A quick look at how wearables extends the standard electronics

1. Wearables
Replace these… with these… to make these.
really personal electronics.

2. Why wearables?
● Blend art and
technology
● Create something
useful and beautiful
● Make a personal
statement

3. Wearables is ‘just’ electronics, except...
● The components are
different
● Construction techniques
are different
● The fundamentals of good
circuit design and
programming are the same

4. Popular Wearable Microcontrollers
( Arduino compatible )
Flora
Gemma
LilyPad
LilyTiny

5. “Sewholes”
Coin Cell Battery Holder
LED

6. Conductive Stretch Cord

7. Soft Potentiometer
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C

8. Conductive Hook and Loop
( aka Velcro )
A
B
A
A
B
B

9. EL Wire / Tape / Panels
Direct Current (DC) ==> Electricity from a battery
Alternating Current (AC) ==> Electricity from a wall outlet
Electroluminescence (EL)
Requires an “inverter”
( Turn DC into AC )

10. Pressure Sensitive Fabric (Velostat)
Press Down
Resistance Decreases
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

11. Sewable Snaps
Make your components easily reusable.

12. Sewable Breakout Boards
Heating Pad
Temperature
Sensor
Flexible
Speaker and
Amplifier
Buzzer
Light Sensor
Button
Vibrating
Motor
Slide
SwitchAccelerometer

13. Circuit Construction
● Conductive Thread
● Conductive Fabrics
● Conductive Ribbon

14. Sugru: The NEW Duct Tape

15. Conductive Paint and Ink
Friends don’t let friends use
wires for wearables.

16. Pinch to illuminate

17. Build a fabric
button

18. Resources
● Adafruit
● Sparkfun
● Fine Silver Products
● LessEMF
● Bare Conductive Paint
● Lame Lifesaver
● Inventables
● Plug and Wear
● Joann Fabrics
● Michaels
Where to Purchase Wearable Components: Where to Learn More:
● Becky Stern
a. youtube.com/bekathwia
b. bit.ly/WearableWednesday

19. Don’t Forget...
● Weatherproofing is important
● Design to be repairable

20. Conductive Paint and Ink

21. Conductive Paint and Ink