Smart Earwear that Tracks Health and Wellness

University of Washington researchers have developed a bright thermal earring to monitor body temperature, stress, activity and health metrics. The device features dual sensors, efficient power usage and a 28-day battery life. Future integration of heart rate and activity tracking is planned.

FREMONT, CA: When the contemporary world helped fashion and health collide, smart earrings emerged as the greatest innovation in a smaller package. These smart earrings or thermal earrings were unveiled as a wireless wearable that can measure an individual's earlobe temperature. The size and weight of a tiny paperclip track a user’s body temperature, stress levels, activity, food and ovulation.

Thanks to the cooperation of these two sensors, these smart thermal earrings can measure and analyse the user's internal and external temperatures. They consist of two components: a temperature sensor attached to the user's ear with a magnetic clip and another sensor hanging behind the ear to measure and estimate the ambient temperature.

Designing a wearable that was small and durable enough that users would only need to charge it every few days stood as a challenge but never was impossible. The innovative thermal earring has a 28-day battery life to make the power consumption as efficient as possible. Also, two temperature sensors, an antenna and a Bluetooth chip are accommodated with the batteries. Rather than pairing it with a device, which consumes more power, the earring employs Bluetooth advertising mode, which leverages the transmissions a device sends to indicate that it is compatible with other devices. It enters a deep sleep after taking and transmitting the temperature to conserve energy.

The ability to measure temperature through the earlobe allowed researchers at the University of Washington to investigate new applications, such as the effective identification of temperature changes associated with stress, exercise and eating. The findings gave the researchers the opportunity to create a health-monitoring earring that, unlike modern smartwatches, can sense changes in body temperature indoors as well.

Before this wearable smart technology is released to the general public, the University of Washington researchers are investigating how to train their models and carry out more extensive testing to collect more reliable data.

The ultimate goal that would be fulfilled soon is to create a jewelry set for health monitoring that incorporates heart rate and activity monitoring. A necklace could act as an ECG monitor for more useful heart health data, while the earrings would sense activity and health metrics like temperature and heart rate. Other features include charging the gadget with solar power or kinetic energy captured by the earring's swaying while the wearer walks.

As of right now, the precision of the earring remains unaffected by the addition of a gemstone or trendy resin embellishments.