Читать книгу Fundamentals of IoT and Wearable Technology Design - Haider Raad - Страница 19

The uses of wearables are far reaching and have exciting potentials in the fields of medicine, well‐being, sports, aging, disabilities, education, transportation, enterprise, and entertainment. The main objective of wearable technology in each of these fields is to smoothly incorporate functional and portable electronics into the users' daily routines. Prior to their existence in the consumer market, wearables were primarily employed in the fields of military technology and health sector.

Generally speaking, wearables share many aspects of the sensing, connectivity, automation, and intelligence characteristics with IoT devices. However, there are a few major differences worth highlighting which will be discussed in the following sections.

Form factor is a hardware design aspect in electronics packaging which specifies the physical dimensions, shape, weight, and other components specifications of the printed circuit board (PCB) or the device itself. Although wearable devices have a small form factor in general, it is practically dependent on the type and the way they are worn (rings and wristbands, as opposed to glasses and clothing).

Smaller form factors may offer reduced usage of material, easy handling, and simpler logistics; however, they typically give rise to higher design and manufacturing costs in addition to signal integrity issues and maintenance constraints.

Moreover, durability, comfort, aesthetics, and ergonomic factors are important when it comes to designing a wearable device. Weight, shape, color, and texture must be carefully considered. The general characteristics of wearable technology are presented in Figure 1.3.