The right training

Gymwatch develops innovative technologies for sports and fitness training. The Gymwatch Sensor is the first fitness tracker to measure force and motion in every exercise. Its app provides users with real-time audio-visual feedback as they are doing their exercises.
www.gymwatch.com

Mood-changer

Thync has developed a wearable using which users can change their mood in just a few minutes, boosting energy or aiding relaxation at the press of a button. All users have to do is attach a pad containing a Bluetooth module with interchangeable electrodes to their forehead and select the appropriate mode in the app. The pad then stimulates specific nerves using low-energy pulses.
www.thync.com

Swing meter for golfers

PIQ has developed a multi-sport sensor platform that can measure over 3,000 different data points per second across 13 different dimensions. In the process, it records performance data such as G-force, speed and amplitude, among others. The platform can be deployed for use in a wide range of sports – golfers wear it on their wrists, for example, whilst skiers can attach it to their boots.
www.piq.com

Identification by heartbeat

Start-up Nymi has developed a bracelet of the same name which enables biometric authentication using the wearer’s heartbeat. A person’s heart rate is as unique as their fingerprint. Once authentication is enabled, the bracelet is able to continuously transmit the user’s identity to other devices. A field test is currently under way for contactless payment using the bracelet.
www.nymi.com

Power from movement

Ampy can be used to generate power from day-to-day physical movement and discreetly store it. The compact device can be attached to the arm, leg or hip, or be carried in a backpack, where it charges as the user moves. Users can then connect their smartphone to the AMPY to recharge its battery.
www.getampy.com

Measuring the environment

Amulet Corp has developed the Scarab wearable, incorporating 16 sensors which measure the surrounding environment. The device includes an air pressure gauge and thermometer, as well as sensors for gamma and UV radiation, magnetic fields, and carbon monoxide. The sensor platform is connected to the Cloud via a smartphone. It means anyone is able to detect and avoid hazardous environments, as well as notifying others of them.
www.wearscarab.com

Safe riding

With its AR-1, start-up Skully presents a motorcycle helmet featuring a head-up display, voice control, and a rearward-facing camera. The helmet shows live images from the “blind spot” camera on a small display. It is also fitted with speakers and microphones. Riders can issue voice commands to set navigation destinations or play music tracks from their phone, for example. The display optionally indicates incoming calls.
www.skully.com

Running more healthily

The fitness sock from Sensoria features embedded fabric sensors which are soft, comfortable, durable and machine-washable. The socks come with a smart ankle chain and a smartphone app. The sock tracks motion, identifying behaviour such as whether the wearer is correctly rolling his or her foot when running. The sock can of course also track conventional fitness data such as speed, number of steps, altitude, or calorie consumption.
www.sensoriafitness.com

A flying camera on your wrist

Nixie is the first flying camera that can be worn around the wrist. The armband can be released from its owner with just one movement and then flies into the air, where it takes photos from a variety of perspectives that could not be captured with any other camera. That is the goal, at least – the camera is still in an early stage of development.
www.flynixie.com

(picture credits: Ampy; Amulet Corp; Gymwatch; Nixie; Nymi; PIQ; Sensoria Inc: Matthew Pew; Skyully; Thync)

The post Wearable technology start-ups appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

It’s difficult to define an algorithm for success,” asserts Harvey C. Nathanson. Yet he certainly achieved success. Born in 1936, Nathanson was the inventor of the electronic device that served as the foundation of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) without which today’s wearables would not be feasible.

A life-long fascination for electrics and electronics
Nathanson was always interested in electricity and transistors. As a child, he experimented with electric power and light bulbs, blowing the odd fuse along the way. From an acquaintance who was keen on recording techniques, he learnt a lot about tubes, microphones and hi-fi systems. He ultimately turned his hobby into a career. After gaining a doctorate in electrical and electronic engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), he began his career at Westinghouse Research Laboratories outside Pittsburgh, working in a research group which supported the Westinghouse Electronic Systems division and carried out many developments for the defence sector. “It was great fun working with the engineers in Baltimore,” Nathanson recalls. “They were leaders in the field of radar and electronic countermeasures, and were involved in wide-ranging projects.”

