Google Glass to be given designer touch

With Google Glass set to take a large slice of the impending wearable electronics market, it was revealed on 24 March that the San Francisco-based company is working with Italian eyewear specialists Luxottica to develop future models.

Fashion leverage
Luxottica has an established pedigree in high-end eyewear, concentrating on sunglasses and frames. Globally it controls around 80% of luxury brands for glasses, encompassing both fashion brands like Emporio Armani and DKNY, and specialist luxury brands like Oakley and Ray-Ban.

The deal with Luxottica, may be indicative of the fact that Google is aware that in their current form the glasses, which give in-vision access to the internet in real time, are aesthetically challenged. Although the current function-focussed appearance is unlikely to deter technology enthusiasts who will be among the first adopters; a more attractive design that harmonises with more classical ideas of style may be central to pushing the wearable gadgets towards wider ubiquity. The easy conformity of plastic electronic components will be an aid to the combined design team on giving Google Glass a designer look.

Besides artistic design advice, as part of the deal Google is counting on leveraging Luxottica's vast experience in selling luxury eyewear. The first Google Glasses are expected to be released first on the North American market later in 2014, and cost around $1,500. The company has already made provision for integrating prescription frames into the products when they are pushed onto the consumer market.

Evolution
Although Google has released several prototypes, helping stoke interest in the technology press, it has as yet not set a date for the consumer release. Feedback from extensive real-world experience from a team of road-testers, known as explorers, has caused Google to design three hardware and nine software upgrades in the past 11 months.

Andrea Guerra, CEO of Luxottica says: 'We have come to a point where we now have both a technology push and a consumer pull for wearable technology products and applications. Seeing such a future, over the last years, Luxottica invested heavily in building-out our technology platforms and digital solutions to combine with our products excellence.

'We believe that a strategic partnership with a leading player like Google is the ideal platform to combine the unique expertise, deep knowledge and quality of our group with the cutting edge technology expertise of Google and give birth to a new generation of revolutionary devices.'

Style for all wearables
Others in the wearable electronics manufacturers are increasingly realising that aesthetic considerations are a necessary companion to technical performance in allowing their devices to properly integrate into users' lives. While Google Glass has few competitors on the horizon, for device like smartwatches where competition will be fiercer and without very evident difference in technical performance it will be an issue.

A forthcoming release, the Moto360 smartwatch from Motorola, has received plaudits for being a visually appealing as well as a functional wearable device. Meanwhile it is thought the LG will employ a different approach with its G Watch, setting the price as low as possible to entice as many new users as possible. Previously US-developer Kovio integrated plastic smart tags into jewellery to allow for an attractive as well as functional solution for assimilating wearable electronics into consumers' lives. 

Picodeon’s Ultra-Short Pulsed Laser Deposition Allows Precision Coating of Plastic Electronics

The Finnish specialist thin film coating firm Picodeon has announced the development of a new surface coating technology for aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) that gives increased control and new options for treating heat-sensitive plastic electronics.

The new system uses ultra-short pulsed laser deposition (USPLD) to create either porous or dense barrier coatings of aluminium oxide. It has already been incorporated into the Colab 4 production equipment built by Picodeon. The Colab 4 employs a 200 W, 40 MHz laser and has an integrated plasma monitoring and laser power measurement tools. These measuring functions give the operator the ability to control the qualities of the deposed layer very precisely.

USPLD can used to produce uniform films within a much tighter set of technical parameters than existing methods which employ sputtering, physical or chemical vapour deposition techniques. For example, in tests the company has been able to show that the new system can improve the porosity of a 3 µm film from 10% to 45% by tuning the laser power repletion rate and the scanning speed.

Use in OLED screens
Ultra-thin barrier films are a vital component for a greater future deployment of plastic electronics, as these components, like OLED cells are typically highly vulnerable to water. Aluminium oxide layers are highly impermeable to water, transparent and flexible; making them an ideal solution for encapsulation a new generation of OLED, AMOLED and organic photovoltaic panels, provided any pinhole defects are kept to a minimum.

Critically the USPLD technique can be used on plastic substrates that bear printed electronics materials like polyethylene (PE) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) at temperatures which are low enough to not damage or warp the substrate itself.

