Toward Wearable Sensors: Advances, Trends, and Challenges

Sensors suitable for wearable devices have many special characteristics compared to other sensors, such as stability, sensitivity, sensor volume, biocompatibility, and so on. With the development of wearable technology, amazing wearable sensors have attracted a lot of attention, and some researchers have done a large number of technology explorations and reviews. However, previous surveys generally were concerned with a specified application and comprehensively reviewed the computing techniques for the signals required by this application, as well as how computing can promote data processing. There is a gap in the opposite direction, i.e., the fundamental data source actively stimulates application rather than from the application to the data, and computing promotes the acquisition of data rather than data processing. To fill this gap, starting with different parts of the body as the source of signal, the fundamental data sources that can be obtained and detected are explored by combining the three sensing principles, as well as discussing and analyzing the existing and potential applications of machine learning in simplifying sensor designs and the fabrication of sensors.