The objective: a mechanical resonator
In 1965, at the age of just 29, he was tasked by his boss, Dr William E. Newell, to develop a miniaturised tuning method for integrated circuits. Existing solutions up to that point were neither particularly small, nor did they deliver the required quality. The objective was to develop a mechanical resonator. Nathanson goes on: “The new solution had to be low-cost, of course, be producible using the available IC manufacturing technologies, and also feature input and output circuits. It was all about finding a replacement for the existing large, low-quality LC resonant circuits. Together with our technician Robert Wickstrom, I was able to develop, design and demonstrate the Resonant Gate Transistor, registering the first patents for it and putting it into sample production. Our MEMS device was the first integrated circuit featuring moveable micro-electromechanical components.”

Learning from the inventor of the MEMS
This success was made possible by the willingness of the U.S. Department of Defence to provide a sufficient budget for the necessary research. In view of that, Harvey C. Nathanson has a key piece of advice to offer future inventors: “Find a sector with enough money to invest.” He also advises anyone engaging in research to build themselves a reputation in order to be able to tap the relevant sources. And the father of MEMS stresses the importance of being published in scientific media as a vital element of that. “If you are respected in your field, you will get the funding you need – including from the government.” Building a track record of personal success engenders confidence in potential backers.
But money is not everything, of course. For someone truly looking to venture into uncharted waters, as Nathanson did back then in inventing MEMS, it is essential to have a broad-based view. So his second piece of advice to researchers is always to read a wide range of different scientific and technical journals, and keep up-to-date with findings in other fields. “That will provide a wealth of ideas and inspiration for your own work. Often, research in entirely different areas delivers solutions which you can transfer into your work, and so create completely new approaches.” A successful product needs more than just a good idea, however; it also has to deliver concrete benefit for users and customers. Harvey C. Nathanson’s philosophy is: “If you really want to develop something of benefit to users, you need partners.” He advises electronics engineers and physicists, especially, to collaborate with system experts.

Not quite retired
Harvey C. Nathanson’s invention did not make him a millionaire, since he developed MEMS as an employee of Westinghouse. He did subsequently have an exciting career in electronics, however. He became Chief Scientist responsible for electronic device work at Westinghouse Research Labs. In that role, he created further innovative defence technology solutions for Westinghouse and for Northrop Grumman, which later acquired the research group. “My role in inventing MEMS gave me a lot of freedom to do other research throughout my career,” says Nathanson. He was a founder in 2001 and continuing board member of MEMS Industry Group (MIG), now MEMS & Sensor Industry Group (MSIG) and still maintains close links with the organisation today in an Emeritus role. Nathanson finally retired in 2001 – though not entirely: he remained active as a consultant to Northrop Grumman until 2012. “Retirement isn’t for sissies,” Nathanson laughs. And so today, at 79, he still keeps himself busy. He likes to keep up with developments in the semiconductor field in particular: “I am very interested in the potential role of new ultra-miniature atomic clocks in coherent RF signal processing, for example.” And Harvey C. Nathanson is also glad to pass on his experience. He is always keen to participate in discussions on new ideas. Nonetheless: despite, having opened up an entirely new field of technology in wearables with “his” MEMS, Nathanson still sees himself as a “sensors man”, and does not use wearables – except for his iPhone 6, which he admits that he would be lost without.

The post The father of the MEMS appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Fitness bracelets, smart watches, intelligent headphones, brooches with integrated electronics – hardly a day goes by without a new wearable hitting the shops or a new wearable company appearing on the market. This might sound familiar from the dotcom bubble of 16 years ago. And not without reason, as Johannes Kreuzer, CEO of wearable start-up cosinuss states: “We are currently going through the hype phase where a lot of things are being done simply because we can. But I believe that, after the hype, the developments will be channelled and wearables will come to the market that offer real added value to users.” The same is also true of the wearable he has developed, which is used by sportspeople in particular to precisely measure aspects such as heart rate and heart rate variability, and for the first time, body temperature while they are moving. Christian Stammel, CEO and founder of Wearables Technologie AG is even more specific: “We can definitely say there is a hype surrounding fitness bracelets, but this is already starting to wane somewhat. Now, we are seeing smart watches with an integrated fitness tracker function coming into play. What’s more, we expect that a third of all wearables will be intelligent patches by 2020, basically plasters with integrated electronics. Smart plasters that measure insulin levels are already currently being sold in the health market. We are therefore not just seeing one hype, but many small hypes within the entire wearable technologies’ growth curve.” Stammel sees wearables as forming part of the general movement towards the Internet of Things. “The Internet of Things is in no way a hype. It is a logical development of the Internet which will change the industry with lasting consequences, just as it will every other area of life.”

