(January 20, 2015, That Media Thing)–If 2015 isn’t the year of the smartwatch (and the Apple Watch will have a say in that), then it’s certainly going to be the year of the wearable. As we’ve discussed elsewhere on IQ, wearables don’t just mean technology that you strap onto your wrist. There are some wild, weird and wonderful devices that buck the trend.
For example, scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a temporary tattoo-like patch that can monitor glucose levels in the blood without puncturing the skin. The thin and flexible device incorporates a highly sensitive glucose sensor and works by extracting and measuring glucose levels in the fluid in between skin cells.
Tattoo-like biosensors are the ultimate wearable
Such tattoo-style biosensors are certainly a direction that future wearables will take. Electrozyme is working on its own fitness-orientated version, designed to use the chemical information in sweat to alert you to the risk of dehydration or heat exhaustion. Electrozyme envisions its screen-printed patches working with other wearables and complementing data gathered from accelerometers and heart rate monitors to give you a more rounded picture of your health and fitness.
