PrintSensors Converge took place in Santa Clara, CA this June. The event brings together premier sensor tech engineers, and thinkers. In this special “hot tech” section, we highlight exciting research, technology and the people shaping the industry’s future. We caught up with Jamie Alders, VP of Product at Neurable.
Do you, or does your company have some hot tech to share? Get in touch!
Q&A With Jamie Alders. VP Product, Neurable
Q1: Sensors have long had the ability to conform to their working environment, but are only now becoming popular. What changed?
EEG (electroencephalography) sensors have been used for decades in labs. The equipment is large, expensive, and difficult to use. Recent developments in signal processing, AI, and machine learning have enabled us to do more with less, such as better signal capture under less ideal conditions. For example, where conductive gel was required for sensors to work, now we can weave sensors into fabric. Also, in the past, it was necessary to position sensors all over your head to pick up electrical signals from different locations in your brain, but now we can detect signals from anywhere in your brain using sensors around your ears.
Q2: What wearable sensor-tech is off most manufacturers’ radar, that will be commonplace in 10 years?
The sensors that are often overlooked are biological sensors like EEG sensors (sensing the electrical response of your brain), GSR sensors (sensing the electrical response of your skin), and glucose monitoring sensors (sensing your blood sugar levels), just to name a few. These sensors enable wearables to listen to your body’s responses throughout your day.
Q3: What should OEM R&D departments be focusing on NOW to be prepared for the future of sensor-tech?
R&D departments should be focused on identifying customer needs that these new types of sensors will be able to address so they can build customer-centric roadmaps. They also should be developing the technical skills to understand and start to work with biological sensors like EEG. Companies like Neurable are building toolkits to make it easy to integrate EEG into new products, but the OEM R&D departments will need at least some basic technical know-how to understand and evaluate this technology to make a great customer experience.