Electronic components have developed

Markus Strecker, CEO of Teiimo, believes that a fundamental reason for the rapid growth in the wearables sector lies in electronics: “In the last few years, there have been many developments in the MEMS sector, making them very affordable to use today. We have made great progress in the energy efficiency of microcontrollers and in wireless technologies. Today, there is a simply a huge choice of good components that can be integrated into a variety of products at a reasonable price.” Teiimo incorporates electronics into clothing, for example, and among other items, has developed the “iilation” jacket – a heated leather jacket with hands-free equipment and mobile phone charging function. The company specialises in this kind of “conformable electronics” – malleable 3D electronic components – as well as integrating them into textiles, and also supports other companies with its know-how.
Nevertheless, the wide range of electronic components for wearables exists thanks to the hype surrounding this technology, as EBV expert Markus Vogt underlines: “The semiconductor industry needs an initial hype and the high demand connected with this to initiate new developments and to be able to pump the associated investments into new components.” Markus Strecker believes that the development of flexible, adaptable electronics is a good example of this: it enables electronic components to be integrated into clothing – according to Strecker, this offers many opportunities for the future – take medicine, for instance. Vogt, who is responsible for Healthcare and Personal Health at EBV, sees yet another advantage of the current high demand for wearables in the consumer sector in terms of medical applications: developments can be tested here which will then be applied in medicine in a few years’ time. “Technologies are being refined, enhanced with new software solutions and certified for application in medicine – in the end, there might be one out of ten consumer applications that can reasonably be used in the medical sector.”

Big opportunities in the health-style segment

Doing both at the same time, i.e. developing a product both for medical application as well as for the consumer sector, does not work – at least not in Johannes Kreuzer’s experience: “The requirements are totally different. That’s why we chose to concentrate first on the consumer sector – because the market is simply faster. The switch to the medical sector will then happen at a later stage.” Nevertheless, he believes that the line between the sport and medical sectors will become increasingly blurred in the future, and that there will be consumer products that will at least partly meet the high requirements of the healthcare sector, such as in terms of measurement accuracy. The first product of this kind does in fact already exist: the blood pressure monitor developed by French company Withings, as Christian Stammel maintains: “This is a medically certified device that was sold in the Apple store. A shining example of the new wave of healthcare products that are so beautifully designed that they can also be sold in a consumer electronics store.” Stammel sees this market between sport and certified medical products, which he calls the health-style segment, as a particularly exciting sector for wearables. “These products are usually bought by private patients and therefore no longer look like typical medical devices, as a lot of attention is paid to their design.” Nevertheless, an overlap between the two segments also carries a risk, as Markus Vogt warns: “In the USA, there are currently two legal proceedings pending against Fitbit, as the devices weren’t producing data that was accurate enough.”

Diverse applications in industry

However, it is not only in medicine that the participants around the round-table envisage a large number of possible applications for wearables in the B2B sector. Johannes Kreuzer can imagine different scenarios that involve monitoring vital parameters, for example. He believes this could be as interesting to firefighters for surveillance on duty as it could be for the military – or even in industry: “The attention level of an employee in the production industry could be monitored so that if they are too tired to work carefully, they would be sent on a short break. This would of course be difficult from the point of view of labour legislation, but possible.” Christian Stammel names another typical example of a wearable used in industry: “Google Glass was used by all major global consulting firms to demonstrate its potential in logistics or in industrial manufacturing. There are several successful companies whose head-up display solutions are used in a professional environment. This is a huge market, which is at the dawn of a great revolution.” Although this revolution does not necessarily need its own “industry wearables”, as Stammel continues to explain: a good smart watch can be worn by a private individual just as much as it can in the business sector by a member of field staff, for example, who can view data from the SAP system on it. “At the end of the day, it is the back-end structure that decides for me if I have a B2C or B2B wearable.” This doesn’t mean that developing specific wearables for professional use cannot also be worthwhile – Layla Keramat, Executive Creative Director of frog, gives the example of a helmet for construction workers. frog is an international product design and strategy company, and helped to launch the helmet on the market: “Using the helmet, a construction worker can access information or take photos on site, which can help to clarify problems with colleagues at the headquarters, for example. This video capture function is also significant for training new professionals.”

