Wearable sensors are widely used, focusing on four core technologies in 2019

With the development of science and technology, wearable devices gradually come into people's vision. As the core technology of wearable devices, human-computer interaction experience, intelligent sensor technology, flexible electronic technology, etc. are inseparable from the development of sensor technology. The sensor of wearable device has the characteristics of small volume, light weight and low power consumption. Wearable sensors are widely used, including motion sensors, biosensors and environmental sensors.

            Stable growth of wearable equipment shipments

            In recent years, the concept of wearable devices has been hot because of the increase of wearable devices, the maturity of product technology, the improvement of user experience and the decrease of price. In 2018, the global wearable device shipments reached 172 million units, an increase of 27.5% year on year; among them, China's wearable device shipments reached 73.2 million units, an increase of 28.5% year on year, with a huge market scale.

            From the perspective of major wearable equipment manufacturers, in the past two years, top 5 companies have launched new wearable products one after another. The products of each company have different uses and characteristics due to different types of sensors used. The product price is affected by multiple dimensions such as function, endurance, product performance and brand. At present, the research and development direction of these enterprises focuses on battery technology, data storage technology, wearable medical products, artificial intelligence, multi-functional integration, etc. In the future, wearable devices will integrate more sensing technologies and functions, and the appearance design will be more beautiful and the endurance will be more durable.

            Wearable related sensors account for about 20% of the total

            In recent years, driven by the Internet of things boom, the global sensor market has grown rapidly. In the application structure of China's sensor market, the market share of wearable device related fields accounts for about 20%. With the growth of wearable devices in China, related sensors such as acceleration sensors, temperature and humidity sensors and biosensors occupy a large market share. With the continuous improvement of Internet of things technology, the market share of image sensor, distance sensor, biosensor and other products will further increase in the future.            What do users pay more attention to? 

           At present, intelligent positioning, mobile payment and other technologies have widely appeared in wearable devices, but the subsequent technology development of wearable devices is also the user's concern. The market size of wearable devices and the market share of segmented products are affected by the use and purchase intention of consumers. The convenience and functionality of products become the main factors determining consumption. The user demand puts forward higher requirements for the development of wearable devices. According to the survey, the functions concerned by users are ranked according to their importance, including GPS tracking, time display, device search, inductive charging, intelligent reminder, reminder of incoming calls, reminder alarm clock, calorie burning calculation, sleep monitoring, blood pressure measurement, pedometer, disease detection, etc. In the future, wearable sensors can be developed in these aspects.

            Note: the larger the value is, the smaller the demand will be. 

           Development trend of wearable sensor technology in the future

            With the emergence of more and more personalized user needs, wearable devices put forward higher requirements for the development of sensors.

            First, wearable sensors are highly integrated and diversified. The integration of more sensors can increase the function of the device, so that it can measure more parameters; in addition, with multiple sensors, the system can achieve higher accuracy and obtain more details.

            Secondly, more new materials are applied to realize flexible wearability. Due to the reason of human body structure, how wearable devices fit human body better is also an aspect to be explored. At present, the common materials of flexible wearable sensors include flexible substrate, metal materials, inorganic semiconductor materials and carbon materials. The development direction of wearable devices in the future may lie in multi-material functional integration, flexible functional materials, mechanical durability of flexible devices, etc. 

            Furthermore, an important challenge for wearable devices is power consumption and power supply. The available time between two charges of wearable devices is one of the key factors that affect the user experience and market acceptance. Therefore, the key to the further popularization of wearable devices is to increase the endurance.

            Finally, the development of wearable device industry in the future needs the stimulation of updating application points, and users put forward new requirements for the deep information mining function of products. In the future, wearable devices will integrate a wider range of biosensors, such as spectral sensors to measure blood oxygen, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. 

            The above data comes from the analysis report on the development prospect and investment forecast of China's sensor manufacturing industry issued by prospective industry research institute. Meanwhile, prospective industry research institute also provides solutions such as industrial big data, industrial planning, industrial declaration, industrial park planning, industrial investment promotion, etc.