The company is already proceeding with rolling out the new Colab 4 USPLD to its existing customers and will develop further coatings based using silver, copper, oxides of tin and other metals as it progresses. Another step is to look to expand the capacity of the current equipment to allow larger scale production runs using USPLD.

Picodeon's vice-president for sales and business development, Marko Mylläri, says: 'This development has enormous potential for new applications of dense and porous aluminium oxide coatings on heat sensitive materials.' USPLD can also be used in other industrial layer applications beyond plastic electronics too. 

By John Nelson, follow John on Google+

Enjoyed reading this article? For even more high-value content onplastic electronics technology, subscribe to the +Plastic Electronics subscriber service.

To receive the latest headlines straight to your Twitter account, follow us @PlusPE

Download Wearable Electronics White Paper

Many are predicting that 2014 will be the year of wearables. CES saw companies of all shapes and sizes unveiling wearable devices. But what role will technology and market trends have in influencing the direction of the wearables market?

Smart Watches: the start of a wearable electronics revolution?, a free white paper from +Plastic Electronics, delves deeper into the wearable electronics market place opportunities for manufacturers and retailers. From wellbeing and fitness to healthcare, there are numerous opportunities spanning multiple sectors for this new technology. Straps informing the wearer of their heart rate during exercise and devices which monitor a patient's vital signs throughout the day are just two examples of the potential this new technology has to offer in enhancing consumer's lives.

The white paper, produced in partnership with plastic electronics developer Plastic Logic, reveals that integral to this exciting age of wearable electronics will be conformal, flexible components seamlessly integrated into discreet and intuitive products. In order to realise these products, a core technology toolkit is required - and these technologies are in the process of coming to market.

Download your copy of this latest white paper from +Plastic Electronics and Plastic Logic.

By Dan Rogers, follow Dan on Google+

Enjoyed reading this article? For even more high-value content onplastic electronics technology, subscribe to the +Plastic Electronics subscriber service.

To receive the latest headlines straight to your Twitter account, follow us @PlusPE

US Academic Targets Cheaper Greener Method to Make OLEDs

Walter Weare, a professor in inorganic chemistry at North Carolina State University has discovered a new simple method for producing OLEDs without toxic by-products. The technique has already been used to produce an OLED which gives a bright orange light and Weare's team is now pursuing additional funding to develop the process.

The main breakthrough in Weare's approach has been to find a way to forge carbon to carbon bonds by introducing a metal element, like chromium, to an existing compound with molecules formed of a carbon oxygen double bond - called a ketone or alkanone. A carbon-carbon bond is then formed with the only chemical released being oxygen. Existing OLED material fabrication techniques employ petrochemicals and iridium and release potentially harmful substances like tin, bromine or chlorine.

The ketone reaction is carried out in an environment at around 150°C, produced using microwave heating. Extra funding has now been secured to extend the research project into the second half of 2014, so as to further refine the new method.

A simpler chemical process would reduce the overall costs of OLED materials in all applications and the development of an orange OLED hints at other interesting possibilities for lighting and consumer devices.

Weare says: 'The current ways that other people make the same types of compounds are multiple steps, where you get groups that you have to throw away at the end. Ours is both technically simpler and creates less polluting by-products. It is all only carbon and oxygen, so you are not throwing away heavy metals; you are just making tar. The only waste is really if our reaction does not work.'

By John Nelson, follow John on Google+

Haydale seeks £10 million to fund graphene commercial rollout

UK nanomaterials company Haydale is seeking a major investment to allow it to push graphene materials made using its proprietary plasma production technology into the mainstream.

The plasma system Haydale uses produces graphene nanoplatelets, which it markets under the HDPlas brand name, and carbon nanotubes with reduced defects and impurities. The company is seeking to raise £10 million (€16.6million) from investors via an initial public offering (IPO) which will open in April on the UK's alternative investment market (AIM). The company has already received £4.4 million in outside funding since 2010, based on the potential of its products.

Ray Gibbs, CEO at Haydale, says: 'At Haydale we believe the properties and potential of graphene will be realised. The investment through the planned AIM listing will contribute significantly to the development and progression of our enabling, proprietary plasma technology, which is capable of being tailored to produce a wide range of surface modifications; substantially improving compatibility between the nanomaterials and any matrix or binder material.'