Wearable, service and software are inseparable

This example suggests that to do business with wearables successfully, it is not only the device itself that is important. “It’s an amalgamation of service, product and software which isn’t separable,” explains Layla Keramat. Markus Strecker also emphasises that although information is the most important factor today, it is the hardware – sensors, microcontrollers etc. – that makes it possible to generate and use this information. “Hardware and software cannot be separated. Proper use of a wearable involves the entire eco-system, the complete value-added chain from the individual sensor right up to the Internet platform.” Nevertheless, it still appears that the most significant factor for wearable providers is the money they earn. Christian Stammel estimates that not even 2 per cent of the turnover is generated by software. “But we are expecting that in the next five years, 20 per cent will be earned through hardware and 80 per cent through the supporting service and software.” Layla Keramat can even imagine that the data generated by wearables itself even become so valuable that companies with the appropriate business models would pay for it: she believes that “data is the new currency”. “We shouldn’t exclude the possibility of being paid to wear a tracker.”
But this would only work with the appropriate structure in the background: “If the data retrieved by the wearable is not connected to Google Now or Siri, for example, the user experience will reach a dead end,” according to Layla Keramat. And Stammel adds: “Wearable users only want to receive information from the flood of data that is important to them personally – this only works if the wearable is directly connected to the Cloud. This makes it possible to consult additional data from the surrounding environment – this gives the user access to meaningful data and creates real added value.” As an example, he talks of an asthmatic who is jogging in unknown surroundings: while a tracker measures the pulse, the user receives additional information from the cloud, for example about CO2 levels in the air. By combining the two pieces of data, the wearable can recommend the user to run more slowly and to lower their pulse to below 100, as they are otherwise at risk of suffering an asthma attack.

Focusing on the use

It is exactly this use that should be the focus when a company launches a new wearable onto the market, as is emphasised by Johannes Kreuzer: “You need to create a real use for and solve a problem with the wearable, otherwise you really only have a hype.” In addition to this, there is also a ground rule which is memorably summarised by Layla Keramat: “Don’t make it stop you from doing what you’re doing. This means that a wearable should support me when I’m carrying out my tasks but not provide a distraction.”
And Markus Strecker provides another important tip for start-ups: “On the other hand, you also shouldn’t neglect the market and you must know who the big players are. Even if I have a great device, as a start-up I can’t necessarily keep up with the marketing activities of a large company.” In the past few years, Markus Vogt has spoken to many start-ups who have not thought their business model through in enough detail. “We hold workshops with these people, define their unique selling point, for instance, and work out a thorough business model.” As a second step, Vogt recommends looking for a technology expert as a partner and implementing the project together with them right from the start. “Otherwise the electronics integrated into the wearable will quickly become out of date when the device comes onto the market.”

Crowdfunding as a PR tool

For many start-ups, crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter have proven an effective marketing instrument: “Even Kickstarter is observed intently by important global media sources. This is a fantastic PR tool,” maintains Christian Stammel. Markus Strecker adds: “If you receive good feedback from the community on the crowdfunding campaign, this means that many people actually want to buy the product. This is also a good way of finding financially strong investors outside of the community.” Nevertheless, crowdfunding should only begin when development is completed, as Kreuzer emphasises: “You must have reached the stage with your product where you are ready to start production.” Otherwise, the money gets used up very quickly in the development phase and there is nothing left to launch the product on the market. Although money from crowdfunding alone is not sufficient for an extensive market presence. “If a new wearable is to really take the market by storm, half a million products need to be put on the market quickly within two or three months – many young companies aren’t able to do this, however,” explains Vogt.

