Date: Mar 12, 2014 Source: PR Web (
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Midé Technology has announced it is partnering with StretchSense to offer a stretchable, wearable, sensor evaluation kit. The kit offers wearable sensors (with electroactive polymers), ideal for the unobtrusive measurement of human body motion in the animation, augmented reality, sport, healthcare, and prosthetics industries.
Chris Ludlow, Midé's VP of Engineering stated; "Partnering with StretchSense not only adds a wearable, soft sensor evaluation kit to our existing smart material evaluation kit products, it adds another dimension to our sensing expertise - in this case, soft sensing. We're very excited."
According to StretchSense's CEO Dr. Ben O'Brien, there has been a void in the human body measurement space without viable stretch sensing technologies, stating, "Other sensing technologies cannot address portability, comfort, drift and a combination of static/dynamic kinematics successfully on their own. Competing stretch sensing technologies have never been very stable, reliable, or repeatable.
A lot of work needs to be done to constantly re-calibrate your systems, and it becomes very complicated to deal with these deficits."
Dr. O'Brien added, "Our mechanically robust stretch sensors employ capacitive technology to provide precise measurements and stable readings, without the need for constant recalibration. The sensors can be glued, sewn or bolted to surfaces, making them ideal for measuring deformation of soft structures."
Current manufacturing methods can produce sensors as tiny as a few millimeters, giving them mass market appeal and the potential to change people's lives - especially in augmented reality, and healthcare industries.
From an augmented reality point of view it provides new ways to interact with devices, something which could become critical as avenues, such as touch screens, start to become outdated.
From a health and wellness point of view, these sensors solve the problem of people taking the lessons they learn in the clinic, home. This technology is able to track their progress remotely. In turn, decreasing costs, as they don't need to spend as much face time with specialists, and improving recovery rates.
The evaluation is designed to showcase the capabilities of this capacitive technology. The kit contains; two stretchable sensors; integrated software; and a Bluetooth sensing circuit that interrogates the sensors, captures the data, and transmits it wirelessly to a smart phone, tablet or PC.
