Wearable Technology

Analysts IDTechEx are unique in having six up-to-date reports with ten year forecasts on the wearable technology market.

In this article we focus on the current status of the main printed electronics technologies for components in consumer goods and healthcare applications, providing for each one market drivers, case studies and key suppliers, cost structures and challenges.

The battery market today is dominated by traditional batteries such as coin cell batteries, Triple-A batteries and lithium ion batteries with the former being largely used in mobile phones, laptops and electrical vehicles. The emergence of new trends such as wearable devices and Internet of Things (IoT) is however changing the space. New features such ultra-thinness, small physical footprints, flexibility and light weight are becoming increasingly prized. New players and/or old players with new technologies are gearing up to meet this emerging need. In this article we will first look at the activities of several large companies on energy storage solutions aimed at wearable devices. We will then consider WSN and the threat of energy harvesting therein before considering medical applications. Finally, we will give our latest ten-year market forecasts segmented by application and battery type.

The following highlights some of the major announcements from a recent printed electronics event.

IDTechEx is launching the Wearable Technology LIVE! event on 19-20 November 2014 in Santa Clara, California. This is an international tradeshow and conference focused on wearable technologies with a particular emphasis on the critical enabling technologies that will shape the future of wearable devices.

IDTechEx are hosting a free webinar.

The conference Samsung Future Technology Needs, London 16/6/14 consisted of about 50 people. Primarily,

Analyst views of the Internet of Things (IoT) vary drastically depending on how one defines the topic. As a result, there is the potential for much hyping.

HSP Technologies Inc started in 2011 after the proof-of-concepts experiments were successfully demonstrated. The technology was developed at AIST (Tsukuba laboratory in Japan). HSP stands for "High Shear Processing". The company plans to commercialize conductive surface coatings that are strechable.

Mobile phones and associated wearable electronics are now part of what is called the Internet of People. The Internet of Everything (IoE) is a term that describes the massively connected world ahead of us.

IDTechEx recently attended a Printed Electronics conference in Germany. IDTechEx analysts attended talks from a wide variety of companies. Here we include very brief highlights/summaries of the important points.

Wearable technology for humans is all the rage. As "the next big thing", it involves head-on clashes between some of the largest companies on the planet. Those interested in such technologies would therefore be wise to take a look at wearable technology for animals.

The heart of the e-textile business as it emerges is electric and electronic functionality from sensing to light emission, achieved entirely by use of e-fibers.

Many giant electronics manufacturers, computer services companies and conglomerates are heavily investing in wearable technologies, the internet of things, and the internet of people. IDTechEx predicts massive growth in these areas in the coming years.

Last Christmas and New Year the ideal present, for a girl of a certain age, from Japan to the UK was the Neurowear clip-on of floppy ears driven by brain waves to reflect your mood.

Wearable electronics is a very fragmented industry when it comes to manufacturers. Even mature sub-sectors have no clear leaders in what will be a $70 billion plus business in 2024 with 12,000 developers and manufacturers as newly calculated by analysts IDTechEx.

So far, there is very little true e-textile in production - that is, textiles with electronic and/or electric functionality based on weavable e-fibers. That is now changing.

IDTechEx Research's new report "Wearable Technology 2014-2024: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts" comprehensively covers wearable technology and concentrates on wearable electronics and electrics, which will remain over 99% of the business.

Held on 1-2 April 2014 | Berlin, Germany.

The brand new IDTechEx Research report E-Textiles: Electronic Textiles 2014-2024 External Link has a particular focus on the narrow definition of those entirely reliant on e-fibers for electronic, electro-optic and electrical functionality.