Wearable Technology

Do you remember James Bond film Casino Royale? After being poisoned, the agent uses a portable diagnostic kit to identify the toxic substance and alert his HQ in London.

This article shares some of the recent research from the brand new IDTechEx report Wearable Technology 2014-2024.

Last week IDTechEx gave the opening keynote presentation at Prinse, a printed electronics conference hosted by VTT. This article describes the highlights of the event.

Adidas Wearable Sports Electronics have been a significant player in the e-textiles and smart clothing place since their acquisition of Textronics in 2008. IDTechEx have interviewed many senior staff from this division over the years and have updated this profile in full for 2016.

Clothing+ has been in business for more than 15 years and was a pioneer in the mass production of textile-based heart rate measurement systems. The company is divided in two business units: Sports and Medical. While Sports has grown faster recently, they expect that Medical will become the main part of the business in the longer term. In July 2015, they were acquired by Jabil Circuit.

IDTechEx has tracked the printed electronics market since 2002. We have conducted extensive research programs, run our own events internationally and attended most other relevant events. Being impartial, we state the good and the bad. So what have we learnt?

Printed electronics is now seeing a surge in transactions in the form of orders, government and industry-funded development programs, acquisitions and company fund raising.

Printed electronics is now seeing a surge in transactions in the form of orders, government and industry-funded development programs, acquisitions and company fund raising.

Printed electronics is now seeing a surge in transactions in the form of orders, government and industry-funded development programs, acquisitions and company fund raising.

Energy harvesting is the conversion of ambient energy into electricity to drive small or mobile electronic and electrical devices. Wireless sensors are particularly in need of energy harvesting because they are increasingly deployed in numbers and locations where hard wiring or battery changing are impracticable. We are at an exciting stage with both because harvesting is becoming better and electronics is demanding less power -so they meet in the middle.

Researchers at Cetemmsa, outside Barcelona, are taking materials science to the textile sector. They've developed conducting threads that heat up or become illuminated in response to a charge; these might be used in sports applications.

While some involved in OLEDs and OTFTs are moving out of the business of printed and potentially printed electronics, work on inorganic materials and compounds is increasing. The IDTechEx Printed Electronics Asia event in Tokyo will give a balanced view with many presentations being World firsts.

IDTechEx finds that the market for printed and potentially printed electronics, including organics, inorganics and composites, will rise from $1.92 billion in 2009 to $57.16 billion in 2019.

What makes investors invest? What leads to profit sooner rather than later? What are the hot applications and technologies? What are the market forecasts? What comes next? Attend Printed Electronics Europe 2009 to find out,

Laminar batteries are usually having success only where the need for thinness and flexibility is extreme. IDTechEx interview companies at Printed Electronics World USA to find out more.

Georgetown University, Gentag, Inc., and Science Applications International Corporation, have combined forces to develop a non-invasive method for glucose measurement.

The interest in printed electronics has doubled in the last year. This is the conclusion whether you measure it by organisations active in the subject, event attendance, patent filings or in some other way.