Smart Textiles for HMI
What is HMI?
Human Machine Interfaces, or HMIs, are user interfaces or dashboards that connect a person to a machine, system, or device. HMIs can be used for a variety of applications: automotive interiors, wearable devices, home appliances, and more. At its core, HMI is a form of software that is installed in a Graphical User Interface (GUI), and a GUI is a program that enables a user to interact with a device. A touchscreen device would be an example of a touch user interface, which is what allows the user to interact with the GUI and the HMI. Make sense?
What do HMIs do?
According to Machine Design, an HMI allows humans to interact better with machines. It enhances productivity for the user and provides manufacturing with crucial insight into how the user is interacting with the machine and other necessary data for system maintenance and upgrade. HMIs are primarily valuable because of their ability to make functioning a machine easier for the user and improving these functions easier for production.
Types of HMIs
HMIs can come in several forms, but among the most common are those used in touch screen devices, remote monitoring devices, and AR/VR devices. These specific types are applied to a wide range of products as well. As mentioned earlier, they can be used in automotive interiors, medical wearables, and home appliances. Let’s dive into each application a little deeper.
Automotive interiors
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HMIs are deployed in automotive interiors to help the driver control the car with ease and efficiency. Some common components of a car’s interior in which HMIs are installed is in dashboards, seats, steering wheels, and center consoles. In a recent report from Design HMI, several automotive interior trends involve this technology. For example, several car manufacturers such as BMW, Bentley, and Mercedes-Benz have designed interactive cockpits that utilize touch screens for improved haptic feedback. Another promising innovation utilizing HMI is Augmented Reality Head-Up Displays (HUDs). These AR HUDs can improve drivers’ situational awareness, by producing alerts and navigational cues. These HUDs come in the form of graphics that interact with a driver’s field of vision; overlaying information regarding what is happening outside the vehicle.
2. Wearable devices
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Just last year, researchers at the University of Houston developed an ultra-thin wearable HMI that can collect and store health information from the wearer. This wearable “skin” has the potential to be integrated into robotics with advanced human-like functionality. While this discovery is promising, it has yet to be brought to be market and it will probably be a little while before this happens. What wearable HMIs are currently available for sale you might ask? Well, you can look to any smart watch on the market today. However, we feel the potential for HMIs in wearables lie far beyond the wrist. We believe this technology could be integrated into a medical wearable that can interact and exchange information and data with an external system. Say, a physician’s patient database.
3. Home appliances
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HMI technology can also be used to make home appliances more user-friendly. Haptic feedback is crucial for home appliances, and this is something HMIs can provide. The typical home appliance user wants visual and physical confirmation that their devices are raising/lowering temperature, turning on and off lighting fixtures, among other actions. Gone are the days of standard knobs and buttons. Now, we have touchscreen displays and motion sensors to help us complete commands. However, for HMIs to be deployed in their full potential, the displays need improvement. In a report from Intel, more advanced display technology than what we have currently will be needed to accommodate a more sophisticated human-machine interaction. That means ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, and the like will all need a touchscreen to function with an advanced level of interaction.
Smart textile integration
Smart textiles can merge with HMI technology to create all sorts of promising innovation. Whether it’s a textile-based sensor that can monitor and realize human-machine interactions, or a conductive textile called a “metamaterial” that allows for the transmission of data between human and device; the possibilities are virtually endless. How can smart textiles make for better human-machine interactions? Well, the appeal is really in the seamless design. For smart textiles like the LOOMIA Electronic Layer (LEL), integration is easy. Most products that utilize HMI technology require bulky components. With the LEL, all the components are flat and contained within a thin, flexible layer that can be easily sewn or bonded to a surface. Keep in mind, however; most smart textile systems only work in textile-based products such as a car seat or medical apparel.
Many people wouldn’t think of smart textiles as a tool for HMI, but smart textiles and e-textiles can be used to create buttons, switches, and controls, in or below fabric. E-textiles make for a great HMI solution because they are light, thin and are easy to assemble. Contact us to learn more about how e-textiles can be a useful HMI solution.