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Category: wearables

Shanghai scientists create computer chip in fiber thinner than a human hair, yet can withstand crushing force of 15.6 tons — fiber packs 100,000 transistors per centimeter

A group of researchers has built a computer chip in a flexible fiber thinner than an average human hair. The team from Fudan University in Shanghai says that their Fiber Integrated Circuit (FIC) design can process information like a computer, yet is durable enough to be “stretched, twisted, and woven into everyday clothing.” Use cases touted by the authors of the paper include advancements in the fields of brain-computer interfaces, VR devices, and smart textiles. This cutting-edge FIC design was apparently inspired by the construction of the humble sushi roll.

Flexible electronics have come a long way in recent years, with malleable components for power, sensing, and display readily available. However, so-called flexible electronic devices and the wearables made from them still usually contain components fabricated from rigid silicon wafers, limiting their applications and comfort. The Fudan team says that their FIC can remove the last vestiges of electronic rigidity “by creating a fiber integrated circuit (FIC) with unprecedented microdevice density and multimodal processing capacity.”

Brain-inspired AI helps soft robot arms switch tasks and stay stable

Researchers have developed an AI control system that enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly without needing retraining or sacrificing functionality. This breakthrough brings soft robotics closer to human-like adaptability for real-world applications, such as in assistive robotics, rehabilitation robots, and wearable or medical soft robots, by making them more intelligent, versatile, and safe. The research team includes Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology’s (SMART) Mens, Manus & Machina (M3S) interdisciplinary research group, and National University of Singapore (NUS), alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore).

Unlike regular robots that move using rigid motors and joints, soft robots are made from flexible materials such as soft rubber and move using special actuators—components that act like artificial muscles to produce physical motion. While their flexibility makes them ideal for delicate or adaptive tasks, controlling soft robots has always been a challenge because their shape changes in unpredictable ways. Real-world environments are often complicated and full of unexpected disturbances, and even small changes in conditions—like a shift in weight, a gust of wind, or a minor hardware fault—can throw off their movements.

Brain-inspired hardware uses single-spike coding to run AI more efficiently

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, such as the models underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT and various other online platforms, has grown exponentially over the past few years. Current hardware and electronic devices, however, might not be best suited for running these systems, which are computationally intensive and can drain huge amounts of energy.

Electronics engineers worldwide have thus been trying to develop alternative hardware that better reflects how the human brain processes information and could thus run AI systems more reliably, while consuming less power. Many of these brain-inspired hardware systems rely on memristors, electronic components that can both store and process information.

Researchers at Peking University and Southwest University recently introduced a new neuromorphic hardware system that combines different types of memristors. This system, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, could be used to create new innovative brain-machine interfaces and AI-powered wearable devices.

Drug dose monitoring with a DNA-based microneedle sensor

A wearable DNA-based sensor similar to a continuous glucose monitor can accurately and safely detect vancomycin concentrations in the body.

Aptamer-coated microneedle patch can detect amounts of the antibiotic vancomycin in real time for at least 12 hours by .

In its second-largest ever acquisition, US tech giant acquires Q.ai amid effort to break into wearables market; 30% of firm’s staff were called up to reserve duty on Oct. 7…

…Q.ai is tight-lipped in public about its technology, but patents it filed show tech being used in headphones or glasses using ‘facial skin micro movements’ for nonverbal communication, according to the FT.

Apple’s vice president of hardware, Johnny Srouji, said in a statement that the startup is ‘pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning.’

The move may be a component of Apple’s strategy for ‘wearable’ products, such as smart glasses. Software that reads facial expressions could potentially make way for a hands-free user interface that doesn’t require talking out loud, reports noted.

Unlocking defect-free graphene electrodes for transparent electronics

Transparent electrodes transmit light while conducting electricity and are increasingly important in bioelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Their combination of high optical transparency, low electrical resistance, and mechanical flexibility makes them well suited for applications such as displays, solar cells, and wearable or implantable technologies.

In a significant advancement, researchers led by Professor Wonsuk Jung at Chungnam National University in the Republic of Korea have introduced a new fabrication technique called one-step free patterning of graphene, or OFP-G, which enables high-resolution patterning of large-area monolayer graphene with feature sizes smaller than 5 micrometers, without the use of photoresists or chemical etching.

Published Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the method addresses a key limitation of conventional microelectrode fabrication, where lithographic processes often damage graphene and degrade its electrical performance.

MXene nanoscrolls could improve energy storage, biosensors and more

Researchers from Drexel University who discovered a versatile type of two-dimensional conductive nanomaterial called MXene nearly a decade and a half ago, have now reported on a process for producing its one-dimensional cousin: the MXene nanoscroll. The group posits that these materials, which are 100 times thinner than human hair yet more conductive than their two-dimensional counterparts, could be used to improve the performance of energy storage devices, biosensors and wearable technology.

Their finding, published in the journal Advanced Materials, offers a scalable method for producing the nanoscrolls from a MXene precursor with precise control over their shape and chemical structures.

“Two-dimensional morphology is very important in many applications. However, there are applications where 1D morphology is superior,” said Yury Gogotsi, Ph.D., Distinguished University and Bach professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who was a corresponding author of the paper.

A new flexible AI chip for smart wearables is thinner than a human hair

The promise of smart wearables is often talked up, and while there have been some impressive innovations, we are still not seeing their full potential. Among the things holding them back is that the chips that operate them are stiff, brittle, and power-hungry. To overcome these problems, researchers from Tsinghua University and Peking University in China have developed FLEXI, a new family of flexible chips. They are thinner than a human hair, flexible enough to be folded thousands of times, and incorporate AI.

A flexible solution

In a paper published in the journal Nature, the team details the design of their chip and how it can handle complex AI tasks, such as processing data from body sensors to identify health indicators, such as irregular heartbeats, in real time.

Shapeshifting materials could power next generation of soft robots

McGill University engineers have developed new ultra-thin materials that can be programmed to move, fold and reshape themselves, much like animated origami. They open the door to softer, safer and more adaptable robots that could be used in medical tools that gently move inside the body, wearable devices that change shape on the skin or smart packaging that reacts to its environment.

The research, jointly led by the laboratories of Hamid Akbarzadeh in the Department of Bioresource Engineering and Marta Cerruti in the Department of Mining and Material Engineering, shows how simple, paper-like sheets made from folded graphene oxide (GO) can be turned into tiny devices that walk, twist, flip and sense their own motion. Two related studies demonstrate how these materials can be made at scale, programmed to change shape and controlled either by humidity or magnetic fields.

The studies are published in Materials Horizons and Advanced Science.

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