Preface

What are informed wearables and why should you care about them? Throughout this book, you’ll discover how wearables are changing lives. There are many fun, entertaining, and charming aspects to wearable devices. However, they can also be used in a way that can improve quality of life. This is the concept behind informed wearable technology. We will use Design Innovation techniques to learn how to discover the real needs of people. We will also learn how we can truly have an effect on and improve people’s lives.

Wearable circuits add interaction and purpose to clothing and items. Products are emerging from research fields into the industry and consumer realms. In recent years, e-textile components, compatible with Arduino, have appeared. These can be used to create socially driven on-body devices. Using Arduino and ESP32-based boards (and more), we can build wearables with purpose.

Reading this book will enable you to understand and implement creative, sewable circuits in your wearable tech projects. These soft circuits can be built for medical, social, safety, entertainment, and sporting fields, to name a few. Your skills will be enhanced through physical computing, bringing your ideas to life.

The Ultimate Guide to Informed Wearable Technology is a comprehensive introduction for those who are beginners to e-textiles and the Arduino platform that will have you up to speed and wearing circuits in no time. You will learn skills to bring your circuits to life, completing projects that you can use. By the end of the book, you will have the knowledge to start your own projects from scratch and the confidence to build and wear them. Let’s explore and create a future of informed wearable tech!

Disclaimer

All the projects developed in this book are for educational and prototyping purposes only. We advise all activities to be done with precaution and appropriate safety measures where needed. Soldering, sewing, using conductive textiles, and connecting electronics require attention and care, therefore, we strongly advise following the instructions given in the book with precaution or under guidance, if needed. The author or Packt cannot be held responsible for any damages in the form of physical/monetary loss, or any kind of loss occurred as a result of building projects that are presented in this book

Who this book is for

This book is for electronics engineers, embedded system engineers/designers, R&D engineers, and developers who are beginners in the wearable tech domain, as well as makers and hobbyists who have an interest in creative computing.

The book will be also useful for artists, creatives, teachers, students, and researchers studying interaction design, physical computing, technology, art, and fashion.

A basic knowledge of wearable technology is not required to work with the content of the book. However, having knowledge of Arduino-based systems may help you to follow the exercises in the book. References will be provided for those new to these systems.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to the World of Wearables, looks at the context of wearables and their evolution. We will explore past projects and the application of wearables in a variety of different domains, for medical, safety, entertainment, and fitness purposes. Understanding the definitions and constraints of the tools we have will help us develop interesting and useful wearable tech. We take a look at current research – for example, how designers and engineers are creating medical devices worn on-body to collect essential information for health care. How did we go from research to creating assistive devices for visually impaired people? Do we need to be aware of ethical considerations and privacy when designing for and with people? This chapter will help to inspire you and make you think about ethical considerations for your wearables.

Chapter 2, Understanding and Building Electronic Sewable Circuits, introduces you to electronic circuit basics. We start at the beginning, understanding electricity, and move through to using switches in a circuit. Once the basics are covered, we will build some electronic circuits with LEDs for practice. Understanding these basics will set you up for applying your electronics skills to a sewable circuit. We will use conductive materials and conductive thread, alongside other alternative materials, to understand the introductory concepts and make working circuits in fabrics. We will use conductive materials to create switches and buttons, creating simple and fun projects! You will learn through doing. This will be the foundation for your continued learning.

Chapter 3, Exploring e-textile Toolkits: LilyPad, Flora, Circuit Playground, and More, focuses on learning about e-textile toolkits. You will create starter circuits that you can build upon. We begin by exploring LilyPad components, and then Flora and Circuit Playground. You’ll create circuits to see how e-textile toolkits can kick-start your projects. This is followed by exploring the range of Gemma, Flora, Circuit Playground, and other exciting e-textile boards. We will also examine their differences and why you might choose one board over another. Once you have a grasp of these boards and their capabilities, we can begin sewing some electronic circuits. This will lead to using the Arduino IDE to program interactive elements into your designs.

Chapter 4, Implementing Arduino Code Using Gemma M0 and Circuit Playground, focuses on learning by building a practical application with a Gemma M0 or Circuit Playground if you want to expand the capabilities of your circuit. We will explore flex sensors and discover how they have been used in research. You’ll learn more about the Arduino IDE, which we’ll use to program your wearable. This will be followed by a test of our circuits. You’ll add flexibility to your wearable with an off-the-shelf flex sensor or one you’ve made. We finish the chapter by hooking up and programming a Gemma M0 with Flex and a Servo motor!

Chapter 5, Working with Sensors: All about Inputs!, examines what sensors can be added to our projects, what protocols we use to add them to our circuits, and how we can use the data they provide. Most of the wearables we create will sense something – our touch, the sound, the light, and so on. For example, we might use a temperature sensor to collect temperature data and, when the temperature reaches a programmed level, provide heat or cooling to the body. We will also look at some alternative ways to use a sensor. Also, you will have the knowledge needed to use the protocols (SPI and I2C) to connect sensors to our Arduino-based boards. You’ll also be able to use and install a library in the Arduino IDE to add functionality to code.

Chapter 6, Exploring Reactions Through Outputs, explores outputs. Getting a response through and with our wearable is exciting! The world of outputs and actuators can help us to do that. This chapter describes the outputs that bring your projects to life. We experiment with light, from LEDs to NeoPixels and more. Displays can also tell us a lot, so we look at OLEDs, TFTs, and other displays for our wearables. We will also learn about sound, movement, and temperature. In this chapter, you will learn about the outputs that can add huge value to a wearable. Defining the types of outputs and why they are useful is followed by putting them into practice and creating circuits that react to the inputs they receive. By the end of this chapter, you will know about a range of outputs that you can add to your own wearable designs and be able to code your circuit board to react, displaying visual effects, auditory properties, and haptic response.

