How to Make Wearables Bearable

The growth of wearable electronics is driven by demand in healthcare and safety applications and fueled by low power, compact electronics. However, many of these devices rely on conventional electronics manufacturing techniques which have trade-off implications on user comfort. Cost, slow design and manufacturing ramp-up, and sensor effectiveness in a rigid form factor are other concerns. Flexible hybrid electronics, FHE, can address these challenges by producing compact and conformal sensor packages. This is critical in both safety and healthcare applications because if a sensor is uncomfortable over a long time period, users will not wear it, rendering it useless. NextFlex has developed several wearable devices with conformal and comfortable form factors by utilizing FHE techniques. In this presentation, we will discuss the design and manufacturing process, the reasoning behind the design choices, and lessons learned in the process.