Healthcare and wellness

Smart Sensing Bed

People spend about one third of their lives in their beds. The bed of the future optimises people’s sleep whilst watching over them, providing all kinds of stimulatory input. In addition to generating stimuli for relaxation, learning and entertainment, the bed can also monitor a person’s health during sleep and provide interactive advice on health and nutrition.

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  1. After a busy and stressful day, Loreena has an appointment with some of her friends; they enjoy several tasty snacks.
  2. Late at night, she arrives at home and goes to her sphere shaped bed.
  3. The bed welcomes her with a friendly voice and she lies down.
  4. Loreena’s brain activity is monitored by a specially shaped pillow which monitors the phase of sleep in order to know what kind of stimuli are required for her.
  5. Body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure are also monitored by small wireless sensors in the bed, blanket and pillow.
  6. Bed temperature and light levels are adjusted to match the sleeping phase. Sound odor and visual impulses are used to let Loreena sleep optimally and to stimulate the brain so that it results in a healthier attitude towards her lifestyle. This ensures a very deep and effective sleep.

Sport and lifestyle

Personal Air Freshness Indicator

Air pollution is increasingly affecting many of us, especially in large cities and industrial areas. The wearable fresh air indicator is a very small device that is able to warn individuals when precautions have to be taken. Inside, a polymer based sensor analyses the quality of the air. Warning signals are given by the changing colour of the organic light emitting surface. The energy required by the device is generated inside by a tiny energy scavenger which takes the energy from the environment.

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  1. Eileen has asthma, lives in a big city and always has to be health-conscious.
  2. When she goes outside she always wears a special necklace.
  3. The necklace looks like a piece of jewellery in the shape of a flower but has in integrated air quality sensor for measuring pollution in the outside air.
  4. The quality of the air is measured every minute. The sensitivity level is set to her personal health condition. When predetermined limits are exceeded a signal is given.
  5. When she walks through one of the main streets, the heart of the flower starts emitting a red light.
  6. Now that Eileen knows where the air is potentially hazardous for her, she quickly walks in another direction until the light turns off.

Automotive

Alcohol Test Card

The disposable ‘breathalyser’ is the perfect tool for people who want to check their sobriety before deciding to drive. A simple card (credit-card size) turns into a sophisticated alcohol analyser in seconds. The card consists of a smart electronic sensor and a light-emitting indicator printed on its surface.

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  1. Janet goes out by car for a drink with some friends. As the atmosphere is very relaxed, she stays longer than planned and drinks a little more than she had anticipated.
  2. Near the exit is a rack with breathalyser cards located and the doorman points her in the direction of this rack.
  3. Janet takes out a card with sponsor information and folds it according to the instructions that are listed on the back.
  4. She blows through the card.
  5. And she pushes the card together. In the card a flat polymer sensor is integrated which analyses Janet’s breath.
  6. The tester indicates that the permillage of alcohol in Janet’s blood is excessive, so she decides to leave her own car behind and to take a taxi.

Industrial process monitoring and control

Advanced industrial monitoring

Monitoring equipment and processes in manufacturing plants is crucial for optimising and controlling production to achieve maximum throughput at the required quality levels. Smart wireless autonomous sensor nodes operate in a network using energy from the environment to optimise machine control. Wireless sensing enables remote monitoring at machine, process and plant level. Industrial automation will make predictive maintenance possible, allowing for proper intervention before real problems occur.

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  1. A very large manufacturing plant for automated production of cars.
  2. All machinery is equipped with wireless sensors that monitor different parameters and overall performance.
  3. The sensors are linked to very small RF transducer modules about the size of a dice, making wireless data transfer possible.
  4. One of the sensors observes that one of the pivot points of a welding robot is wearing out.
  5. A status report is sent automatically to the service company using the network of wireless sensors.
  6. The welding robot is repaired before any real problem has ocurred.

