The science of smartwatches

By John O'Donoghue2021-01-18T13:27:00

A photo of a woman looking at her smartwatch during a run outdoors

Source: © Martin DM/Getty Images

How wearable tech uses chemistry to help monitor your health – with spectroscopy, battery technology and smart materials

Personal fitness monitoring is a multi-billion pound industry and wearable devices like smartwatches are now commonplace. This article explains how smartwatches use light to measure heart rate and other health metrics like oxygen saturation and looks at where recent advances in materials, sensor and battery technology could lead. It’s accompanied by a downloadable resource with a practical spectroscopy activity for the 16-18 age group.

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