Photo courtesy of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) Four Taiwanese and global academic and research organizations signed an agreement to jointly develop flexible hybrid electronics and draft a developmental blueprint for related industrial technology in Taipei Thursday, according to a statement from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Under the agreement, ITRI, Chang Gung University, National Taiwan Sport University and SEMI, a global industry association, will focus on smart wearable products that will assist athletes collect and analyze data, the statement said.
This will help to identify athletes with potential and ensure coaches make better tactical decisions, it noted.
In the future, the four parties will develop technology and products driven by the needs of trainers and athletes, and will focus on five areas – precision selection of potential athletes, training and monitoring, determination of readiness, regulation of competition and collection of analytical data, it said.
Photo courtesy of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
The four parties will also work together to establish an independent flexible hybrid electronics industry in Taiwan, that will be able to tap into the enormous market for sports technology, it added.
In collaboration with ITRI and FlexTech, a SEMI strategic partner in flexible hybrid electronics, the Taiwan FlexTech Steering Committee will be officially established on Oct. 3. Its mission will be to encourage academic, industrial and research communities to work together to develop a flexible hybrid electronics industry supply chain in Taiwan, it indicated.
Wu Chih-i (吳志毅), ITRI vice president and general director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories, said that flexible hybrid electronics are pliable, well-fitting, and stretchable, making it easier to attach devices to specific areas of the body and thereby enhance the comfort level wearing them and accuracy in measuring physiological data.
ITRI's Flexible Hybrid Electronics Precision Motion Detection System utilizes wireless transmission technology to transfer myoelectric signals from the wearer of the device to a computer, and then uses algorithms to interpret muscle strength and fatigue, he explained.
Integrating knowledge in different aspects of athletic training, means results can then be used to direct training or inform coaches' tactical decisions, he added.
SEMI Taiwan President Terry Tsao (曹世綸) said Taiwan has a comprehensive and highly vertical microelectronics industry supply chain and impressive ability in integration, which offer key advantages in developing enormous business opportunities in the field of flexible hybrid electronics.
(By Romulo Huang)
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