Samsung showcases a stretchable OLED skin patch
Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) announced a working prototype of a stretchable OLED skin patch that works as a fitness tracker. It can attach to the wrist working as a replacement of the fitness band and integrates a couple of sensors too.
The patch is placed on the inner side of the wrist so moving the wrist itself won't affect the display's performance. Samsung used a polymer compound with high elasticity and a modified elastomer. It can withstand skin elongation of up to 30% and the prototype remained stable after 1,000 stretches. The company says it's the first in the industry and even with current tech advancements, researchers were able to integrate most of the known sensors using existing semiconductor manufacturing processes.
Unfortunately, there's a still long way to go before this becomes an end-user product. Researchers need to work more on the OLED resolution, the stretchability of the compound and the measurement accuracy of the sensors. Once they achieve it, the tech can be used in the medical field too to help monitor patients with certain diseases and infants too.