A technological leap

Even if the start can be difficult, the market is worth the effort. All the round-table participants are certain of this. They all proceed from the assumption that wearables will become increasingly significant in our lives. “There will be a leap as there was ten years ago when the smartphone was rolled out,” Christian Stammel believes. He predicts that over 50 per cent of applications will be based in the healthcare sector. Markus Vogt is also convinced of this: “Thanks to wearables, we will be able to get a better handle on lifestyle diseases such as diabetes or heart failure in the future.” Kreuzer adds: “Big data analyses in particular are proving an interesting prospect for wearables in the medical sector.” Markus Strecker quotes the market analysts from Gartner: „Forget fitness bracelets. Smart clothing is the future.“. And he adds: “To ensure the success of smart textiles, especially in the sport or healthcare sector, it will be critical to integrate technology so that it can neither be seen nor felt.” Layla Keramat provides us with a superb concluding sentence: “Wearables will become as important in our lives as glasses are for people with sight problems – and in exactly the same way, they will give us a kind of superpower.”

The post Super­power for all of us appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

What is your personal favourite wearable?
Bernard Vicens: At present, the smart shoes from Digitsole. They were developed from a relatively simple interactive shoe sole, which can not only measure the distance the person has walked and the calories they have burnt in the process but – with built-in heater modules – also keep their feet warm. The shoes created on that basis additionally measure the cushioning effect, have a built-in light, can be charged wirelessly, and lace themselves up automatically.

Can you give a few examples of projects which EBV was involved in developing?
B.V.: Where do I start? We helped Suunto, a Finnish company, to create its range of smart sports watches. We were involved in PIQ’s development of the Multisport sensor platform, which is used in golf, for example. Our customers also include Playertek, who make a GPS tracking system to measure outdoor sports performance; and French optician chain Atol, whose connected glasses enable wearers to find where they’ve left them using an indicator on their smartphone.

What role did EBV play in them?
B.V.: Through our portfolio of selected suppliers, our customers have access to the latest technology, best suited to their specific projects. We jointly select the right components, always striving for the ideal balance between performance and price. We provide producers with optimum logistical support – wherever in the world they may be located.

How important is the wearables market for EBV as an electronics distributor?
B.V.: The wearables market is one of the fastest growing applications linked to the Internet of Things. Many companies in Europe who have not previously used the electronic components concerned are investing in the segment, and are looking for technology partners. Examples include companies in the sports sector, luxury goods, fashion and clothing, footwear, and pet tracking… With our suppliers – including the top ten leading chip manufacturers – and our partner network, EBV is ideally set up to offer exactly the right range of sensors, microcontrollers, power management and connectivity modules.

For a wearable development to be successful, it has to combine know-how in a wide variety of different areas. What role can EBV play in doing that?
B.V.: We offer expertise not only in electronic components, but also covering the entire “eco-system”, including design, software and production. For a number of years now, we have also been pursuing a vertical market strategy, as a result of which our network of technology experts in key application fields for us, such as healthcare, consumer and automotive, is continually growing. They may be institutes, universities, software companies, or experts from small businesses or from major concerns… We put our potential customers in touch with relevant market experts.

What technology trends in wearables are you currently seeing among electronics manufacturers?
B.V.: The evolution of electronic components is of fundamental importance for sensors, microcontrollers and connectivity, because it is improving precision and increasing computing power, while at the same time cutting energy consumption. We are nevertheless seeing a number of ground-breaking technologies on the horizon: wireless charging is one example. By eliminating connections for charging cables, completely sealed, water-tight devices can be made. Another technology with a big future is LPWAN: Sigfox, LoRa, EC GSM and LTE M offer connectivity directly to the Net with much lower power consumption than conventional 2G/3G modules. Devices administered on the Cloud also offer a new range of capabilities: from utilisation of Cloud resources to connectivity with other devices and services. Another major trend is printed electronics, which is enabling new applications in the fields of sensors, OLED, solar panels and displays. Chip-sized LED modules permit new designs in clothing, such as to make the wearer more visible. E-ink displays will also become increasingly important in the wearables sector. They can be read even in sunlight, and consume little power. Energy harvesting is another major trend, utilising energy from light, heat or movement.

We are at present primarily seeing products for the consumer and fitness sector. What role will wearables play in the B2B sector?
B.V.: Augmented reality glasses, for example, can be very useful in a variety of industrial applications, such as for maintenance, or in production. And the healthcare sector offers some interesting potential applications too. I also see potential for trackers, not only in telemedicine, but also in Ambient Assisted Living, or in areas with access control.

