Photo: Samsung
I remember that I was fascinated when the first foldable smartphones came out. Years have passed, and now we're getting close to having stretchable displays that we can mold and play with. Sounds pretty futuristic, but Samsung is already testing the waters with a 'stretchable electronic skin' that can measure the wearer's heart rate in real-time.
On June 4th, researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) published a study about a technology that can actually be worn on the skin like a band-aid. It combines an OLED display and a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor in a single device that can measure the user's heart rate in real-time.
The reason why stretchable display technologies are rather difficult to implement is because, usually, when a display is molded, the device either breaks or its performance deteriorates. To overcome this issue, SAIT researchers swapped the plastic material used in existing stretchable displays with elastomer, a highly elastic material.
To put the novel technology to the test, they applied the stretchable heart rate sensors and OLED display systems to an individual's inner wrist near the radial artery. This allowed them to ensure that wrist movement did not cause any major damage.
In fact, what they discovered was that the device could be stretched up to 30 percent for 1,000 times and still function properly. Furthermore, when detecting signals from the moving wrist, the sensor picked up a heartbeat signal 2.4 times stronger than other fixed silicon sensors.
While we won't see any stretchable Samsung smartphone soon, the research shows that this technology can be successfully implemented.
"Our research is still in the early stages, but our goal is to realize and commercialize stretchable devices by increasing system resolution, stretchability, and measurement accuracy to a level that makes mass production possible," says principal researcher Jong Won Chung, co-first author of the paper.
The reason why stretchable display technologies are rather difficult to implement is because, usually, when a display is molded, the device either breaks or its performance deteriorates. To overcome this issue, SAIT researchers swapped the plastic material used in existing stretchable displays with elastomer, a highly elastic material.
To put the novel technology to the test, they applied the stretchable heart rate sensors and OLED display systems to an individual's inner wrist near the radial artery. This allowed them to ensure that wrist movement did not cause any major damage.
In fact, what they discovered was that the device could be stretched up to 30 percent for 1,000 times and still function properly. Furthermore, when detecting signals from the moving wrist, the sensor picked up a heartbeat signal 2.4 times stronger than other fixed silicon sensors.
While we won't see any stretchable Samsung smartphone soon, the research shows that this technology can be successfully implemented.
"Our research is still in the early stages, but our goal is to realize and commercialize stretchable devices by increasing system resolution, stretchability, and measurement accuracy to a level that makes mass production possible," says principal researcher Jong Won Chung, co-first author of the paper.
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