Environmental and agricultural monitoring

Distributed environmental sensing

There is a demand for the comprehensive, inexpensive and reliable monitoring and control of physical environments. Miniaturised autonomous wireless sensors are the future solution for observing, assessing and controlling agricultural practice and the environment. Distributed sensing can be used to monitor surface, soil and water contamination, ecosystem and habitat research as well as quality control.

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  1. A large greenhouse in the Netherlands, in 2012.
  2. Autonomous wireless sensor units are placed all over the greenhouse; underground, at ground level and under the roof panels.
  3. The sensors scavenge energy from the environment and share and broadcast relevant information up to 20 meters.
  4. Different kinds of sensors create a large sensor network with distributed intelligence.
  5. The web of sensors links to the greenhouse’s system for controlling light intensity, watering, drainage and pesticides.
  6. The control process needed for the growth is performed automatically. The farmer receives a message when a deviation from the norm has been observed by the system.

Mobile gaming

Go interactive gaming ball

The 'GO' interactive gaming ball adds a new dimension of playing fun to traditional video gaming. New technologies will enable the development of radically innovative gaming and entertainment concepts in the years to come. 'GO' is a flexible knead ball displaying a video game on the outside. 'GO' can actively change shape as well as react to pressure from users’ hands. 'GO' has an extremely physical interaction with the user and with 'GO' balls of other users.

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  1. Jimmy and Phil meet each other at the school yard.
  2. They are each playing with a special ball called 'GO'.
  3. The balls make contact, an electronic handshake is performed and the game starts.
  4. 'GO' is a ball with a soft and flexible video touch screen all round.
  5. The games influence each other and the ball changes shape according to the actions of the opponent; touching one ball influences the behavior of the other ball.
  6. Inside of the ball are a large number of wireless connections between sensors and actuators; the system senses the player’s touch and gives feedback by changing its shape.

Home and industrial construction

Do-it-yourself light-emitting flexible foils

The DIY Poly Light Foil Kit will provide consumers with the possibility to create their own lighting application with flexible light-emitting foils. These low-power efficient light foils can be cut and formed into any shape and can be used creatively both in the home or outdoors.

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  1. Bob is doing some home improvement and wants to create staircase lighting in his house.
  2. He buys a DIY PolyLight kit at the D-I-Y store. The kit contains a roll of polymer light-emitting foil, wiring, small proximity sensors and a power converter.
  3. At home he uses a special pair of scissors that cuts and seals the material at the same time.
  4. When the flexible material is the right shape, he sticks it on the surface and adds connectors to power the light.
  5. Besides the stairs, he uses the foil under the kitchen cupboard to provide lighting for the sink.
  6. And he uses the kit to create a mirror with light foil around it.

Transport, logistics and asset management

Intelligent shop shelves

Increasingly, retail stores have to comply with strict food laws and supply detailed data regarding type, origin, composition and freshness of products. Shelves are also an ideal location for showing commercial information, which can enhance sales. An intelligent, wirelessly addressable shelf display system can be a dynamic means of providing the individual consumer with additional information and facilitate inventory control.

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  1. Lena is in the supermarket to buy her weekly purchases.
  2. Before she passes the shelves, it displays normal price and product information.
  3. The shelves recognise Lena by her shopping card in her purse. Lena’s attention is drawn to a changing display text.
  4. The display shows her customised offers. She picks out a product and continues shopping.
  5. When one of the shop employees passes a certain shelf a message is displayed that refill is required because of the need to remove some products because they have passed their perishable date.
  6. When one of the shop employees passes a certain shelf a message is displayed that refill is required because of the need to remove some products because they have passed their perishable date.

Future Vision Sketches

Towards a better way of living

Often the most successful products and services were never predicted. Holst Centre performs research that is ahead of market needs, which are hard to predict. Nevertheless a research centre positioned close to industry needs a good vision of the technologies that will be required. These future sketches provide a frame of reference for our technology programs.

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