Stick-on-skin display: Next generation of smart wearables

Via deccanchronicle

Wearables have been often termed as the next big thing in the world of computers. However, the current crops of wearable devices haven’t been able to garner a substantial amount of demand, primarily due to high prices and uncomfortable form factors. All fitness bands and smartwatches are good enough for a few hours before your skin starts retaliating, which in turn only make these appealing to the geeks and show-offs. Would they appeal to you if the next generation of wearables simply stick to your skin?

Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Dal Nippon Printing have come up with a new display that can stick to the user’s skin. It is essentially a stretchable rubber sheet that accommodates stretchable wirings and a 16×24 array of micro LEDs — all of which work together as an ultra-thin stick-on-skin display. Since they are individual LED bulbs, you can only expect the display to show simple texts and icons, like you see on an affordable fitness band.

The researchers state that the display can be stretched up to 45 per cent from its original length, which should make it very accommodative. However, the primary intention was to make it comfortable, which is why they claim that the user can wear it for a week without signs of inflammation. This is perfectly good for those who prefer to keep themselves informed or notified while at work.

As of now, the display’s primary intention is to serve the healthcare industry, where patients will wear these displays on themselves while a medical monitoring device attached to it displays vital statistics. This will aid in patient comfort while making it easier for the healthcare staff to keep an eye on them.

As of now, the product shown at the press event was a prototype and it will be while before the company achieves consumer-grade durability for the display. However, it is claimed that you might be able to see one of these serving patients in hospitals within three years. And if the company manages to implement a full smartphone-grade display in the stretchable material, then smartphones will cease to exist within a few years.

See more!


Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards

Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/06/24 Feat Adafruit Pixel Shifter – For Addressable LEDs

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: MicroPython v1.24.0 is here, a Halloween Wrap-up and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — Halloween, WiLo, and more!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — First Solar’s $1.1 billion development of vertically integrated factory in the U.S.

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — Oscilloscope Jumble

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !



No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.