What happens when two of today’s hypiest technologies meet each other?
 
In the past year, 3D printing has received significant attention from sports shoe giants like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour. With the launch of New Balance’s Zante Generate shoe in April 2016, the first 3D printed shoe became commercially available and 3D printed technology entered the consumer space. Developers choose to use 3D printing over traditional manufacturing for various reasons: material performance enhancement, rapid prototyping, low manufacturing cost for small batches, aesthetic customization, simpler manufacturing processes, and physical customization.
 
Developers of wearable electronics are also starting to realize benefits of 3D printing, and they are making use of several of the technology’s advantages: Atlas Wearables 3D printed the prototypes of its workout tracking wristband since it enabled for rapid prototyping; OneRing, a ring that monitors Parkinson’s disease, has electronics embedded in a 3D printed encasing, since this packaging allows for relatively low start-up cost; the casing of O Watch, a DIY smart watch for kids, is 3D printed to allow for aesthetic customization; and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research and the Industrial Design Engineering faculty of Delft University of Technology 3D printed their EEG mental state monitoring headphones to simplify the manufacturing process.
 
While wearable electronics developers are taking advantage of most benefits associated with 3D printing, they are largely neglecting to take advantage of the physical customization aspect, even though this aspect could be the most important. The benefits of 3D printing for physical customization are clearly seen in the evolution of hearing aid manufacturing. These devices, that need to be fitted for each patient, were previously manufactured via a tedious nine steps and week-long production by artisans that are now almost exclusively replaced by 3D printers. Individualized physical customization, which could be enabled by 3D printing, could benefit wearable electronics in the following ways:
 
• In the consumer space, a customized fit could benefit developers like Force Impact Technologies, which created a smart mouth guard for detecting athletes’ in head impact. The company currently uses a thermoplastic material that expands in warm environments to guarantee high retention and coupling to teeth; however, a customized 3D mouth guard may have an even better fit.
 
• In the health space, 3D printed devices could especially benefit chronic disease patients who rely on continuous device use for disease or symptom management. For example, 3D printing could enable companies like Walk with Path, developer of shoe insoles that send tactile cues to enhance diabetic patients’ sensory perception so they can walk independently. By creating individualized insoles, the company’s product could be more comfortable, which could also impact compliance.
 
• In the enterprise space, 3D printing could be beneficial in cases where a single device is used by multiple people. For example, ODG plans for its smart glasses to replace seatback screens for in-flight entertainment. In a case where the airline company owns the device, having 3D parts that can be added to each pair of glasses to best fit the facial features of different individuals can provide more comfort. In an industrial setting, added comfort could even improve worker productivity.
 
Although the primary motivation for adapting 3D printing to wearable electronics manufacturing today is rapid prototyping and lower production cost (for small batches), largely due to the immature state of the wearables industry as a whole, expect 3D printing to be primarily used for its customization benefits as wearable electronics become mainstream and the industry matures.
 
Noa Ghersin is a research associate for Digital Health and Wellness, Wearable Electronics, and Electronic User Interfaces Intelligence at Lux Research, which provides strategic advice and on-going intelligence for emerging technologies. Ghersin received her B.Sc. in biological engineering from MIT. For more information, visit Lux Research.