The graphene materials have a wide variety of potential applications including, conductive inks as already developed by Haydale; sensors; energy storage devices; photovoltaic panels; composites; paints and coatings.

By John Nelson, follow John on Google+

Sony has chosen to switch from an OLED to an LCD screen for the updated version of its PlayStation Vita handheld video games console. The PS Vita PCH-2000 has been available in Japan since January and in the UK from early February, where it sells for £180 (€205).

One key change made during the upgrade has been to replace the 5 inch (127mm) screen on the PCH-1000 model with a LCD display of the same size; a move which some technology pundits have claimed reduces the quality of the console's image. 

Speaking in September 2013, Yoshio Matsumoto, Sony's Senior Vice President, explained the switch saying: 'Of course, since the Vita's most important feature is its bright screen; it would not make sense if the LCD deteriorated that quality. In that case we would have not adopted it.

'Although it is said that OLED is generally more beautiful, the performance of LCD has been improved considerably. There is a certain strength to liquid crystal. It performs strongly in the sunlight. I also think that because it is used in a lot of productions, its durability (and availability) is very strong, as well as reliability.' He added that Sony would monitor consumer reaction to the LCD screens.

Significantly Sony has also elected to use a 1.6 inch (41mm) LCD screen on its newSmartWatch 2 as well; though Galaxy Gear, one of its major competitors, uses OLED.

By John Nelson, follow John on Google+

Aixtron Installs Demonstration Centre

Aixtron, the electronics manufacturing equipment specialist, has installed a new facility to showcase its thin film deposition equipment used in organic semiconductor and OLED production.

The demonstration centre has three organic vapour phase deposition (OVPD) systems and one polymer vapour phase deposition (PVPD) line for producing Gen 1 substrates (200x200mm) arranged in a cluster with numerous support modules, within a clean room environment.

Martin Goetzeler, CEO of Aixtron, says: 'Organic semiconductors are of great significance to Aixtron. OLEDs in particular have the potential to be put to a variety of future uses both in displays and in general lighting. Therefore, we have significantly stepped up our research and development in this area and consequently invested into our R&D cluster. This way, we can satisfy the widespread need for enhanced testing and demonstration possibilities, especially to facilitate our customers' future investment decisions.'

Besides helping to cultivate customers in what Aixtron's has clearly identified as a key future market, the demonstration hub will also be available to support its own research effort. In January, the company signed an agreement with Manz to work on developing OPVD coating for much larger substrates, up to Gen8 (2,200x2,500mm). Commercialisation of OPVD technology, originally developed in the US by Universal Display, for high volume production would be a major step towards lowering the cost and increasing the market penetration of OLED and other plastic electronics. 

Electronic Feedback Shirt Could Help Sports Fans Physically Experience On Field Action

A new wearable electronics sports jersey is being developed to allow Australian rules football supporters to experience the game as the players do. The Alert Shirt is the result of cooperation between the technology company Wearable Experiments and the sports broadcaster Foxtel, the local arm of the Fox media corporation.

The shirt works by receiving live inputs from the sports channel via Bluetooth transmissions to a smartphone with an installed app, which are then relayed to feedback sensors built into the shirt. The system will be configured to mimic scenarios as they happen in a live game, including giving representative sensations of the impact of a tackle and simulating the elevated heart rate of a player about to take a penalty kick.

Billy Whitehouse, Wearable Experiments' director and designer, says: 'Wearable technology must be intuitive and seamless within our daily lives, enhancing our life experience while connecting us to other people and the world at large. Our new product is a major first step in the right direction. Alert Shirt is completely unlike any other jersey in the sports market'

Ben Moir, co-founder and Technical Director of Wearable Experiments, adds: 'Alert Shirt is about connecting humans across vast distances and bringing the emotions, frustrations and joys of the active game to life in a way that we've never been able to experience before. It allows Foxtel to engage people via television in entirely new ways. By embracing this new technology, Foxtel is setting itself apart from all other cable TV companies.'

