Imagine running on a cold winter day, covered in athletic gear with sensors and microelectronics woven into very fibers, constantly monitoring vital signs, and running the app from time to time. MIT scientists manufacture a single fiber computer with all the components embedded in it, and do so. New paper It is published in Nature magazine.
“Our bodies broadcast gigabytes every second through our skin in the form of heat, sound, biochemistry, electrical possibilities, and light. All of these convey information about our activities, emotions and health.” Co-author Joel Fink saidMIT materials scientist and engineer. “Unfortunately, if all of that is absorbed and then lost in the clothes we wear, wouldn’t it be great if most of us could teach clothing to capture, analyze, store and communicate this important information in the form of valuable health and activity insights?”
As previously reported, consumers scooped up over 100 million units of wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, expanded reality glasses and similar technologies, in the first quarter of 2021 alone. Category sales increased 34.4% from the second quarter to the second quarter of 2020, making it one of the fastest growing categories of personal electronics. However, these devices create useful data, but have their drawbacks. They usually measure body signals only from one place (such as wrist, chest, or fingers), which makes them heavy, uncomfortable and inaccurate when worn for a long period of time.
In contrast, fiber computers woven into the apparel can monitor sensors and collect data from many points distributed throughout the body. Fink’s Group in 2021 It was created successfully The first fibers sewn onto the shirt have the ability to digitally sense, store and analyze human activity. Until then, electronic fibers were analog. By embedding hundreds of square silicon microchips into polymer preforms to create fibers and controlling the flow of the polymer during manufacturing, the team was able to ensure a continuous electrical connection between the microchips of several meters of fibers.
The resulting fibers were thin, flexible, easily sewn onto the fabric, washable, and could incorporate optical diodes, memory units, sensors and other components. As proof of the principle, Fink’s team envisioned a day when they could store 767 kilobit short film files and 0.48 megabyte music files on fiber, and save wedding playlists in a bride’s gown (or groom tuxedo).
