As one of the hottest topics in global technology and with the first products starting to appear on the market, element14 is challenging engineers and developers to design and develop their own piece of wearable technology. The global competition will focus entirely on technology integrated within clothing and wearable accessories, and aims to encourage a deeper level of integration than those demonstrated by first-generation wearables such as the Pebble watch and Google Glass.
element14 have selected Adafruit's FLORA kit to provide the computing platform for the challenge. The FLORA allows designers to create products that are far more integrated and less expensive and opens up wearable technology to a wider group of users where potential designs could include a tracking device for the elderly or vulnerable, a cycling jacket with built-in visibility sensing lights or gloves that operate as hand-worn data terminals.
The FLORA is the size of a man's watch face and designed to be literally sewn into an item of clothing or fabric accessory using a special steel wire to run the circuitry within the seams. It is programmed via a built in USB and supports USB HID (human interface device) so it can act like a mouse, keyboard or to attach directly to mobile phones to connect to other users or remote data.
element14 is calling for engineers and makers to submit their basic ideas here, from which five will be chosen and given a free FLORA kit to develop their project fully with support from the element14 community and other Arduino developers. The ultimate winner, to be announced in September, will be judged by a panel from Adafruit and the Community on the potential of the prototype to be practical to the point where it can be developed into genuine and mainstream products.
