Wearable IoT Development Solution

The use of wearable devices today is increasing and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down any time soon. According to IDTechEX research, the wearable market will be over $30 billion in 2016, growing to over $40 billion in 2018, accelerating to over $100 billion by 2023, and will reach over $150 billion by 2026.¹

MikroElektronica's Hexiwear IoT Development Solution

These devices are used in multiple industries including Infotainment, healthcare & medical, fitness & wellness, and military, with products like fitness trackers, smartwatches, smart clothing, smart eyewear, medical devices, and more. There seem to be more and more wearable applications being dreamed up every day. For example, when searching Kickstarter (one of a number of crowdfunding sites) for wearable technology, 319 projects come up (search done 6/5/2017). All of these are unique projects that someone deemed to be convenient or useful if developed.

Developing a wearable application is becoming easier with the introduction of development kits specifically focused on wearable design. One of these is the MikroElektronika Hexiwear wearable development kit. Funded through Kickstarter, this kit was developed in collaboration with NXP Semiconductors for developers in need of an IoT tool kit.

The Hexiwear kit includes Bluetooth connectivity and has a multitude of built-in apps, such as a real-time weather station, real-time accelerometer and gyroscope readings, a flashlight, a pedometer with a calorie counter, a heart-rate reader, and smartphone notifications. Additionally, there is a smartphone app available (for both Android and iOS) that allows remote access to Hexiwear’s sensors along with data logging to the cloud.

This kit gives you the ability to develop your own wearable applications that function the way you want them to. MikroElektronica provides guidance for writing your first program on their website which includes the required software ,driver downloads, and code examples for tweaking the flashlight app along with changing the haptic feedback duration. After going through these, you can start playing around with making changes to other functions to get to know how to interface with the Hexiwear.

Once you are fully familiar with how to program the device, you can go ahead a start developing your own wearable product with this kit or see what others have done with the Hexiwear on the hackster.io site. This site currently contains a variety of projects shared by other Hexiwear developers for you to replicate or tweak for your own use. You can also develop your Hexiwear project and share it with others for everyone to enjoy.

There are hundreds of Click™ boards available for use with the Hexiwear Docking Station. These expansion boards enable added functions such as a breathalyzer, camera, FM receiver, joystick, microSD slot, motor control/driver, MP3 player, and many more. With this many expansion boards available, the wearable development with Hexiwear is only limited by your imagination.

References:

1 – IDTechEx - Wearable Technology 2016-2026