Promoted by some of the Australian Football League's (AFL) highest profile players, like Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury, the Alert Shirt is being marketed by Foxtel as a part of a $1000 (Aus) (€650) subscription package for the 2014 AFL season which began on 16 March.

Previously Wearable Experiments has successfully integrated electronics into garments to remotely transmit touch sensations and help navigation around an urban landscape.

Verbatim's 90% Cheaper OLED Panels Set to Illuminate Light + Building 2014

Lighting manufacturer Verbatim is planning to showcase a new range of OLED light panels produced using a wet coating method at the beginning of April. The panels will be unveiled at the lighting industry event Light + Building 2014, held in Frankfurt from 30 March to 4 April.

The lights are an extension of Verbatim's existing Velve OLED range and will complement the company's existing conventional LED products. The new panels use a white (W)OLED technology and are produced using the wet coating process which Verbatim has jointly developed with its parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Pioneer.

Costs cut?
The new production technique is offering a reliable method to make large, high-quality WOLED panels. For the new Velve panels, the wet coating process is only used on the base layer, while the emissive and top layers are deposited via vacuum thermal evaporation.

In 2013, the companies claimed that the process could cut production costs by 90%, removing a key business barrier to the roll out of high performance, long lifetime, low energy consumption OLED lighting products. The colour-tuneable Velve OLED panels have received a positive reception since evaluation models were first unveiled in 2011.

A year later a development kit to demonstrate the potential design options OLED lighting can create; these came with a price tag of $800 (€578).

A roadmap developed by Mitsubishi Chemical calls for the development toward commercialisation for the rest of 2014, resulting in sales revenue of ¥3 billion (€20 million) from the new panels in 2015.

Modular and beyond
Philips has also invested heavily in OLED lighting including development packages under its Lumiblade brand. It too will be displaying new products at Light + Building 2014. These include a new modular OLED lighting system designed for installation in commercial and office environments. The Philips lights will have a lifetime of 50,000 hours and give a brightness of 500 lumens from each four-panel module.

The company has also announced that Lumiblade technology is being sent into space. It will be installed on the payload of the Flacon9 rocket, a commercial space venture, due to launch in late March 2014, carrying a cargo package to the International Space Station.

Screen production
The impulse to cut the costs of WOLED lighting may also benefit from advances in the consumer goods market. Research published in February has indicated that WOLED screens, like those now made by LG, will dominate sales in the second half of this decade; creating potential synergies in production for light manufacturers. 

UK start-up prototypes flexible display wristband

A flexible, wrist-worn display from UK start-up SnapWatch has demonstrated the possibilities of wearable electronics.

The company has created a prototype device that combines a steel snap band with a wraparound, bistable display.

SnapWatch has patented the device design and is now looking to develop licensing and/or development partnerships - although outright purchase of the intellectual property is also an option, according to CEO Vincent Douglas.

He comments: 'We have patented the fit, form and function of the device - including the bistable steel snap band, the control unit, and the display integration.'

Partnerships
SnapWatch is in discussions with potential users of the technology, with watch applications considered the most likely first market for the wearable display bands.

'We envisage watch applications as the first, simplest product applications. We're now talking to third-party watch companies on that basis. We've had feedback from several companies that are particularly excited, although discussions are still at the early stages.'

The company is already looking into partnership opportunities with flexible displays firm Plastic Logic. The Cambridge-headquartered firm noted that it is discussing exploratory next steps with SnapWatch. SnapWatch's current prototype uses an electrochromic display from Swedish supplier Acreo.

Wearable electronics
SnapWatch's development of a patented approach to wraparound, wrist-worn displays hints at the development towards truly wearable electronics. While the first generation of smart watches - from the likes of Samsung, Sony and Apple - are already on the market (or reportedly arriving imminently), they remain restricted to rigid form factors by conventional electronics.

Developers like Plastic Logic and Novaled are among those creating materials and components to deliver conformable and wearable electronics.

+Plastic Electronics published a white paper on the progress to truly wearable electronics in December 2012. SnapWatch's development is another step towards more conformable, portable and convenient electronic devices.

For an exclusive interview with SnapWatch about its prototype and analysis of market developments in wearable electronics, sign up to our subscriber service.

