Forum - to put together and forget / Philippa Kahn

A prolific inventor claims that we are on the verge of an era of wearable devices that will be both truly useful and convenient

If you have to sleep with a bulky and cumbersome device on your body to monitor your sleep, you may give it up, and even if you decide to use it, the very act of wearing it may change the way you sleep. This is somewhat reminiscent of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle: the observer changes the outcome of the experiment. And if the device has electrodes and wires that make it look like something from Frankenstein's lab, there is a chance that you will not wear it consistently and this will impair the information it will collect and the reports it will produce.

Credit: Victor Cowan

In recent years there has been a sharp improvement in wearable technology. Improvements in sensor technology today make it possible to design wearable devices so comfortable that we may forget they are there. Inventors, and I am among them, are working on the development of smaller, accurate sensors, whose battery life is longer, with the aim of improving the user experience.

Sensors are developing rapidly and significantly. As engineers, we cram more capabilities into each sensor. We connect accelerometers to gyroscopes, reduce their size and reduce their power consumption. We also use sensor fusion algorithms, which interpret all the data that flows from and between the sensors. For example, a round-the-clock monitoring bracelet called the Jawbone UP (for which my staff designed hardware, firmware, and other components) analyzes both sleep patterns and waking activity. It was designed to serve as a step towards the "Quantified Self" that will improve the health of each and every one. The bracelet should be fashionable and durable, so you can wear it even in the shower. When you check your sleep patterns with it, you will be able to really see the sleep and not the effects of wearing a strange device that interferes with sleep.

Today's smartphones include sensors for taking pictures and detecting motion, magnetic fields, geographic location and proximity. But they tend to use these sensors separately from each other. Using sensor fusion technology, the phone will, for example, be able to detect that I'm in my car. This will improve my experience substantially, as the phone will be able to automatically activate the functions most relevant to the situation. When I leave the car and go for a sporty run, or go to sleep or do some other activity, the phone will become a kind of "connection chameleon" and will adjust itself automatically. A device similar to iPhone, SmartWatch or Google Glasses will become my personal communication center, combined with other wearable devices.

The technology behind these innovations has been around for a while. Ten years ago we started developing the edge components, power management systems, suggestion generators and other building blocks of the Jawbone UP bracelet. In our original design, from 2005, there was wireless synchronization between the bracelet and the phone and the phone screen was used for real-time display. However, Bluetooth Low Energy technology, essential for long device battery life, is only maturing these days. Just as it took 15 years for the phone camera from the day of its invention until it became a standard item, so today we are on the verge of the appearance of common wearable devices that will perform a variety of actions.

Some of the most promising applications of wearable technology are the monitoring, prevention, treatment and even cure of medical problems. Wearable medical devices can greatly improve the quality of life of those suffering from chronic diseases such as obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, heart disease or Alzheimer's, and are also capable of helping, to varying degrees, to control the spread of epidemics. These devices offer a unique opportunity to create a new generation of treatments, which will include efficient personalization of drug doses and ways of taking them. For example, a diabetic patch that releases a drug, combined with an advanced activity bracelet, will provide a personalized and optimal dose while improving both treatment and results. This is the next step after the insulin pumps. Now, thanks to our intellectual assets and technology, we have the opportunity to revolutionize public health and provide a solution at any scale to a global challenge.

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About the author

Philippa Kahn is CEO and co-founder of Fullpower Technologies, maker of MotionX technology that is integrated into Nike and Jawbone products. In 1997, Kahn created the phone camera by combining an imaging sensor with a cell phone and software.

The article was published with the permission of Scientific American Israel