What does that mean for the products, and the electronic components in them?
B.V.: B2B applications will doubtless demand a more professional approach. The electronics might well need to be capable of operating in a wider temperature range, and be more reliable.

How do you assess the wearables market in general?
B.V.: All the market analysts agree: over the coming years, we will see significant growth in this market. Some forecasts predict annual growth rates of over 14 per cent…

What role do wearables play in EBV’s various vertical market segments?
B.V.: Wearables can be regarded as the ultimate application: their technical demands in terms of computing power, sensors, user interface, display and connectivity are high, yet they still have to run on batteries. At present, however, we are essentially seeing wearables primarily in the consumer and healthcare sectors, including in medical applications. But as I have already mentioned, there are lots of potential applications in industry too.

(picture credits: Fotolia: Login)

The post Electronic for Wearables appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

Molly Maloof, M.D. posesses a unique blend of know­ledge. She stands at an exciting junction where consumer technology meets medical science. Beside her medical career, she is an entrepreneur, strategist and health technologist, not to mention keynote speaker, who consults technology companies in Silicon Valley on the use of wearable technology in medicine. More and more companies are starting to see the potential in this area, providing a fertile ground for Dr Maloof’s ideas and vision. “Future Marktes. Discovered Today” spoke with her about the current state of affairs and where the future lies.

What role are wearables currently playing in medicine, and what will they be capable of in future?
Molly Maloof: When I first started getting involved in wearable technology a few years ago, the available devices on the market were mostly just for wellness and fitness, because those areas are much less regulated than those of medical devices. But what’s happening now is that companies saw this gigantic opportunity with half the people in America having either diabetes or pre-diabetes. Also there are a lot of people with high blood pressure. So now companies are rushing to develop technologies that would report metrics that are clinical; like blood pressure monitoring. We are going to see a big shift towards chronic disease management. It will take some time before they are approved by the FDA but I believe in the end, these technologies will become commonplace in medicine.

How do you see the timeline for this?
M.M.: As patients start getting their money back from insurance, that’s when this becomes a real thing. Oscar Health Insurance based in New York gives a Misfit wearable to every new client, and it tracks your steps and your sleep. I see this as insurance companies realising that wellness is worth investing in. There are companies that do chronic disease management through tracking. There are also companies just for hosting data and connecting it to the doctors. So once all these little pieces get put together and it is possible for doctors to get paid for looking at the data, and the data is easily made accessible for both the peers and the caregivers, then the healthcare system will take notice.

You have created a new business area with a holistic approach using medicine and wearable technology. How is the feedback from your patients?
M.M.: It is the early adopters who like this the most and athletes tend to adopt it first, but I think what most people are looking for is a doctor who cares, so if there is one more data point where I can give them guidance on, they are happy for the feedback.

So the chronic patients will come later.
M.M.: The chronic patients will come when the insurance companies start paying for these monitoring methods. My clients are generally healthy, but I do have some patients who have high blood pressure and I prescribe them the Withings blood pressure monitor. We will also see little kits with wearables that get prescribed for specific problems. I am predicting fertility kits that get sent to your home, with luteinising hormone testing and wearable temperature monitors. With the guidance of doctors and the help of these digital health platforms, you will make better use of your information. Companies are focusing on specific use cases such as diabetes and pregnancy. When they can demonstrate that this is an effective and affordable option, the insurance companies will start paying these companies to deliver the prescription.

What wearables are you using currently?
M.M.: Pebble, because I recently started consulting them on this technology. I use a Withings scale. Thync is another one that boosts your energy or reduces your stress with neurosignals transmitted directly through your skull.

Where do you see the financial benefits of wearables in medicine?
M.M.: All these technologies give you metrics that you can use to change something, but it is down to the individual’s motivation to stay healthy. I don’t think these replace the doctor or the experience in the clinic but they can amplify it. They can go home and track their health, providing more data for the doctor to back up their decision-making. I think the first big hits will be in diabetes, with packages for monitoring glucose, weight and excercise, all of which are really important for controlling the blood sugar.

