiny cylindrical lithium-polymer battery.
The fibre is fabricated by nesting each component onto a flexible PCB, which is then rolled up into a package and connected to one another with thin wires which are sealed into a soft polymer.
The fibres can be woven into clothing and could be used for health monitoring or activity classification.