AMOLED market projected to hit $750 billion in 2020

A report published by UBI Research in South Korea is estimating a 50% yearly increase in sales of AMOLED materials for consumer products till the end of decade. This will see a market estimated to be worth $68 billion (€49 billion) in 2014 blossom into a $750 billon one in 2020.

As the demand for consumer AMOLED evolves there will be a marked shift away from its current domination by smartphone screens (93%). By 2020, it is forecast that only 21% of AMOLEDs will be used in smartphones, with 29% being fitted into tablet computers and 50% being employed for on larger displays. Smartphones, tablets and smart watches using flexible AMOLED screens are expected to be available in 2015. This, the report projects, will drive a 12-fold increase in the use of flexible AMOLEDs, accounting for just 3% of the market in 2014, they will be 36% in 2020.

Confirming other recent research, in the short term, production innovation will still be led by LG, especially for larger sheets. However the UBI authors report that six Chinese companies plan to develop small or medium size OLED panels in the second half of 2014, with Everdisplay and BOE being the furthest advanced.

Electronic Ink Code Sparks Legal Clash

Printechnologics has filed a patent lawsuit in the US against Touchbase Technologies over an invisible conductive ink marker system.

The patent is for a system known as Touchcode which can be printed on paper, cardboard, film or labels to be read with a modern smartphone or similar device. The system is similar to QR codes, barcodes or other tags but does not require activating a camera app on the phone or tablet to work.

As Printechnologics is based in Germany, the legal case has been advanced by its US subsidiary Touchpac Holdings. The claim is that a smartphone-readable business cardrecently unveiled by Touchbase infringes on a patent granted to it in June 2013 by US authorities.

To read more visit PhilsPatents.wordpress.com

Touchbase integrates business cards and smartphones

A new technology is set to harmonise both traditional and modern business etiquette, by making business cards smartphone compatible. Touchbase Technologies has developed a new system to allow a professional acquaintance's details to be uploaded digitally instantaneously by passing a card across a smartphone or similar device. Once the system is perfected it could be reorientated towards delivering new, consumer-friendly brand protection technologies.

The information on the new cards developed by Touchbase, an industry spin-off from the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is impregnated into circuitry produced using a conductive ink. When brought into contact with a smartphone the card automatically creates a connection to a predetermined social networking site like LinkedIn or Facebook.
To facilitate this exchange the company has developed a smartphone app, called Touchbase, to enable the phone to read the information. The current app works only on the iPhone 5 series.

The Touchbase approach offers advantages over existing systems designed to integrate business cards and smartphones. Principally because the circuitry is only providing a link, a user can update the details at any time using a profile stored on a cloud database. The integrated circuitry can also hold more data and does not require ascetically challenging features like QR codes to communicate the data.

Another major challenge to overcome is the composition of the card itself. The prototype uses a rigid card, which can require a smartphone to be removed from its protective case before it can be accessed. The next development step it to print the conductive ink circuits onto a more flexible substrate. This will increase its usability and opportunities in other sectors. To finance this evolution the company has raised $30,000 (€22,000) via a crowdfunding website. 

Liverpool University to develop new photosensitive ALD production

Staff at Liverpool University's Centre for Materials and Sciences have embarked on a project to prove a new manufacturing process, which could benefit manufactures of plastic electronics.

The researchers will collaborate with commercial partners from materials maker SAFC Hitech on the project which has been allocated just over £200,000 (€250,000) in funds from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It is part of a wider tranche of funding to support academics in feasibility studies of new light-based manufacturing techniques. Announced in January, this will see£3.6million given to 14 teams based around various universities in the UK.

The project will see the Liverpool team install a UV LED source into its existing atomic layer deposition (ALD) production facility. The wavelength of the UV source will be precisely calibrated so as to photochemically decompose precursor chemicals that are used to form the thin film material. If successful, the UV method would offer advantages over existing ALD techniques, which are already in use flexible electronics production, that rely on heat to form the thin film.

Once demonstrated a second phase of the 18-month project will involve refining the process to allow selective photo-exposure and 'writing' on the forming film. The proposal states that it will then have applications not just in plastic electronics production, but roll-to-roll barriers layers, organic and inorganic photovoltaics and biomedical devices too.

