Abstract:
As the use of sensors in everyday life becomes increasingly more common, so the form factors, use cases and conditions under which they operate are evolving. In the realms of wearables, VR, home monitoring and IoT, new manufacturing technologies like flexible electronics will be necessary to weave sensors into everyday things in a non-intrusive and cost-effective way. To date, there have been several high-profile devices that have failed to capture the public imagination because they are too intrusive, too costly and simply do not provide enough value to the user. One industry that has embraced sensors has been the mobile business as it strives to make devices smarter. Contextual awareness and always-on sensing have evolved over the last couple of years, driven by new use cases such as fitness and health, location tracking and enhanced user experience. While some of the future challenges faced today may be similar in the future, many new requirements will arise. This talk will focus on to what degree those requirements may inhibit or drive the market for these new fabrication and manufacturing technologies and discuss critical considerations for success.