Chapter 7, Moving Forward with Circuit Design Using ESP32, delves deeper into circuit design, using alternative microcontrollers. These are circuit boards that aren’t specifically “sewable,” but we can use them for wearables. Looking at the ESP32, a powerful and adaptive microcontroller board, using it will add more interactivity to our sewable circuits. We will prepare the Arduino IDE so that we can program it, and we will write a first sketch. Then, we will advance our knowledge by connecting it to Wi-Fi. We will then work through several activities, including making a touch-activated wearable as a mental health and well-being exploration. This will collect current data from a website through an API. Lastly, you’ll understand what an API is, how we connect to one, and how we can update information with it. You’ll have completed another wearable item too!

Chapter 8, Learning How to Prototype and Make Electronics Wearable, looks at prototyping, which is essential for all your circuits. In this chapter, you will learn the theory behind prototyping. We will understand the advantages of prototyping in different ways to get different outcomes. These methods will contribute to creating informed wearables that are functional and desirable for the people we are designing for. We will look at the Houde and Hill model, as well as Quick and Dirty methods of prototyping. You’ll see examples created during prototyping sessions. By the end of this chapter, you will understand how to progress rapid prototypes by choosing materials, fabrics, and items that are suitable and appropriate for the informed wearables you make.

Chapter 9, Designing and Prototyping Your Own Hyper-Body System, focuses on designing and building low-fidelity and proof-of-concept prototypes for your hyper-body system, using suitable components and microcontrollers. This chapter will help you to choose appropriate components for your purpose and test your circuits. These are essential skills to create working wearables and fashion tech pieces. In this chapter, you will be consolidating the knowledge you’ve acquired in previous chapters to create a wearable technology project that is ambitious and exciting. We will learn about hyper-body systems and how to design a hyper-body system. Then, we’ll do some project planning and jump into an ambitious wearable using the Internet of Things (IoT). By the end of this chapter, you will have your circuit ready for sewing into a wearable.

Chapter 10, Soldering and Sewing to Complete Your Project, looks at soldering and other sewing techniques to complete your hyper-body system. This chapter teaches you the basics of soldering to help you to make your circuit more durable and permanent through sewing and soldering the parts. We finish by exploring other ways we can make our circuits more durable and permanent. These skills will help you to move your projects from a low-fidelity prototype to a high-fidelity prototype – and ready for wearing.

Chapter 11, Innovating with a Human-Centered Design Process, explores the Design Innovation process, which can be used to create relevant and socially conscious wearables that can highlight blind spots in the way we think. Through the human-centered design process, we look to seek depth and meaning through the interactions we create, using insights from listening to people. This chapter looks at understanding human-centered design and explains steps we can take and repeat in our own projects and designs.

Chapter 12, Designing for Forgetfulness: A Case Study of Message Bag, looks at the case study of Message Bag to understand the Design Innovation development in practice. Message Bag is a purpose-built object-based memory aid that emerged as a result of investigating forgetfulness and speaking with people. Creating a wearable through understanding the context of a chosen topic and focusing on a need is how we can design an informed wearable. These wearables’ purpose, specifically to make something better for a person or group of people, is at the forefront of their design.

Chapter 13, Implementing the Best Solutions for Creating Your Own Wearable, continues your wearable journey, through Message Bag. As we work through the iterations of Message Bag, it will provide you with a complete skillset to create your own wearables. In this chapter, you will look at making decisions for iterations in an early prototype version of a wearable, and we will upcycle and complete the Message Bag prototype we started in the previous chapter. We’ll also sneak a peek at even more potential upgrades that we don’t have to implement, but it’s important to learn to push and iterate your designs. You will have come full circle in your journey and created a wearable near-body system with iterations, soldered and sewn it into place, and created plans for your own wearable design.

Chapter 14, Delving into Best Practices and the Future of Wearable Technology, examines the steps we need to take to help find solutions for common errors or issues that can happen when we prototype. We will look at a few handy tips to help us with our wearable journey, as well as understand how to set up our circuits so that they last. We will also have a look at batteries and power solutions, as well as troubleshooting and some of the common ways you can take a step-by-step approach to solve a problem. We finish up with a look at the future and what the world of wearables may hold. What are scientists, technologists, engineers, and designers exploring in these intersections? In this chapter, you will consolidate your learning by discovering tips and tricks to help you continue your wearable practice.

Chapter 15, Appendix: Answers and Additional Information, has useful links for your wearable practice as well as some recommended suppliers. There are also answers to review questions that have been asked throughout the book.

To get the most out of this book

To work through the activities presented in this book, you do not need to have any prior knowledge of wearables or wearable systems. It is assumed that you are starting from a beginner level and the book will take you through example exercises to help you progress. There will be links for further reading and reference. Having some knowledge of Arduino-based systems would be beneficial though not necessary.

You will need a version of Arduino installed on your computer. Activities detailed are demonstrated with Arduino 2.0, but the code works for previous versions of Arduino. All code examples have been tested on both Windows and macOS.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/cmoz/Ultimate. If there’s an update to the code, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/tMmo3.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “In the setup() section of code, we can see after initializing the Serial Monitor there is an #if defined section.”

A block of code is set as follows:

int heatPin = 8;void setup() {pinMode(heatPin, OUTPUT);digitalWrite(heatPin, HIGH);}

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
#if defined(NEOPIXEL_POWER)
  pinMode(NEOPIXEL_POWER, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(NEOPIXEL_POWER, HIGH);
#endif

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Upload the code to your QT Py.”

Tips or Important Notes

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