What is your advice for companies developing wearables for healthcare?
M.M.: Don’t be afraid of regulation and don’t be afraid because it is a medical device. If you develop a clinical device, once you are approved by the regulatory bodies, you will see real success. Once you have data to prove that your device is making a difference in a person’s health, look for ways to get approved so that your technology is paid for by the insurance companies instead of by the patients.

Do you think it will raise data protection issues?
M.M.: I think technology will do more to protect this data than the regulation will, but it also has to be compliant.

Before we go, we would like to ask you about your dream product. What would be the ideal wearable for you?
M.M.: It would probably be a wearable technology that does not only measure my vital signs, but also my glucose and my heart rate variability, because there is a huge interaction between stress and blood sugar balance and our blood pressure. When our stress goes up, our heart rate and blood pressure go up and our rhythm is out of sync. The more chronically stressed we are, the more we crave carbs and see big glucose spikes. We only notice this in hindsight. So if a technology can warn us in the moment, make us aware of the stress, that would be really cool. It doesn’t exist yet, because the sensors are not quite there yet – but we are getting there.

(picture credits: Molly Maloof MD)

The post Prescribing wearables appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.

The offices of start-up company Bragi in the centre of Munich are a hive of activity, with company representatives from Asia, staff and suppliers constantly coming and going. But Nikolaj Hviid, CEO and founder of Bragi, is quite relaxed. The development work on his product “The Dash” is basically complete; the first 12,000 units (as of February 2016) have been shipped. Hviid really seems to have hit a nerve with his discreet in-ear assistant. In 2014 Bragi completed what is to date the most successful Kickstarter crowd-funding project in Europe. Since then, the promising start-up has grown into a market-moving driver of innovative technology. Designer Hviid risked a fair bit in realising his vision of an in-ear computer. He was so convinced about his idea, in fact, that he sold his shares in the design agency he had co-founded – the biggest in Europe incidentally – and invested his money in The Dash. For him, it was not about the electronics, or a desire to create a piece of wearable tech. Rather, the Dane sees himself as someone who helps solve society’s problems. He has often realised his visions with technology and design – Bragi is the sixth business he has founded. “Starting a business is a roller-coaster on steroids”, Hviid asserts. But he seems to be enjoying the ride …

How do you go from being a designer to the head of an electronics start-up?
Nikolaj Hviid: In Germany, design is seen as something artistic. But in Denmark, where I come from, it is regarded as a means to solve societal or entrepreneurial problems. And that is just what I have done. I did not necessarily want to establish an electronics business. But I wanted to solve a problem for society: to develop a discreet computer capable of assisting people. And I could only create it if I also developed the electronics for it. So I had no alternative but to establish an electronics company.

How did you get the idea for The Dash?
N.H.: The basic idea was to create an assistant that would help people. But for that to work, it has to be discreet – that is to say, assisting users without distracting them from the world around them, or from what they are currently doing. So any kind of display screen would be out of the question, for example. But hearing is different; it is a parallel, discreet interface. I hear everything around me, but can still distinguish everything that is going on, and carry on doing what I am doing. So my first idea was that I had to do something through the sense of hearing. The second idea was that the assistant also has to understand where I am, what I’m doing, and how I’m reacting to it. Otherwise it won’t be able to help me. So sensors have to be built-in to the device that detect the surrounding environment and are capable of measuring my reactions. With that information, the device is able to understand what I as a person am doing, and help me do it. That is what is known as a “contextual computer”. The next step: since motion on a cable would interfere with the sensor data, it has to work wirelessly. So the outcome is a device that sits in the ear, has lots of sensors, and needs no wires – The Dash.

What specific applications did you have in mind?
N.H.: Well, if I just wanted to sell a contextual computer in an electronics store I wouldn’t have a lot of success. I needed to specify applications with benefits that buyers would immediately understand. We all like listening to music, so one of our primary applications is a music player. The second primary application is that the device can be used as a headset. And thirdly, we positioned it as a fitness device. But the idea underlying it is still a contextual computer that will help me.

What might you imagine as “secondary” applications?
N.H.: There are innumerable possibilities: I might use The Dash to control a wheelchair by moving my head; it might monitor fire-fighters and help them communicate while on operations; or it could automatically send an emergency call if the wearer suffers a stroke, for example.

Are you looking to develop those applications within your business?
N.H.: No, we see ourselves as a platform provider. As a manufacturer of in-ear computers, or “audible computing”.

