Wearable smart tech is on the rise and promises to augment our natural abilities, reduce stress, and add creativity to our lives. Leading innovators are excited about infusing life-enhancing technology into our clothing and adornments. With endless possibilities for smart jewelry, shoes, clothes, contact lenses, and skin, your wardrobe is about to get positively futuristic!
Recyclable Smart Skin
Still in the late stages of development, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, is the band-aid-like circuit board made to adhere to the skin. The new “electronic skin” is self-healing. When torn or stretched beyond its phenomenal stretchiness, it can repair itself with covalent chemical bonding, fusing back together almost completely in about 13 minutes. The device performs a variety of sensory functions, such as tracking body temperature and counting steps.
Made to replace electronic waste accumulating in landfills, the patches can be recycled in a special solution. “The polyamine will depolymerize, or separate into its component molecules, while the electronic components sink to the bottom. Both the electronics and the stretchy material can then be reused.” – CU Boulder Today
Powerful Textiles
Also still in production, the engineers from Purdue University have created a revolutionary coating for transforming clothing into battery-free wearables and at the same time, protecting cloth from the laundering process. Circuitry woven into textiles gathers Wi-Fi or radio waves in the vicinity of the wearer, creating its own energy source to perform specified functions.
The cloth is flexible, stretchable, and breathable. Ideally, the functionality will be to transmit information in the event of danger, an accident, or a health crisis. Purdue’s Ramses Martinez says, “These smart clothes are almost impossible to stain and can be used underwater and washed in conventional washing machines without damaging the electronic components sewn on their surface.”
AI Haute Couture
Fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht uses AI in her brilliant socially conscious designs. The Dutch native created a “Spider Dress” with a skeleton of sensors overlaid with elegant, etheric fabrics. Tentacles in the boning respond to movement around the wearer and puff out when someone gets too close. Anouk’s vision in this fusion of fashion and technology was to bring more awareness to the need for social distancing during the pandemic. Her not-to-be-missed designs are reminiscent of spy action and science fiction films, and she is sure to be a force in the evolution of smart wearable technology.
Magic Jewelry
Genki’s Wave Smart Ring is a sleek, adjustable ring that fits on your index finger and is easily controlled with your thumb. It integrates seamlessly with Genki’s new platform, Wave for Work, and is coming soon. This concept makes virtual meetings, presentations, and listening to music more of an intuitive experience.
The ring uses an accelerometer to sense movements, has three control buttons for your thumb, and a small LED display for functionality. Wave for Work integrates via Bluetooth with your Windows 10 or macOS computer.
An example of using Wave for Work during a presentation:
- Top Button – Start Slideshow
- Middle Button – Next Slide
- Lower Button – Previous Slide
- Middle Button Held – Rotate your hand to raise/lower the volume of your computer
Thus allowing a more natural use of your hands, so you can rock your meetings!
Live Better
Much in the same way smart home technology makes everyday life easier, safer, and more productive, wearable tech is here to enhance our lives. Smart innovation is where it’s at, and we can’t wait to see what else is on the horizon.
Responsive Living, the term coined by Acoustic Architects founders, Aaron Flint and Spencer Hauldren, is the concept of seamlessly enhancing the client’s unique lifestyle using smart home technology. Responsive Living allows you to interact with your space via touch input, voice command, and predictive automation, placing you in full control of your home.
If you would like to learn more about the possibilities in smart home technology, feel free to connect with us. We will be happy to schedule a demo with you.
For more information, visit acousticarchitects.net.
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