Wearable sensors are fundamental to continuous monitoring of health, fitness, and wellness - as well as at the core of innovations for next-generation human-machine interface, industrial IoT, and extended reality. As applications for wearable technology grow, there are increasing opportunities for sensors that can detect more advanced metrics, be integrated into novel form factors, offer enhanced performance, or demand less power and space.
More people than ever before are turning to wearable sensors in the quest for 'the quantified self'. Despite its origin in simple step counting, the market for wearable sensors is expanding into the more complex arena of health monitoring. Innovations in wearable sensor technology are expanding the envelope of biometrics accessible through watches and skin patches, addressing the rising demand for remote patient monitoring and decentralized clinical trials but also increasing consumer expectations. This includes easier access to health data and extends further to sensor integration into headsets and accessories for immersive AR/VR experiences.
Motion sensors and optical sensors finding applications beyond activity tracking
Motion sensing hardware is well established, with accelerometers integrated into almost every wearable. Therefore, as profit margins for manufacturers diminish with commoditization, expanding the application space or reducing sensor footprint and cost to retain market share is crucial. Moreover, smart-watch wearers are now very familiar with the red and green lights on the back of their devices, used to obtain heart-rate data or blood oxygen and further analyzed for insights into calorie burn, VO2 max, and sleep quality. Yet sensor developers are interested in pushing the boundaries of what can be measured non-invasively with light - whether it be through new software to analyze photoplethysmography (PPG) signals or new hardware for spectroscopy.
Wearable electrodes can bring new human-machine interfacing capabilities to consumers
Incorporating conductive materials into wearable technology is a simple concept. However, it has led to a vast variety of wearable sensors, including wet electrodes stuck on the skin to measure the heart, dry electrodes in headphones to analyze brain signals, and microneedles within skin patches to quantify muscle movements. As such, this also creates a broad application space for electrodes ranging from vital sign monitoring and sleep analysis for healthcare to emotional response and stress monitoring for marketing and productivity. In recent years, the potential for novel human-machine interfacing, and even brain-computer interfacing, has put wearable electrode solutions further into the spotlight - with opportunities for integration into the AR and assistive technology solutions growing in interest to many.
Chemical sensors offer a less invasive route to glucose and hydration monitoring
Chemical sensors are increasingly enabling people with diabetes to monitor their glucose levels without finger pricks. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have hugely disrupted the type-1 diabetes management market, and now the technology providers are set on expanding into type-2 and even mass consumer markets. Beyond this, innovations to measure more metrics truly non-invasively also continue, with the commercialization of sweat sensors for hydration analysis ramping up in adoption levels in the last few years.
IDTechEx's recent report, "Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts", covers an array of technology types, including motion sensors, optical sensors, chemical sensors, electrodes, temperature sensors, printed sensors, and more. Source: IDTechEx
Conclusions and Market Outlook
Overall, the landscape of technologies within the wearable sensor market is diversifying. Opportunities for innovation and disruption exist for both established sensors where by reducing size, cost and power will always offer an advantage - and new sensors which can unlock exciting new applications.
Based on over a decade of research, IDTechEx's recent "Wearable Sensors Market 2025-2035: Technologies, Trends, Players, Forecasts" report provides insight into how wearable sensors could be integrated into society long term, and forecasts the market to reach US$7.2 billion by 2035.
To find out more about this IDTechEx report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/WTSensors.
For the full portfolio of wearable technology market research available from IDTechEx, please see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/WT.
Upcoming free-to-attend webinar
Wearable Sensors for the Next Generation of Human Machine Interfaces
Dr Tess Skyrme, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx and author of this article, will be presenting a free-to-attend webinar on the topic on Monday 16 December 2024 - Wearable Sensors for the Next Generation of Human Machine Interfaces.
In this webinar, IDTechEx will explore some emerging technologies that could disrupt the wearables market in the next ten years for human-machine interfacing applications. Topics covered will include:
- Introduction to the state of the wearable sensor market in 2024
- Global meta-trends and their impact on the wearable sensor industry
- Sensor innovations for HMI: Neural interface wristbands for AR; Wearable brain-computer interfaces; Ear computing and facial gesture recognition
- Conclusions and Market Outlook
We will be holding exactly the same webinar three times in one day. Please click here to register for the session most convenient for you.
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About IDTechEx
IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.
