Developments in Plastic Optical Fibres - Essay Example

Developments in plastic optical fibres and wearable technology Assignment Task A: The present use and potential use of “optical” sensors, devices anddisplays in wearable technology. Student Name Instructor Name Date Table of Contents Introduction 2 Current Areas of Wearable Technology 2 Future Trends of Wearable Technology 4 Technical, Physical and Design Challenges 5 Ways to Improve the Experience of the User and Society 5 Conclusion and Recommendations 6 References 7 Appendix 9 9 Introduction Due to high technological developments in the twenty first century, the concept of wearable technology that was seen in the kingdom of science fiction as well as in technologies used for armies and navies, has now brought to the hands of everyday consumer technology. The word ‘Wearable Technology’ can be demarcated as, “…an application-enabled computing device which accepts and processes inputs…” (Kurwa, et al., 2014, p. 2). There were not many consumer side successful inventions with regard to wearable technologies, but the fast progression in wearable technology has become possible due to the technological developments in battery power, chip evolution, improved accuracy, and materials science advancements. There are major names of companies that has provided platforms for the wearable technology, which includes, Microsoft, Google, Nike, Samsung and Apple, while the earliest company entering in this field was Adidas. Though, the current use of wearable technologies is limited, but the future for this seems quite bright (Ranck, 2012). The purpose of this report is to investigate the present use and potential use of “optical” sensors, devices and displays in wearable technology, and also to research and investigate the topic of plastic optical fibers, their applications and devices used. Current Areas of Wearable Technology The wearable technology has become much popular in today’s market, and there are a number of areas in which the wearable technology is currently available. A report by Beecham research in 2013, has shown the wide use of wearable technology in a number of areas, as they suggested that there are five key areas being augmented from the popularity of Wearable Technology Developments. These seven areas are the Security or Safety sector, Medical benefits or E-Health, Fitness or Wellness, Sports Fitness, Lifestyle Computing, Communications, and also the style or Glamor (the areas are given in the appendix as figure 1) (Beecham Reseach Ltd., 2013). Among the devices used as wearable, “…the wrist-worn devices are currently the most publicized areas in wearable technology, with 15.6% of all companies being directly involved…” as according to a research conducted by (IDTechEx, 2014). The most famous wrist-worn device is the smart wristband in the area of fitness and health and sports fitness, where the device is basically a modest computer, which is made in a way that it can be easily fixed on the wrist and monitor the consumers’ fitness through a number of related sensors. In this area, a recent example can be illustrated, where the Microsoft offered such a wrist wearable device, known as the Microsoft Band. The band has an optical heart rate proctor, along with the gyro meter, 3-axis accelerometer, as well as the sensors for skin temperature, ambient light, galvanic skin response, and the capacitive touch (IDTechEx, 2014), as shown in the figure 2 in the Appendix. In addition, the ABI Research also suggests that the most promising area where the wearable technology is used most widely is the health and fitness in today’s market, and by 2017, this area alone can be ranged over 170 million of devices (Kurwa, et al., 2014). In this regard, there are some other examples, such as Adidas miCoach for athletes, adiSTAR Fusion used in shoes and sports, Zephyr’s Consumer HxM and BioHarness used for emergency responses, electromyography-sensor-based shirt by university students used to trail the data for exercises, and also the Utope’s fashionable Sporty Supaheroe used for fitness (a jacket with LED showing accelerator, phone calls, and 3D gyroscope) (Ranck, 2012). In the area of medical and E-health, it is suggested that the current market for medical devices in wearable technology is valued at $2 billion in 2011, which is predicted to be tripled by 2016 (TaylorWessing, 2012). For example, the CGM (continuous glucose monitor) is the wearable medical device that is used by diabetes patients, where it provides alerts in advance about the increasing or lowering glucose levels in the patients, which help them to adopt a healthy lifestyle according to their disease (the device architecture is shown in appendix ad figure 3) (Facchinetti, et al., 2013). In addition, the healthcare providers are using internet and wearable devices together to trail the patients’ symptoms and connect them to cure, such as medical patches, Tricorder, MEMS sensors, and Pulse Oximetry (Villasenor, 2014). Apart from the medical, fitness, sports and lifestyle areas of wearable technology market, the optical devices in the area of computing and communication are becoming the mainstream product of the wearable technology market. For example, a recently launched device named, Google Glass, by the Google Inc. has computing and communication features with the style/glamour. Ranck, (2012) has stated that“…Google Glass has a camera that can collect and store images and video, and it also has a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and