New 'smart Tattoos' Tackle Tech Challenges Of Onskin Computing
Over the years, personal computing has gotten smaller and more intimate, from desktops to laptops, smartphones and tablets, smart watches and smart glasses.
But the next generation of wearable computing technology for health and wellness, social interaction and a host of other applications will be closer to the user than a watch or glasses: it will be applied to the skin.
Skin interfaces, sometimes called "smart tattoos," have the potential to surpass the sensory capabilities of today's wearable technology, but combining comfort and durability has proven a challenge. Now, members of Cornell's Hybrid Body Lab have developed a powerful, user-friendly interface that's easy to plug and unplug and can be used for everything from health monitoring to fashion.
Ping-Sun Ku, a graduate student and member of the lab, is lead author of "SkinKit: Construction Kit for Skin Interface Prototyping," presented in September at UbiComp '22, the Informatics Association's joint international conference on comprehensive and comprehensive. computing.
"We've been working on this for years, and I think we've finally solved a lot of the technical issues," said Cindy (Jing-Liu) Cao, associate professor of human-centered design in the College of Human Ecology. . and lead author of the study. "We wanted to create a modular approach to smart tattoos that would be as easy as building Legos."
SkinKit, a plug-and-play system that aims to "lower the level of access" to a slick interface, Kao says, is the product of countless hours of development, testing and modification for people with little or no technical experience. , she says.
Kao Labs is also very aware of cultural differences in general and believes it is important to bring these devices to different populations.
"People of different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities can have very different perceptions of these devices," he said. "We actually thought it was really important to let more people express what they wanted to do with these smart tattoos."
The product is made from temporary tattoo paper, a silicone textile stabilizer and water, creating a multi-layered structure of a thin film that the team calls "skin tissue". Layered materials can be cut to desired shapes—to study these, the researchers used three-quarter-inch squares with tongue-and-groove lines to join (join) the pieces—and fit tiny circuit boards with flexible modules. Perform various tasks.
"The starting point was finding an appropriate form factor and then making it scalable," Ku says. "And the way we scale it is through a tessellation model. So the user can design the circuit and then combine multiple modules to customize the layout."
An advantage of their design, Ku said, is the reusable material.
"The user can easily connect them together as well as disconnect them," he said. “Let's say today you want to use the sensor for one purpose and tomorrow you want to use it for something else. You can simply take them apart and reuse some modules to create a new device in minutes."
To test SkinKit, the researchers first recruited nine participants with backgrounds in STEM and design to build and wear the devices. Their input during the 90-minute workshop helped inform further changes the group made before conducting a larger two-day study with 25 participants from both STEM and design backgrounds.
Devices developed by 25 study participants: health and wellness, including temperature sensors to detect fever due to Covid-19; personal security, including a device that will help the wearer maintain social distancing during a pandemic; Notification, including a wrist-worn device that a rider can wear that vibrates when a vehicle is nearby; and assistive technology, such as an awning wrist sensor that vibrates when the user is about to hit an object.
Other applications were for social, fashion and sports training.
Kao said members of his lab, including Ku, attended a 4-H career exploration conference over the summer and asked about 10 New York state high school students to build their own SkinKit devices.
"I think it shows us a lot of potential for learning STEM, and more importantly, we can attract people who weren't initially interested in STEM," Cao said. "But by combining it with body art and fashion, I think there's a lot of potential to encourage the next generation and the general public to explore the future of smart tattoos."
Citation : 'New Smart Tattoos' Tackle Tech Challenges of Skin-Based Computing (November 3, 2022) November 8, 2022, https://techxplore.com/news/2022-11-smart-tattoos-tackle-tech- Retrieved from on-shovel.html
This document is subject to copyright. No part may be reproduced without written permission, except for commercial purposes for personal education or research. The content is provided for informational purposes only.
Post a Comment for "New 'smart Tattoos' Tackle Tech Challenges Of Onskin Computing"