Technological advancements in the field of wireless communication and wireless sensor networks over the period of the last decade have enabled the successful development of multi functional wearable sensors, and this is what Stretch Sense has to offer.
Wearable sensors are small, affordable, intelligent and light electronic devices that can be located on a certain part of the human body to measure different signals, such as speed, acceleration, pressure, stretch – basically human vitals. This makes these sensors especially interesting from the medical point of view because they can be used to measure long-term vital life functions and can regularly send important data to a personal physician. As the population grows older, this data collection and forwarding capability will become more and more important.
This is a great advancement in technology because it could have a whole array of applications – in medicine, biology, robotics, military as well as sports. Wearable sensors apply advanced technology that is based on physical deformation/movement and changes of electrical field. They use a very similar process to the ones used by modern smartphones that have a touchscreen. The only difference––which is actually an amazing advancement—is that sensors are bendable, so they can function on a number of different surfaces, including human skin as well.
Areas of use
Developers predict that these sensors will be usable in prosthetic development because they can react to human movement, collect different necessary information and send them in real time. Imagine the use of this in Sports and Health! Besides, these sensors can be used in robotics for robots that “feel” their surroundings and for human applications where they will monitor the movement and physical health of an individual.
Another great trait of these sensors is the fact that they are actually affordable and easy to manufacture while at the same time have incredible characteristics – for example, they stretch up to a dozen times of their original length without any decrease in their functionality.
Advancements in technology have led to improvements in many aspects of human life – luckily, health is no exception. The obvious trend of the general aging of the population leads to much more energy being put into developments in the area of recovery robotics and various devices that should make life easier for old and sick members of society as well as people with various physical disabilities.
Future possibilities
Although this might seem like an insignificant contribution, the development of stretch sensors has long-term consequences (in a positive sense) because they definitely open the door for numerous new options. Stretch sensors make some things that up till now seemed impossible now look like an easy way to solve problems on our path to a brighter and more prosperous future.
Does this mean that we are approaching a time when we will be able to have monitors of body functions built into our bodies? This is still not possible to say. Time will tell, although when we consider the attractive looks of Seven of Nine, this definitely wouldn’t be that bad!
