TWIWT XXIV: Week of March 17, 2025
A look at wearable technology news from the last week, the week of March 17, 2025, featuring Fibra, Oura + Costco, Boston Dynamics, new research on a haptic patch, and much more.
Two Small Fish Ventures investing in a new wearable technology company, Fibra
Early stage tech venture capital fund our of Toronto, Two Small Fish Ventures, shared on their website that they are investing in Fibra, a wear tech company revolutionizing women’s health with smart underwear.
Here is an excerpt from the announcement:
Fibra is developing smart underwear embedded with proprietory textile-based sensors for seamless, non-invasive monitoring of previously untapped vital biomarkers. Their innovative technology provides continuous, accurate health insights—all within the comfort of everyday clothing. Learning from user data, it then provides personalized insights, helping women track, plan, and optimize their reproductive health with ease. This AI-driven approach enhances the precision and effectiveness of health monitoring, empowering users with actionable information tailored to their unique needs.
Read the full announcement here.
Costco (US only) now sells Oura rings
On Wednesday, March 19, Oura announced that the Oura Ring 4, their industry-leading smart ring, is now available on Costco.com. Canadian customers using Costco.ca will need to wait longer.
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas demonstrates great movement acquired via reinforcement learning
Skin-attached haptic patch
Wearable tactile interfaces can enhance immersive experiences in virtual/augmented reality systems by adding tactile stimulation to the skin along with the visual and auditory information delivered to the user. We introduce a flat cone dielectric elastomer actuator (FCDEA) array that is thin, soft, and capable of producing spatiotemporally adjustable and large static-to-dynamic force in response to electric voltage signals on large areas of the skin. Integration of the FCDEA array into a photomicrosensor array enables the implementation of a wearable wireless communication haptic patch. We demonstrate that the developed haptic patch allows users to communicate tactile information in real time while maintaining conformal contact with the skin. The haptic patch can also express the topology of 3D structures and render textures of virtual objects in response to localized vibration of the FCDEA array. We expect that the developed haptic patch will provide an immersive touching experience in virtual reality and facilitate tactile communication between users in various applications.
From a new Science Advances paper by Jung-Hwan Youn et al. Check it out.
A new knee pain relief wearable, KneeMo by SomaTX Design
Not sure what to make of it, but here it is. Found via LinkedIn.