Are there already companies looking to create apps for The Dash?
N.H.: Absolutely. In fact, there are even too many of them already. We have had almost 7,000 developers contact us with a view to creating something for our product.

What role is your crowd-funding campaign playing in realising The Dash?
N.H.: What I find great about crowd-funding is that it is not some single financial investor who decides whether my idea is good or bad, but hundreds of thousands of people. And almost 16,000 people liked our project so much that they paid money into it.

What do you think motivates the funders?
N.H.: People are not doing it because they like me, or because they absolutely want or need the product. Most are keen to track the project’s progress. They want to share in what we are doing, and accompany us on our journey to the finished product.

Crowd-funders have invested more than 3.3 million US dollars in your project. Is that enough to build a new business?
N.H.: To be quite honest, crowd-funding is not primarily about procuring money, because ultimately not a lot of it is left over. Firstly, you have to deduct 10 per cent in fees for Kickstarter and Amazon Payment. Then the crowd-funders get the product at a discount, so after deducting the production costs, there’s not much profit. We also have to pay for the manufacturing plant and equipment. We paid twice as much as was left over for the injection-moulding tools alone. And then there’s certification – because we want to sell all over the world of course – and the shipping costs. So what remains from the Kickstarter funding is just a tiny portion of the money we actually need. So Kickstarter for me is not a financing platform. It’s a PR platform.

So are you looking for more investors?
N.H.: No, we already have fantastic investors on board who are supporting us and helping us through their networking. Last year, we received 20 million euros in investment funding. By German standards, that is an awful lot.

Is Munich such an investment-friendly region?
N.H.: No, not really. Munich investors tend to be happy to invest in real estate – as is typical throughout Germany. Instead of creating jobs for their children and grandchildren, they prefer to invest in housing for them. In my view, the mentality that drove Germany’s post-war boom during the 1950s has been rather lost. When I get old and look back, I want to be able to say: I provided people with a place to work in a company they really like, where they have opportunities to learn a lot. I don’t want to be saying at the end of my life: I have lots of buildings. That would be terrible for me. In fact, I rent where I live. I don’t own a single property.

A device such as The Dash incorporates know-how from a wide variety of different technical fields. How do you go about getting experts from the different disciplines to all work together?
N.H.: We have a holocratic corporate structure. That means we have no silos where different skills are isolated from each other; we create cross-functional projects. Each project includes a designer, a programmer and a hardware developer. People join a project and are taken out of it again depending on the stage it is at. The designers follow the project through to its conclusion, and the software people are on board right from the beginning.

What hurdles did you have to overcome in technology terms?
N.H.: There were several. Firstly, we had to make the product using the smallest components possible. It would have been easier with a custom-made chip, but that would have been too expensive, and would not have provided us with enough flexibility to make any necessary modifications. So we use discreet components that already exist. We currently have 27 sensors in The Dash – the integration density is unbelievable. When we started, most experts said it wouldn’t be feasible based on the existing state of the art … The device incorporates a total of five world-firsts that did not previously exist in the same size and complexity. For example, we have integrated a fingernail-sized pulse oximeter – a monitoring function previously only provided by big stationary units in hospitals. Communication between the two earplugs is facilitated through manipulation of the magnetic field, enabling us to transmit music and data at high quality levels. All in all, we have achieved an extremely high integration density, with around 90 electronic components in each plug. We have 11 different layers, each with a maximum tolerance of 0.01 millimetres. It’s a real challenge for us in terms of production engineering.

What role did EBV play in the project?
N.H.: EBV was a great help to us in finding a solution for communication between the left and right earplugs. They helped us persuade suppliers about our idea. EBV was very useful as an intermediary channel to the suppliers, because the suppliers also had to make significant investments in order to provide us with the necessary components.

How do you see the future for wearables like The Dash?
N.H.: One day, we’ll all have wearable computers – no mobile phones, no TVs. We’ll just have electronic contact lenses in our eyes and earplugs for the audio. We will have sensors all over our bodies. Within our generation, companies – and entire industries – that have failed to recognise these changes will have disappeared. It will be an enormous revolution.

(picture credits: Bragi)

The post The Dash – the first in-ear computer appeared first on Future Markets Magazine.