The Technology Strategy Board is running a separate £4.6 million programme to part-fund research projects, including those aimed at enabling commercial production of plastic electronics.

Semicon 2014 Call For Plastic Electronics Papers Opens

Submissions are now open for papers to be presented at Plastic Electronics 2014, the industry's largest dedicated conference in Europe.

The annual event, now in its tenth year, will be held on 7-9 October in Grenoble, the geographic hub of French plastic electronics development. It is being organised by the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) trade confederation and, as in previous years, it will be hosted within the Semicon Europa 2014 conference on the same dates.

The deadline for submitting an abstract for a paper is 30 April.

Plastic Electronics 2014, aims to mix technical presentations on breakthrough technologies, steps being taken to overcome key barriers to large scale commercial production, and case studies from companies involved in organic or printed electronics.

In 2013, Plastic Electronics was attended by over 600 visitors with 70 papers presented and 57 companies exhibiting; Semicon Europa 2013 had over 4000 attendees. In November 2013, SEMI announced that in future Semicon Europa will be hosted in alternate years by Grenoble and Dresden, the heart of the plastic electronics technology expertise in Germany.

LG's white OLED tipped to win technical battle of large displays

Market research from Korea has estimated that white (W)OLED will become the market staple for large screen televisions by the end of the decade in a booming market set to reach $31 billion (€23 billion).

This will be a fillip to LG which already uses WOLED in its first generation OLED televisions launched in 2013. This technology works by using compressed layers of red green and blue OLEDs faced with colour filters. Its main competitor Samsung's first models use RGB OLEDs with separate sub-pixels for each of the primary colours.

LG argues that this gives its products lower failure rates, clearer performance in brightly lit conditions and makes it easier to produce. The authors of the 2014 White OLED Display Annual Report from UBI Research describe how while RGB substrates droop when printed at larger sizes, LG has been to push forward with WOLED production sheets up to Gen 8 size (2,200mm x 2,500mm).

These advantages are likely to inform a wider industry shift to WOLED rather than RGB OLED screens. Now worth only $745 million worldwide, WOLED displays will surge to $17 billion in 2018 and $31 billion by 2020. The spinoff market for related equipment markets will be created as this pushes forward.

Further evidence that LG is winning the battle of OLED display technologies emerged in February as the company announced it was cutting the price of its 55 inch (1,400mm) screens by 50%. Meanwhile Samsung is reported to have followed the example of Japanese television makers Sony and Panasonic in reorienting its research towards ultra-high-definition TV (UHD-TV) instead.

As the OLED TV market matures between 2018 and 2020 there will be a shift towards larger units. Over this period the value of 65 inch (1,650mm) screens sold will rise more than 5-fold to become roughly a third of a market threating the long-term dominance of 55 inch models. 

Enjoyed reading this article? For even more high-value content on the plastic electronics industry, subscribe to the +Plastic Electronics subscriber service.

To receive the latest headlines straight to your Twitter account, follow us @PlusPE

Image showcase new transparent printed electrodes for flexi-screens and PV

A Franco-German development project has concluded with the successful demonstration of a new set of high-efficiency transparent electrodes for use in flexible OLED screens and photovoltaic (PV) panels.

With funding from both national governments the three-year innovation printable electrode materials for high performance lighting devices and organic solar cells (Image) project twinned Fraunhofer-COMEDD researchers on organic materials in Dresden, with staff at the Carnot MIB Institute at the University of Bordeaux.

The French academics produced the raw materials and solutions used in forming the new electrodes. The Fraunhofer team then took these and drew on their existing expertise in structuring techniques to allow them to be integrated onto PET substrates and encapsulated for use in organic solar cells and OLED screens.

The electrodes which have now been developed are ultimately intended to give an alternative to existing electrodes derived from indium tin oxide (ITO) in televisions, smartphone screens and a new generation for cheap PV panels. Not only would the plastic electrodes developed by Image allow much greater flexibility than existing ITO backplanes, but once production volume can be increased to a commercial level it would be significantly cheaper too. The collation partners are now actively looking for partners in the private sector to help achieve this transition from test model to the factory floor.