microphones as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth…” (p. 10) (as shown in the figure 4 in appendix). It is the most recent innovative device that is also stylish and is priced only at $1500 and is launched for the consumer market. Moreover, there are innovative optical sensors like accelerometers, Tap Tap Scarf, and ultrathin wearable patch, which have brought a revolution in all areas, like accelerometers are seen everywhere, in mobile phones and cars (Maclay, 2014). Future Trends of Wearable Technology It is hopeful that in future years, the adoption of wearable technology will be augmented by the new social and technological trends. The advancements in the material sciences are refocusing the affluence of new devices and technologies in fabrics, and also the employment of biosensors and implantable devices. But for the future, there are some social issues and ethics that are needed to overcome in order to develop a widespread product, for instance google glass has launched but the social acceptance is minimum (Ranck, 2012). The wearable technology has been promising for the health sector, as it is estimated to be tripled in the medical or health devices in 2016 (TaylorWessing, 2012). It is suggested that the wearable technology’s future is in the constant slenderness of sensors and a ‘blank slate’, especially in areas of electronic textiles as well as audio. The Electronic textiles (embedding the technologies in clothing) can make the people stylish and connected with others at the same time. The emerging areas in the wearable technology include the cutting-edge technology for the army and SWAT teams, for the healthcare sector and for enterprise solutions, and would usually include the AR or VR technologies (Poole, 2014). Also, the bone conduction audio systems are thought to be emerged as consumer wearable that can transmit the audio without flagrant earphones/microphones. And these would highly impact on the aesthetics and the way of connecting with devices (Adams, 2014). Technical, Physical and Design Challenges The technical and physical requirements for manufacturing the wearable technologies or optical systems are quite different, as Kurwa, et al., (2014) has stated that this technology has to deal with “…new supply chain ecosystems and multiple technologies like flexible substrates, fine lines and spaces ink deposition technologies, materials expertise, encapsulation technologies, low temperature interconnects, embedding technologies and bio compatible materials…” (p. 6). In addition, the wearable technology requires to be an expert in a number of specialties to develop, prototype or manufacture the devices, such as cloth-making, material sciences, consumer goods, sensors, microelectronic packaging, semiconductors, softwares and a lot more. Moreover, to get a successful manufacturing process, there is need to address all the mechanical, electrical, and thermal issues, and also the bio-compatibility issues with human skin (Ranck, 2012). The physical health of the user is another challenge that poses biggest threat, as these devices can be harmful to wear. The most challenging aspect in the wearable technology is the design of the device, as most of the developers focus on the technological aspect of the device, but this result in a poor design of the device. Such poor designs lead towards the unacceptance by consumers, as it does not look appealing to the consumers, for example the smart wristbands developed to wear usually looks bulky and have low battery lives. The design is the critical aspect in defining the success of consumer devices, as Eadicicco (2014) has stated that “…When something is on your body, it becomes more intimate…” (Eadicicco, 2014), and these smart devices are seen all the time. Ways to Improve the Experience of the User and Society There are some ways through which the wearable technology can improve the life and efficiency of users as well as the productivity and wellbeing of the society. For instance, the use of AR technologies can enhance the efficiency, productivity and security for the logistics or the customer services, providing with the enterprise solution and improving the wellness of businesses and societies. While the VR technologies can connect experts from continents and for defusing the bombs or discovering the unreachable regions (Poole, 2014). The wearable technology has many implications in the healthcare sector, where a number of innovations have led the people to improve their lifestyles and efficiency of their work, such as the power wheelchairs. But these innovative technologies are in need of improvement with respect of the design, as argued by (Carrington, et al., 2014). It has further implications in a number of areas, but there is a need to focus on three important ways in order to improve the efficiency and productivity of user as well as the society, which are developing the eco-friendly devices, addressing the privacy issues of the user, and making the appealing designs for wearable technology. Conclusion and Recommendations The report presents the current and future state of wearable technology, and it also discussed the challenges and ways for improving the life and efficiency of users as well as the productivity and wellbeing of the society. The literature suggests that there are different areas where the new innovative technologies are in use, such as security or safety area, medical benefits or e-health, fitness or wellness, sports fitness, lifestyle, computing & communications, and also the style/glamor. A number of new wearable technologies are assisting the life of human beings, for instance, Microsoft band and Adidas miCoach are some of the technologies being used by athletes and for medical, health and fitness benefits, while the Google Glass is new technology amplifying the power of computing and communication. This concludes that the wearable technology is currently present in almost every areas of the life, and the number of devices have been increasing from the last couple of years. Though, it is suggested by literature that the future of wearable technology is bright and there will be an increase in the adoption of wearable technology due to new social and technological trends. But it is also true for these technologies that the future will bring some important challenges too, which will have to be overcome by the developers and marketers of such technologies. These challenges mainly include the technical, physical, design, social, and ethical challenges. The requirements of experts in a number of disciplines (technical), the appealing and aesthetics of wearable (design), the social pressures and privacy concerns (social and ethical), and the hazards of wearing technologies (physical). Among these, it can be concluded that the design is the most critical factor for the success or failure of wearable devices, so it is suggested that the developers of new innovative applications should focus on it during the development of design. In addition, they must develop wearables in a way that these technologies would be appealing and fashionable, because these would be treated as the wearables like clothes, shoes, and accessories. It is also recommended that the developers must have to address the solutions to the privacy issues and other social effects of new innovative technologies on the physical body to make it a success. Moreover, the hazards of wearing technologies like skin issues and other physical problems should be addressed while developing the technology and should be marketed in this way. References Adams, D., 2014. Wearable Technology Trends 2014: Where to Go with Wearables. [Online] Available at: http://patriot-tech.com/wearable-technology-trends-2014/ [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Beecham Reseach Ltd., 2013. Wearable Technology for Connected Lifestyle, info@beechamresearch.com: Beecham Research Ltd.. Carrington, P., Hurst, A. & Kane, S. K., 2014. Wearables and Chairables: Inclusive Design of Mobile Input and Output Techniques for Power Wheelchair Users, Toronto: ACM. Eadicicco, L., 2014. Silicon Valley Never Talks About The Real Reason You Dont Own A Smart Watch Or Wearable Tech. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-challenges-in-wearable-tech-2014-3 [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Facchinetti, A. et al., 2013. Real-Time Improvement of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Accuracy. American Diabetes Association, 36(4), pp. 793-800. IDTechEx, 2014. Research Articles: Current Trends and Future Winners in Wearables. [Online] Available at: http://www.idtechex.com/research/articles/current-trends-and-future-winners-in-wearables-00007049.asp?donotredirect=true [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Kurwa, M., Mohammed, A. A. & Liu, W., 2014. Wearable Technology, Fashioning the Future. A view into the manufacturing and reliability challenges of Wearable Electronics, Online: Flextronics. Maclay, W., 2014. Innovation Trends For Sensors And Wearable Devices. [Online] Available at: http://wearableworldnews.com/2014/05/21/innovation-trends-sensors-wearable-devices/ [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Poole, E., 2014. The Brave New World of Wearable Technology: What Implications for IP?, Web: Wipo Magazine. Ranck, J., 2012. The wearable computing market: a global analysis, New York: GigaOM Pro. TaylorWessing , 2012. Wearable technology in the medical devices sector. [Online] Available at: http://www.taylorwessing.com/globaldatahub/article_wearable_tech_life_sciences.html [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Villasenor, J. F., 2014. How Connected Healthcare Today Will Keep the Doctor Away, online: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.. wordlessTech, 2014. How Google Glass works. [Online] Available at: http://wordlesstech.com/tag/google-glass/ [Accessed 29 December 2014]. Appendix Figure 1. World of Wearable Technology Applications. (Source: Beecham Research Ltd., 2013) Figure 2. The components within the Microsoft Band (Source: IDTechEx, 2014) Figure 3. CGM Sensor architecture. (Source: Facchinetti, et al., 2013). The CGM sensor architecture comprises a commercial CGM sensor (black block) and three software modules for denoising, enhancement, and prediction applied in cascade and working in real time. The denoising module receives in input CGM data and returns in output a smoother CGM profile. The enhancement module receives in input the smoothed CGM data and returns in output more accurate CGM data. Finally, the prediction module receives in input denoised and enhanced CGM data and returns in output the prediction of future glucose value, on which “preventive” hypo- and hyperglycemic alerts can be generated (Facchinetti, et al., 2013). Figure 4. The functional design or diagram of The Google Glass. (Source: wordlessTech, 2014). Google Glass is a technical masterpiece’ German designer Martin Missfeldt said. He just created the graphics to show us how they work. Read More