After my masters’ degree and prior to my PhD, I worked for three years at StretchSense Ltd, in Auckland, New Zealand.
StretchSense is specialised in super soft, stretchable and reliable sensors, that are integrated into smart and ‘disappearable’ garments to capture all kinds of body motions.
The principle is clear: because the body is mostly composed of soft (skin) and stretchable (muscles) materials, why not capturing it using a soft and stretchable material?
These sensors rely on EAP (electro-active polymers), also known in the literature as “artificial muscles”. They are basically capacitive sensors, highly accurate and reliable, and awesome to work with!
From now on, StretchSense is a leader in Smart Gloves for Motion Capture and Virtual Reality. More information of their awesome tech here!
Working there was an amazing experience, I was part of a 15-people start-up that became a big company with over 200 employees.
I was responsible for making the prototypes and proof-of-concepts at StretchSense: from the sensor design to the user experience, through the sensor integration and the quality control. I am a multidisciplinary engineer and being a Systems Integration Team Lead was the perfect fit for me as I was working on all the aspects of the products conception and development (I started as a RnD engineer when we were still a tiny startup).
This role was technically super challenging and really stimulating and exciting!
For instance, I developed the first generation of Zozosuit (marketed in Japan), which was a wearable capturing the key body measurements, to then act as a smart tailor. I created numerous physical prototypes, the first algorithms, PCB connexion methods, sensing techniques, size guides... I traveled around NZ, Japan, Germany and the US to gather data and test its usability and its functionality according to specs. More info on the 1st Gen Zozo here, here or there. Patent on Connexion method here!